How to find the motivation to get up at 5am
Help!
I am NOT a morning person at all, but it has become painfully clear that the only way I can fit in a decent workout will be to get up at 5am each day before my son gets up.
For those of you that do this daily, how do you find the motivation to drag your booty out of bed each morning and find the energy to workout? I'm desperate for ideas.
it is also the only time I can consistly find time to workout as well. The first couple of weeks are the hardest and it now seems pretty easy. I get up at 445am so that I can get myself ready so that I can be to the YMCA at 530 when it opens. I then have to shower there and go straight to work.
First you have to make yourself go to bed earier. If you don't it will only be harded to get yourself out of bed. I go to bed shortly after my kids do. The plus side of working out that early is that you will have a ton of energy to start the day.
I get up every morning at 4:30 am and do 1 hour on the treadmill (3.5 miles). It has now become "my" time. I turn on the TV and watch what I wanna watch (usually Law & Order). I get no interuptions from kids or hubby. Again, this is MY time.
I like to do it in the morning because it frees up the rest of my day. It also gives me more energy throughout the day. When I get home from work, the last thing I wanna do is walk another 3.5 miles. It's nice when I realize it's already done!
I also wear a pedometer all day. It's actually fun to try and get a highter step count than the previous day. May sound kinda silly, but that's what motivates me.
Whatever works for each of us, right?
Good Luck!
so the title to this post got my attention, for the last few months I have been saying that I am gonna have to get up at 5 b/c its the time I could have to myself, not have to worry about someone to watch the kids or anything and I could be by myself,not to mention get up early get the workout in and have it done for the day...also up my energy for the day with a sense of accomplishment. so if there are any secrets to hauling yourself out of bed, please share!!!!!
Find a partner to do it with and keep you honest. Always harder to skip on a workout when you have someone else counting on you to go.
I can't help but laugh at the suggestions to get a workout buddy - I know it works really well for some people, but I don't know anyone in their right mind that would want to drag themselves out of bed at 5am with me! :)
My husband is still at work during this time, so leaving the house is not an option as I have to stay home to be with our son until I can take him to daycare at 6:45am.
I have a feeling a big secret to making this work for me is making sure that I go to bed early each night. I'm a night owl and NOT a morning person, so reversing this trend is going to be my biggest hurdle.
Thank you for all the input, it is greatly appreciated!
I just started getting up early to work out, I get up around 4:40. I think the hardest thing for me is just getting out of the bed. If I can make it to the bathroom and get my workout stuff on, I am ok. I also tell myself that this is something I have to do, for me and my health! It sometimes feels like I repeat this 100 times but it gets my up and working out. Once you get past the 2nd week, it is alot easier.
I just recently read another thread on this same topic where someone suggested, "Don't think about it, just DO it!" I am perpetually 20-30 minutes late for work and while I always make up my time, it just bugs me to be late like that all the time.
So I started just getting up when my alarm went off instead of hitting snooze 5-6 times. When my alarm goes off in the morning, I say to myself, "Don't think about it, just DO it!" And it has been working for me! Well, today I was 10 minutes late because I hit snooze twice. :/ But that's OK, i will be back on track tomorrow morning.
Good luck to you! Hope this helps.
If your not used to it at all, its going to be hard trying to get up at that time. Try setting an alarm on your phone at 9pm so that if you go to bed at 10pm you have an hour left to clean up , watch tv do whatever is neccesary before bed.
How do you exercise in the house ? Workout Dvd , Treadmill , Bike etc?
This sounds silly but try having like quotes wrote around the house to keep you focused and as toward why your doing it? If its to loose weight set your goal work hard at it then before you know it that 1 hour workout will become a 30minute workout.
Stay focused you can do it !
It's habit as much as anything.
I'm not a morning person, either, but I leave for work at 6. So I have to get up. I don't have to like it, I just have to do it, but I've gotten used to it so it's not that bad any more.
Music helps. I listen to it on my commute, but it might help make your exercise less onerous, too.
i have this snoozing habit like its almost a fight between me and the alarm clock so my mother gave me an idea of putting a loud alarm in the next room and immediatly switching on the tv in that room so i feel more alert in 5 - 10 mins and then get ready for the gym.
Lay your exercise clothes next to the bed. The minute you wake up reach for them and put them on before your mind or body can talk you out of it. Don't think twice. Just put them on. Once you have them on you may (or may not) feel ready to take the process the next step- actually exercising. If you don't feel like exercising just keep moving your body in that direction. Don't think about it. Just do it.
I have been waking up at 5:30 AM for past 18 months without using alarm clock and hitting the gym. Once we make a decision to do somehting, then we find ways and means to get it done.
I was determined to lose some weight and stop taking medications. I achieved my goals, which is motivating me even more to continue what has been working in my life.
Going to bed early will be very helpful. Also try to take a 20 minute nap lunch time in my car.
I didn't use to be a morning person either, however I was going on a cruise that was scheduled out 6 months and I really wanted to look my best. I also use to fight with the snooze button too, so I put a current picture of me above my clock on the wall and below that picture in big bold letters..."HIT THAT SNOOZE IF YOU WANT TO LOOK LIKE THIS ON THAT CRUISE". LOL...It got me going. Now that I'm past that, I must go to bed earlier in order to get up earlier, and I wake up to that song, "I'm sexy and I know it", (which I'm not yet, but if I get up and workout everyday, everyone will know it...lol). Anyway, going to bed earlier to wake up earlier, waking up to a motivation song, and add a little fun to it, you will be in the the habit sooner than you think. ;-)
I work full time (43 hrs a week) as well as being a wife and mother to a 3 year old I realized the ONLY time I had to myself was at 5am. I tried working out when I got home, but dinner still needed to be made, baths given and by bedtime I was exhausted and couldn't make myself work out. So I made a plan to pretty much sleep in my workout clothes, get up at 5am when my husband left for work and go down to the basement to jog/dance for 30 minutes then do strength training DVD's for another 30 minutes. It really made a difference. The first week was rough, but by week 2 I found myself still waking up around 5-5:30 even on my days off to work out. Even though I was waking up earlier, I felt more awake all day even by the time I got home.On days when it is especially hard to get up by 5am, I tell myself "if you fall back asleep now and wake up at 6am you will still feel tired so we might as well get up now."
I also took measurements every 10 days to see the improvements and a picture every 30 days to monitor my progress. It really makes you look forward to those days and to keep working to see the results.
i managed to get my self up at 5am to work out. gave myself 30 days to make waking up at 5 a habit. i gave myself 1week to get used to waking up a little earlier, another week to get up even earlier and finally the final 2 weeks to wake at 5. now i dont need an alarm clock to get up at 5
whatever it is, though, do give yourself at least 7hours sleep.
i learnt this technique of creating habits from leo babauta, author of zenhabits.net
I get up 5:30am and get my husband off to work, I'm stay at home housewife so its a little easier for me. I found going to bed early may not fall asleep right away so I watch a little tv then doze off. Also I don't drink any alcohol so I'm not sluggish the next morning, I do my morning workout anywhere between 7-9 and alternate every other day whether I walk in the park or use in home gym equipment, I enjoy my workouts so getting up early is something I know look forward to. Guess its a mind set thing.
I was never a morning person either. My philosophy is that if I am going to live a long life it was going to be a heathy one so that I can enjoy it. I get up at 5:00 a.m. every day except Sunday (my day off). Every other day I do some type of aerobics. The other 3 days I do weight training/stability ball workouts which change every 3 weeks so I don't get bored. I have a hard time getting to bed at night so I started setting my cell phone alarm for 9:00 p.m. which signifies that it is time to stop what I am doing and get ready for bed. I am desparately trying to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night. So far as getting out of bed in the morning - when my alarm goes off I immediately pop out of bed. I never hit the snooze button. If you lay there for even a second your mind starts kicking in and you start making excuses. I sit at a computer all day so on my 15 minute breaks I walk. I get an hour for lunch so I walk the first 25 minutes. I try to get in little workouts whenever I can - they are bonus points. Your motivation from come from within because no one cares about you more than you. God gave us one body to get us through this life so it is our responsibility to take care of it. It is so easy to make excuses for not moving - Im too tired - I have no energy. I tell them move and you will be amazed at how much energy you have. A little determination will take you a very long way. Sorry this got a little wordy - my first time to post. Today is the first day of the rest of your life soooooo get moving. Good luck!!!
I'm a night owl and insomniac, I hate mornings, and I will never ever be up at four-anything in the morning to workout. If this is more like you than others who post about shifting bedtimes (which doesn't work if you can't sleep) then I just recommend having something easy to do, like riding a stationary bike, and riding it after you've put everyone to bed. I find it easy to just space out, reflect on my day, and collect my thoughts in that time. Then I go do some crunches and light weights, rinse off, and go to bed. It doesn't affect my sleep difficulties more than anything else, I actually found I fall asleep more quickly most of the time because I've worked off some of the stress, so I don't consider it bad sleep hygiene.
I've been doing a few different things to work out on the bike, I like to change things up or I get bored:
a) I have bad knees so I can't do strength training like lunges and squats, so I just hike up the resistance on the bike and go at it for five minutes 2-3 times, with two to three minute breaks in between. I alternate with a lower resistance but faster pace in between and usually end up doing a total of 25-30 minutes.
b) I will ride the bike at a moderate resistance for two thirty minute sessions with about a five minute break in between if I need it, or just go the full hour straight through.
c) Sometimes when I have a lot of time on the weekends, I just put on movies/TV/read a book and just sit on the bike at a moderate resistance for hours, after front loading with at least twenty minutes of a higher intensity.
