how do you get out of bed to workout?

I have SUCH a hard time getting up early to workout.  The big problem is, I already have to get up early.  I have to be up and out of the house for work by 5:30 AM.  If I work out at home I'd have to get up at 4:00 or 4:30 to work out.  I know it's just an excuse, but I have a physically demanding job and when I get home and am tired.  I have more energy in the morning so I think I'd like to work out then, but I can't seem to manage to get out of bed!

Any other early risers who have found motivation to get up EARLY?

When I need to get up earlier, I go to bed earlier at night.  I know it may be hard if you have a family to take care of, but get them all situated before you get to bed and close the blinds so there is no light in the room, and just go to sleep!  The earliest I've gone to bed is 7:30 pm and it wasn't too long ago.

Well, I can give you some advice based on what worked well for me.

1)When you wake up, hop straight out of bed, don't continue to lay around for a few minutes.

2)Get as much light into your bedroom as you can, turn on lamps and overhead lights.

3)Turn on some upbeat music, this usually help to get me motivated AND make a transition out of the "groggy" state.

4)Start with light exercise, it will give your body time to warm up and wake up.

I really hope that helps!

I am an early riser. I have to be at work at 6:00 a.m. which means leaving the gym at 5:00 a.m. I get up 5 times a week at 3:40 a.m., get to the gym by 4:00 a.m. and workout for an hour. I do at least 30 minutes of cardio, and whatever time is left I rotate weight training. Sometimes I get up at 3:30 to have a bit of extra time. I know it's tough, but you do get used to it. I've been doing this now for 2 months and actually feel better on workout days then I do if I stay in bed. Most nights I am in bed by 8:30 p.m. It all depends on how bad you want it. Go for it!

Welcome to the early morning exercise club! This coming fall (as I have done in previous years as well)... I am going to have to get up at ridiculous hours of the morning in order to work out for 90 minutes like a typically do! On Tuesdays & Thursdays I have a class @ 8:45am... yea, that doesn't sound so bad BUT... I need my hour and a half (it's such an amazing energy pepper-upper! haha) and I also need to factor in time for showering, etc... so I am thinking I am going to have to get up at 5 am so I can get to the gym by 5:15 or so and do my thing. Now these hours don't sound so bad... but I am also going to be interning and my "job" is anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes away... and I would have to report for duty @ 8:30am... so let's factor that all in... Yea, looks like I'll be getting up at 4 am or so... although really I could maybe get up a bit later because it really takes me NO TIME to get ready... but I don't like to be pressed for time - so I give myself some lee-way.

All of this just means you have to go to bed earlier, eat dinner earlier, etc... The problem for me is that I cannot for some reason get to sleep before 11 pm and when I know I have to get up early, I tend to TOSS and TURN because I'm sort of waiting in anticipation! Ugh! Do you have large baggies under your eyes like me? LOL.

My motivation to work out though: It really revs me up for the day, I feel confident 100% in myself, I don't feel lazy one bit... this list could go on...

Original Post by waynerdude:

I am an early riser. I have to be at work at 6:00 a.m. which means leaving the gym at 5:00 a.m. I get up 5 times a week at 3:40 a.m., get to the gym by 4:00 a.m. and workout for an hour. I do at least 30 minutes of cardio, and whatever time is left I rotate weight training. Sometimes I get up at 3:30 to have a bit of extra time. I know it's tough, but you do get used to it. I've been doing this now for 2 months and actually feel better on workout days then I do if I stay in bed. Most nights I am in bed by 8:30 p.m. It all depends on how bad you want it. Go for it!

Where do you work that requires you to get up this early?? I am interning at a news station and one of the shifts starts at 4 am and goes until 1 pm... I thought on this rare occasion I would just skip the work out - but you're motivating me to go to the gym at 2 am! ha ha! Actually... I think I'd just wait until after the shift! LOL

I am a zookeeper.  The early hours are because I have to be in early to wake the animals up, get them breakfast, and have their exhibits cleaned and filled by the time the zoo opens at 9:00. 

I've tried putting my alarm on the other side of the bedroom to get out of bed early, but I just turn it off and go back to sleep. I think the trick for me is going to be to try to get to bed earlier.  If I can manage to go to bed by 9:00 I might be able to get up at 4:00.  I also like the suggestion about putting on music, though I'll have to use headphones; otherwise my husband will kill me!

I am not a morning person.  If I'm going to get up to workout in the morning I have to have everything laid out the night before so I can stumble over it in the morning and not spend time trying to think if I'm missing something.  If it's a sweats and t-shirt type workout I'll just wear the workout clothes as PJs sometimes to remind me to get out of bed when the alarm goes off.

maybe you need to redefine what "work out" means.  it doesn't have to mean the gym, you know?  there are lots of things you can do at home or from home that are much less time consuming.  push-ups, squats, and bicycle crunches are highly effective, and you can do them in your livingroom in no time at all; a 30 minute run takes only 30 minutes, if you start and end at your front door.

and as difficult as it is sometimes to exercise after work, if you find things that you love to do, you'll figure out ways to do them.