How do you get youself up for AM workouts? (Page 2)

As my dad used to tell me "Hit It".  When the alarm goes off put your feet on the floor and get up. If you need help beyond that, just remind yourself that the person who will win your AG is up.

bingo.. dont' over think it.. just do it..

or sign up for an event that scares you out of bed each morning..

Thanks for all of the suggestions!  I'm going to try the HTFU method, so long as I can consciously make a decision to get out of bed in the morning, I should be good.  The problem comes when I turn off the alarm without realizing, and then before I know it, it's 6:30...but that's where my trail of alarms will come in handy!

plus, i don't want other people training while I'm sleeping....

just think how hardcore you will be..

When I'm attempting to get up early, before I go to bed I remind myself,, alarm goes off, feet hit the floor and go.
it helps when I have everything ready to go from the night before

The trick for me is to get right up outta bed. No loafing. I put my alarm across the room so I have to get out of bed to turn it off. I just keep my feet moving and head straight for the kitchen and the coffee maker. By then I'm starting to come to and can begin to get my head together and get dressed.

I don't get up early...I work out after work...body does not allow me to do that and I have no desire to go to bed early, than I'll miss all the good shows on TV!

Never been a morning person, always a night owl.

I am up at 3:45, running or biking by 4:00 sharp. This is only becuase it is 95 degrees by 8:00 so the quality of my workouts are much better in the early hours. I am usually in bed by 9:00 for sure.

Put everything out that you're going to need for your workout: clothes, shoes, bag, car keys, water, etc. Put it right there in plain sight. You don't even have to wake up -- just roll out of bed, grab your stuff, go downstairs (or out of the bedroom) with it and head towards the door/ kitchen. 

In just those few minutes, you're invested.  You don't even have to think about it, in fact, don't. If you start thinking, you'll start talking yourself out of it. 

Grab your already set up coffee/water/breakfast and get in the car, or out onto the street, or wherever.

Once you've officially 'started' your exercise program for the day, there really isn't any going back.

I have my own mantra: instead of 'just do it', I say "I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" That can either mean, 'leave me alone, doubts, I'm doing it already" or "Oh my God, I'm actually doing this!" which is a little more congratulatory. 

  

STD!!! (SEIZE THE DAY)

Kick the day's @ss before it has a chance to kick your @ss!

Go to bed early on a consistant basis. be eating healthy.

1 thing that I do when I REALLY need to get up early in the AM is drink a lot of water (slowly over the course of about 90 minutes) before going to bed, enough so that When my alarm goes off (or usually slightly before) I really need to get up before I feel like I am going to pop.

Granted this is coming from a guy who already gets up at 4:55 every day in order to be at work on time. I also rowed all through college and I loved the 4:30 wake up to be on the water by 4:55. Get back shower, hot cocoa with Peppermint Schnaps in it and off to my 8:00 am class. Nothing quite like that routine, if only I could do it at work...

Due to my work schedule I have given up on being able to work out in the AM during the week but I still sleep in to 6:00 or 6:15 on the weekends and then get up and workout.

Oh one of thing I used to find really worked for me, and still does when I do it, right when I wake up, pull a protein shake out of the fridge and start drinking it. gets my metabolism going nicely! (That worked really well when my mini fridge was my nightstand, not so much now as I think my wife would kill me if I did that.)

DITTO!!!!

STD probably isn't a good acronym. Just saying.

During my IM training when I had to get up just before 6am on weekdays to either run or swim I put a picture of the IM medal on my wall where I would see it when I woke up.  If I wanted one I would have to train!!!

I wake up at 4am most of the time. I have realized that, regardless of how much you sleep, the first 10 minutes will suck no matter what you do. Your body aches, you can't think clearly, and life pretty much sucks. But if you can make it through those first 10 minutes you are in the clear.

+1 on setting up the gear the night before. I get all my bike set out and clothes laid out with nutrition before my longer rides on the weekends so that I'll be a horrible human being if I don't get out of bed and use them.

With my crazy work schedule during the school year (lots of nights in not getting to bed before 10:30/11 p.m. and 12-hour days), I just suck it up and get a morning workout in because I HAVE to get it in. I definitely notice a big difference if I don't work out in the morning.

Thanks for all of the ideas, guys!
I woke up for swim practice this morning!!!!! I instituted a few changes...first, I kept my alarm across the room (though, it should be noted, I am known to turn off the alarm across the room and get back in bed without waking up), I went to bed (got in bed) at 9:45am, had my daddy call me at 5:15am (he's up at 4:30 most days...just because), and then...well, I'll get to the last new change.

I woke up sans alarm at about 4:55am and thought, yes! twenty more minutes of sleep...so then my alarm goes off at 5:15, I turn on the light, my dad calls, I tell him I'm up...and I put on my suit. and then the battle starts.  my mind keeps telling me, oh gosh, the bed feels so wonderful.  snuggling with the puppy and all rolled up in the covers is perfect.

My next tactic started.  I said to myself, "HTFU.  you want this don't you?  stop being a baby and get your f-ing in the pool.  all the better age groupers are swimming right now."  Unfortunately, saying that to myself once was not enough.  I had to battle the "god, i love my bed" thoughts all the way until I got to the pool (in fact, I almost made a uturn a few times on the way to practice.)  but I just kept saying HTFU. HTFU. HTFU.

and, once I got in the pool, i was so glad I had.  I love swimming...its not nearly as stressful (once I'm in the pool) as cycling and running on my body.

once i'm concious, it really is a HTFU issue.

First of all, the runaway alarm clock is hilarious.

Second, how do you get up and go all the way across the room and turn off your alarm clock without realizing it?! That's... pretty cool. But not useful for you...

One thing that I do that never fails is drink LOTS of water before going to bed. If you drink a lot, you HAVE to get up to go to the bathroom. I drink a lot of water anyways so I end up getting up a few times during the night but its easy to go back to bed when you are used to it. But try that - the people I know who do that can always get up on time

Congrats! You made it! A HUGE part of repeated success is knowing that you CAN do it because you HAVE done it. Next time will be easier.

If you need help remembering to HTFU, get a sharpie and write that on the backs of your hands before you go to sleep. Make the letters large and prominent. That way, you HAVE to get in the pool or that sharpie will still be left there when you go to work. You won't be able to get it off in the shower. Plus, it'll help keep HTFU in the front of your mind.

If beating-other-AGers doesn't work, consider race-day scenarios. I used to LOVE riding my horse in the frigid, frigid cold, rain, blowing wind, etc - I figured that come show day, I would be prepared for ANYTHING, as would my horse, and we would beat all those pansies and their horses who were afraid of the weather. To translate that for you, on race day, you are almost certainly going to have to wake up at the crack of stupid. All those people who AREN'T used to that will be bleary-eyed, trying to nail down nutrition on stomachs that just want sleep, will not be able to focus on warmups, and might miss key things like potty before the gun goes off, or even making their wave. You? You'll be totally fine with ALL of that, because you will be completely used to getting up and functioning. Crack of stupid will be your friend. Forget getting stronger, faster, sleeker, or smoother - you will get a huge burst of free speed just from being AWAKE.

And, um, getting faster and all that helps, too.

I think the amount of sleep you're getting is your biggest problem.  5 hours just isn't enough, especially with your workout regimen.  If you try other things (moving the clock, NRG drink on the nightstand, etc.) before ensuring you're getting a regular 8 hrs/night I think you're just spinning your wheels, IMO.

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