How did you make a habit of waking up early for the gym?

I can only go in the morning... go to bed early enough and you should be ok....

I now prefer the morning... it is my alone time - I wake up an hour before going to the gym, have my coffee and light pre workout breakfast.

Embrace it!

R

Now that my kids are back in school I decided to do my run at 5 am 3 mornings a week - the days the I work. It's hard, but I get my workout out of the way and can go to work right after dropping the kids off at school. Now, I'm not rushed squeezing in a workout between dropping kids off and getting to work by 9am. I get in an extra hour of work, which is more money too.

I go to the gym before work. I'm a nurse and work 12 hour shifts so it's the only way to get a workout in. The first day was rough. By the time I got to work I thought I would throw up. After that it got easier. I don't do it everyday but on the weekdays I work I try. Get everything ready the night before and eat a light pre workout meal

It's painful the first couple of weeks, until your body gets used to it. I agree that it makes a lot of difference to have everything you need packed up and ready to go the night before!

I don't. I only get around 6 hours of sleep as it is. I couldn't function on only 4. I workout in the evenings instead.

If you have too you have too. I prep my smoothies a week or two ahead then freeze them ... Make them the night before ... My gym has clothes and my shoes in my lockers so all I have to do is wake up grab smoothie and go .

Still hell though ! Just get early nights , prep and alarm clocks.
I used to sleep in my running clothes too but that was marathon training and I really hated mornings

Also habit. A friend once said something and it's very true. A new routine will feel weird dot the first 3 months. After that, it turns into habit and it'll feel weird to not do it.

Mindset of ' I wanna get healthier and Im gonna try everyday to accomplish that'.

I admire you morning workout-ers. I just can't. I do mine after my kids go to bed, so I'm usually hitting the gym around 8-8:30 at night (weekends are an exception to this). I just refuse to go to bed any earlier because the few hours I get at night while the kids are in bed are the only hours of quiet I get in a day. I work in an elementary school (well two elementary schools, a middle school, and alternative education). I'm a night owl though and I already leave the house by 7:15 am to be at work by 7:30.

If you want to do it in the mornings, you need to have your routine down if you also work/have kids. Have your things ready the night before (bottle of water in the fridge, gym clothes on the dresser/beside the bed, work clothing all picked out, lunch for work packed the night before) so you aren't rushing around. If it is too hectic you'll burn out. I think planning ahead would be key.

I made going to the gym, at all, a habit by finding time in the evenings after my kids went to bed for the first seven months. When I decided to switch to mornings it was easy because going isn't even a question anymore - just part of my life now.

And go to bed early. Of course.

I'm out the door at 6 AM Saturday mornings for a class I like. It's sometimes my only opportunity to take that class some weeks and it's one of my favorites. Gym bag is packed the night before, workout clothes already selected and set beside the gym bag as well. I use the Reminders app on iPhone and check off items as they're packed. I don't have to go to work or anything afterwards, but nothing could feel more normal now

I've always been a morning person but I'd just lay in bed and drift in and out of sleep for a while. That being said I now run three mornings a week. On top of making sure I go to bed on the earlier side, I lay my clothes out the night before and make sure all of my other running stuff is out and in order. As soon as the alarm goes off I get out of bed, no excuses. Also helps that I have a feline alarm clock who starts demanding to be fed as soon as the alarm goes off.