5am workout, how do you do it??

i am the opposite, i find that if i don't work-out in the morning, my energy is zapped all day. working-out early a.m. gives me energy ALL DAY!

You get used to it. I'll be honest, it takes me two different alarm clocks plus a sunrise simulator to wake my butt up, but I have my workout gear all set out so I just blast motivating music and crawl my butt out of bed.
It took me about two weeks to start getting used to the schedule change, and I'm in bed by 8:30 most nights so I can be asleep by 9!

Peachy- does the sunrise simulator really make a difference in you being able to get up?? Worth the investment??

I started out with one of those Sunrise alarm clocks, and it was for crap. It never got bright enough to really wake me up. I switched to a dawn simulator that you can plug a regular lamp into and then got the brightest light bulb I could get (you can't use a CFL though) for the lamp. It always wakes me up, nice and gently. But it takes alarm noises to actually get my butt out of the bed once I'm awake.
The dawn simulator was pricey, but SO worth it. Especially in the dark of winter!

I've thought the same thing! However, I just don't have the energy to put in a good workout that early in the morning, so I just accepted that I am an "after-work workout" kind of person. Sometimes, I do go running early morning just because there are less people and cars in the roads, but even then I need to be up for an hour or two before I do that.

It just feels better and I get a better workout after work, when I've been sitting all day and can't wait to get my body moving!

I say, if you're really having a hard time working out at 5am, why do it? You'll lose motivation if you're not into it I think...Stick with after work when you know you'll have a great workout.

Yep - we definitely posted this same question at the same time. I also struggle with this! And I just can't fathom how people get up at 4am. 6:00am already feels to me like pure masochism. However, I think I just have to do it, as they all say.

I am actually reading this book called The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, and just reading the book is making me realise that if I make myself do something long enough, eventually it will just become second nature... I grabbed some interesting excerpts and pasted below in case anyone's interested:

“All habits—no matter how large or small—have three components, according to neurological studies. There's a cue—a trigger for a particular behavior; a routine, which is the behavior itself; and a reward, which is how your brain decides whether to remember a habit for the future.

Studies indicate that anyone can use this basic formula to create habits of her or his own. Want to exercise more? Choose a cue, such as going to the gym as soon as you wake up, and a reward, such as a smoothie after each workout. Then think about that smoothie, or about the endorphin rush you’ll feel. Allow yourself to anticipate the reward. Eventually, that craving will make it easier to push through the gym doors every day.

Want to craft a new eating habit? When researchers affiliated with the National Weight Control Registry—a project involving more than 6,000 people who have lost more than 30 pounds—looked at the habits of successful dieters, they found that 78 percent of them ate breakfast every morning, a meal cued by a time of day. But most of the successful dieters also envisioned a specific reward for sticking with their diet—a bikini they wanted to wear or the sense of pride they felt when they stepped on the scale each day. They focused on that craving when temptations arose, cultivated it into a mild obsession. And, researchers found, it crowded out temptations.

If you can identify the right cue and reward—and if you can create a sense of craving—you can establish almost any habit.”

(From here: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2012/02/an_excerpt_from_charles_duhigg_s_the_power_of_habit_.html)

I use my iPhone as an alarm. When setting the alarm, you can "label" it. I usually. I label mine with something that says "that fat isn't gonna lose itself" or "get this workout over with now, while the kids are still sleeping!" sometimes I also set my wall paper to some inspiring weight loss picture. It helps me, anyways.

I just force myself to do it. I set my clothes out before I go to bed and decide what workout I am going to do. That way I am ready to go in the morning

Make a committment to work with a buddy -- knowing that they are relying on you will get you out of bed.... I row with a team, and if I'm not there, they have to find a replacemnet or not go out... pretty big incentive to be there!

Go to bed by 9. Set the alarm and get up. Been doing this over a year its just part of life now though some days I dont wanna get up. I don't go at 5 though I go at 5:45 (get there a little before 6) and one day I do it at 5:30 but still. Just gotta get into the habit.

How I wake up early:
- Go to bed early
- Drink espresso
- Get right out of bed - no SNOOZE!

When I first started in the mornings - I wore my workout clothes to bed. I really felt guilty if I couldn't be bothered to get up and do it when I was already dressed - plus the sports bra started to get pretty uncomfortable right about the time I needed to get up anyway!

5 am is the only time I have to get a workout in. And life is ALWAYS better after a good workout. and coffee tastes better too. Except on saturdays, running is better after coffee and food.

I am very lucky in that I have a wife who gets up with me at 4:15 and we run together with our dog who needs exercise anyway so it is kinda easy...also the fact is we have been getting up early forever and just added the workout in. It is as others have said a drive thing but having a helper and a good reason are big too!!

I don't! Well, I'm going to do a once a week 6:00 spin because I did it this week and like that instructor particularly... but I can't do self workouts that early because I just don't have the energy to push myself like I can in later workouts.

I get up at 5:15 most mornings to workout. What has worked for me:
- sleep in a sports bra under my PJs - this is especially helpful on cold mornings
- once i turn off the alarm I need a minute or two to wake up before getting out of bed, but I prop myself up on my elbow so that my head is not touching the pillow and I don't fall back asleep
- set up anything you need from the night before to just "grab and go" - food, clothes etc.
- I go to bed around 9:30 and read until around 10 pm - if I am up later than 10:30 I'll never get up that early
- I have learned to love the "me" time in the early hours before the kids get up

Good Luck!