morning person? how do you do it? [Archive] - WannaBeBig Bodybuilding and Weightlifting Forums

jazer80

11-17-2005, 12:15 PM

i have a horrible time waking in the mornings. not so much waking, but getting up at a reasonable time. i will stay in bed until the last possible second i can. i want to have more time in my days, and i know that getting up earlier will do that, but i just never care about that until i'm up and about.

people seem to be mornign people or not, but i was hoping someone who has made themselves a morning person, despite their wishes, could tell me some thigns that helped htem.

getfit

11-17-2005, 12:19 PM

what time do you usually get up?

i'm a very early riser i mean very early, have been all my life.But i also start work at 5:30 am

RBB

11-17-2005, 12:21 PM

i've always had the same problem. i've always been the type to stay up late, so i hate getting up early no matter what time i go to bed. i don't have any magic tricks for you. just something you've got to do. go to bed early, and take about an hour before you go to bed just to relax and unwind. you'll get used to it.

twisteddendrite

11-17-2005, 12:31 PM

Join the military. You will learn to get out of bed.

Vita

11-17-2005, 01:13 PM

Join the military. You will learn to get out of bed.

not everyone has that option...

razorcut

11-17-2005, 01:24 PM

getfit

11-17-2005, 01:29 PM

jazer80

11-17-2005, 02:13 PM

What time do you get up & what time to you go to bed?

I have to get up at 4am about 2-3X/week. There's no big secret to it, really. You just have to go to sleep at a decent time. I'm a 6 hour a night person, so I'm OK if I'm in bed by 10pm*.

*10pm EST= 2nd quarter of MNF = sucks.

typically go to bed around 1:30/2:00am. I wake up before 9 twice weekly, and around 9:15 another three days weekly. the days i have to get up (5 days a week) i do, but on the other two i just sleep til like 10:30 / 11:30 am. it's weird, the time i go to bed doesn't seem to make any difference as long as i get ~7:00 - 9:00 hours. anything less or more than that range makes it even harder than usual tho.

i've been poking around for info, best things i found so far:
-try to get up immediately, no snoozing (which i do at least 10 times, w/ 3 minute intervals)
-try to see natural light as soon as you can upon waking

i could accomplish both of those by just getting up and jogging, and i know that's a great idea right now, but when i wake i feel like my body just wants more rest, and then think that's best. such a stupid problem

kpd

11-17-2005, 02:16 PM

Its simple.... how much sleep do you need? Now choose what time you want to wake up. Now, count that number of hours back. Go to sleep that time every night. Turn the tv off an hour before bed. Relax/read before bed to help your body relax before attmepting to fall asleep. Then, do that every day no matter what. Do it for a month or two every day and you will change and it will become natural. Also, its key to make your mind think that when you get into bed, that its time to relax/go to bed. So, besides sex, sleeping and pre-bedtime reading, dont do anything else in your bed. That helps a lot. Its all about getting into a regular schedule and your body will adapt. Hope that helps

J450n

11-17-2005, 02:17 PM

Matter of choice:

A) Drag ass out of bed, go to work, get paid, get food, stay housed..

B) Stay in bed, miss work, lose job, house, end up on park bench..

Moral of story - Choose.

eastbaylifter

11-17-2005, 02:21 PM

10 years ago I was just like you....total non-morning person. Then a buddy of mine started working out with me. But the only time we could both do it with our work schedules was at 6:00am. So I started getting up at 5:00am. After about 2 weeks, my body got used to going to bed early and getting up early. So my lesson learned: it's easier to do when someone's holding you accountable.

Praetorian

11-17-2005, 02:23 PM

I think it is genetically hardcoded into our DNA if we are a morning person or not. No matter what I do, I feel like totally crap whenever I have to get up early. My brain doesn't start to function until later in the afternoon, and at night (7 pm onwards) my brain kicks into high gear.

Geeper

11-17-2005, 02:29 PM

Just get up... sounds easy and is. I could sleep all day at one point, decided to change that.. the second the alarm goes off, I'm out of bed. And I don't mean stumbling around, I mean up and doing something.
Our bodies adjust to almost anything, lifting weights and the adaptation that takes place we should all know that. If you train your body to need 12 hours you will sleep 12 hours, if you train your body for 6 hours you will sleep 6 hours and be fine.
It almost killed me when my son was born. Up ever 2 hours, and not stumbling around, up and getting dressed, heating milk, carrying a child, changing diapers etc. After 2 weeks it was no problem... when he started sleeping more and eating less through the night it was actually hard not to wake every couple of hours.. we adapt

Relentless

11-17-2005, 02:38 PM

To make it easier to get up in the morning:

1) Stop using caffiene.
2) Don't use the snooze button. Buy an alarm clock without one if you gotta. Also, put that alarm clock across the room instead of beside the bed.
3) Establish a regular routine as much as possible, regular bedtime and regular waking-up time.
4) Really, REALLY decide that you're going to get up earlier. Write it down. Promise yourself that you'll stick to it. Some people can just do this naturally and others need to work on it with Tony Robbins or Stephen Covey or whoever their life-improvement guru of choice is.

bigedge

11-17-2005, 03:33 PM

im a student so staying up late and getting up late comes naturally to me. i hate having to get up early, mainly because it means going to bed early. i like to stayup, watch tv and play computer games. at the moment im a 10 hour a night person, at least, but i do agree with what everyone else is saying, if you go to bed and read/relax whatever it does make it a hell of a lot easier.

Ive always been told "one hour of sleep before midnight = two hours of sleep after midnight"

HahnB

11-17-2005, 03:38 PM

Matter of choice:

A) Drag ass out of bed, go to work, get paid, get food, stay housed..

B) Stay in bed, miss work, lose job, house, end up on park bench..

Moral of story - Choose.

Not all jobs require you to get up extremely early. I don't understand how some people can live their whole lives getting up at 6, working till 8, going to bed at 10 and doing that over and over again for 30 years.

Get a degree, get a really good job, start your own business someday. Problem solved:)

The Great

11-17-2005, 03:42 PM

Try putting your alarm clock across the room, that way you have to get up to turn it off and once you get up and shower you will be fine.

-TIM-

11-17-2005, 03:52 PM

To make it easier to get up in the morning:

2) Don't use the snooze button. Buy an alarm clock without one if you gotta. Also, put that alarm clock across the room instead of beside the bed.That's been my biggest help. I did this a while back, and it helped fight the urge to stay under the covers.

Praetorian

11-17-2005, 04:22 PM

I tried placing my alarm clock across the room, but it only ended with me getting up and smashing the clock to bits and pieces, before stumbling back to my bed and blissful sleep. Man, the most hated sound in the known Universe is my alarm. Everytime I hear it, something breaks inside me.

Beholder

11-17-2005, 04:32 PM

I _need_ to have my alarm clock on the other end of the room. If I dont I will turn it off not even knowing I did that. Then I wake up later in the afternoon, all frusterated that I slept in big time and didnt call work, just to have someone be like 'uhhh it went off 3 times then stopped...we assumed you went to work'
god.

WBBIRL

11-17-2005, 05:30 PM

Lol, its hard to get up for me in the morning. I need atleast 8 hours to even function... less then that and I might as well have slept the extra hours. Less then 8 and im all willie nilly for 1-2 hours after I get up.

Its all a matter of habbit, once im into a good routine I dont even need the alarm clock.. I just wake up naturally on time. But the first few times adjusting to a shorter sleep cycle I just want to smash the clock with a 50lb sledge.

jkirkpatrick

11-17-2005, 05:37 PM

It's a lifestyle. I'm up for work at 6am every day. On the weekends, I sleep in until 7am.

But I was also born at 6:10am so I'm predisposed to be an early riser! ;)

Narsis

11-17-2005, 05:55 PM

Join the military. You will learn to get out of bed.

I did that. As soon as i got out of the Army i learned very quickly to stay in bed

Paul Stagg

11-17-2005, 06:44 PM

Not all jobs require you to get up extremely early. I don't understand how some people can live their whole lives getting up at 6, working till 8, going to bed at 10 and doing that over and over again for 30 years.

Get a degree, get a really good job, start your own business someday. Problem solved:)

I think you need to revisit what you think it takes to start your own business.

I was also always a night person... not just during college, but even my first job out of school, I worked 1-9 by choice because I preferred being awake at night.

Up until my current job, I never really had to be at work before 9am... in my current job, I have to get up early fairly regularly because I often have to drive for a couple of hours to get to an 8 or 9 am meeting. To make that easier, I just started getting up at 6am regularly (so getting up at 5 isn't a big deal). I try to go to bed between 10 and 11, and even when I don't *have* to get up early, I do. (There is a culture of early starts in my organization, so I can fit in to that).

I tend to sleep in on weekends, usually to catch up on sleep, although I also tend to go to bed later... I may be old, but I can hang past 9:30 on a weekend. :-)

I think the best tips so far have been to get into the habit, quit hitting the snooze button, and having the bedroom be for sleeping and sex, nothing else.

Also - bedtime isn't lovin' time. Lovin' isn't sleeping.

mrelwooddowd

11-17-2005, 07:01 PM

Lots of good points in here..

I've struggled with this for as long as I can remember. I only get up early if I have to, and have no problem doing it or functioning. I just can't seem to get myself into a routine of doing it every day, which is what I'd like. I'm much more productive at home in the morning versus evening. I think the point about taking an hour to wind down with reading and such is the best one, though. Sitting on the computer tends to keep you wired until you just crash--this does no good in the long run.

I prefer Covey for self-help..lol. I actually managed to get into lifting as a result of his book.

Built

11-17-2005, 07:09 PM

As soon as the alarm goes off, I hit the snooze, pop 200mg caffeine and turn the light on.

About 10 minutes passes, and I'm AWAKE.

dissipate

11-17-2005, 07:30 PM

i'm an insomniac and my best sleeping hours are between 2am and 10am so it's been pretty tough when i had classes or work early in the morning. what has helped me get up from 8:30am onwards is not having thick curtains at the window and allowing sunlight to hit me in the morning. sunlight wakes me up.

though this doesn't work if i have to be at work at 9am and wake up at 6am :D

11-17-2005, 07:37 PM

jazer80

11-17-2005, 08:30 PM

Matter of choice:

A) Drag ass out of bed, go to work, get paid, get food, stay housed..

B) Stay in bed, miss work, lose job, house, end up on park bench..

Moral of story - Choose.
it doesn't hurt me, there's the problem. i don't oversleep, or put things off so i can sleep; i just want to get up earlier to have more time in my day, to make time for things that are fun, or to do things i would otherwise not have done.

ne ways i know this comes down to choice. i'm fully aware that i make this decision in bed. someone who drinks does not drink because they have alcoholism in their genes. they drink because they choose to. in this thread i hope to get pointers, like you would give to an alcoholic (bad example?). it boils down to my choice, but i'm looking for info (like i mentioned earlier about not snoozing and seeing daylight asap) to help me make this choice.

jazer80

11-17-2005, 08:38 PM

I prefer Covey for self-help..lol. I actually managed to get into lifting as a result of his book.
NAPOLEON HILL

hahaha

jazer80

11-17-2005, 08:39 PM

Go to bed at 8pm. Every night. Regardless if you lay there for 2 hours and don't sleep. Then your circadian rhythm will adjust to sleeping at that time, you will wake much earlier with no problems.
going to bed at 8 isn't even close to an option. even 10 isn't (work, school, etc)

Shao-LiN

11-17-2005, 08:52 PM

I just get up. May take an extra 20 minutes past when my alarm goes off, but I'm up and in the shower. Shower wakes me up. I do go to sleep earlier than I did in college, though. Usually between 10-12 I'm in bed watching TV and end up falling asleep. Then I make up for sleeping earlier by sleeping much later on weekends, hehe.

It's all a matter of training and habit. After awhile, you just get used to it.

HahnB

11-17-2005, 08:56 PM

I think you need to revisit what you think it takes to start your own business.

Maybe my post was a bit misleading, I know it often requires even more work than your average job. The guy I use to work for runs owns a few nite clubs, and a gentlemens club. I love his hours. Since most of his establishments operate during later hours he can afford to sleep in a little longer than the average joe to who has their own business. Of course when he was getting everything off the ground I'm sure he was working much more than a full day.

LovinLiftin

11-18-2005, 06:49 AM

I have to wake up at 5 in the morning to get to work on time(7am) and I don't care what time I go to bed when that alarm clock goes off I am never ready to get up. I decided I am just not that early of a morning person. The wierd thing is that when I have training and it starts at 8 i get to wake up at 6 and I am fine pop right out of bed. It's like I just can't handle 5 o'clock and I have had the same schedule now for about 6 months. Recently I have started to cuss at the alarm clock when it goes off, its quite therapeutic... the alarm clock always wins though.

rdkraus

11-18-2005, 06:50 AM

Don't think about it, make it a habit. Set your alarm and get up the same time every day. If, on occassion (sp?), that means 3 or 4 hours of sleep, so be it. Take a nap later, if you need it.

Once it's a habit, you don't think about it anymore, you just do it.

kad

11-18-2005, 07:10 AM

I have two alarms. A radio alarm next to my bed, and a beeper alarm across the room that goes off 5 minutes later. It's been working for me.

Edit: Oh, and 3x Thermocin (~200mg caffeine) immediately after I wake up if I have any. :D

J450n

11-18-2005, 12:04 PM

Not all jobs require you to get up extremely early. I don't understand how some people can live their whole lives getting up at 6, working till 8, going to bed at 10 and doing that over and over again for 30 years.

Not really sure where you got all that from out of my post? I work a 8.30am-5pm job, therefore not needing to get up "extremely early".

My original point being that if i didn't get out of bed and go to work i would lose my job, income etc, which i need, which is why i have to get up and find it easy to do so.

Get a degree, get a really good job, start your own business someday. Problem solved:)

I didn't pursue a degree but did go to college and fully passed what i studied. It wouldn't of made a difference had i done otherwise.

I know people who run their own businesses and hardly find a spare minute in the day. Plus those who spent years studying to get their degree and work more hours than i do.

I don't really get your point?

J450n

11-18-2005, 12:09 PM

it doesn't hurt me, there's the problem. i don't oversleep, or put things off so i can sleep; i just want to get up earlier to have more time in my day, to make time for things that are fun, or to do things i would otherwise not have done.

ne ways i know this comes down to choice. i'm fully aware that i make this decision in bed. someone who drinks does not drink because they have alcoholism in their genes. they drink because they choose to. in this thread i hope to get pointers, like you would give to an alcoholic (bad example?). it boils down to my choice, but i'm looking for info (like i mentioned earlier about not snoozing and seeing daylight asap) to help me make this choice.

So basically there is no motivation to get up in the morning? If not, find some.
I used to be an insomniac but got over it when i got into a reasonably solid routine.

97muscle

11-18-2005, 01:16 PM

Alright bro, I have been hitting the gym at 5 every morning for the past 3 weeks. At first it was the excitement of going to the gym that got me up, but then I started hearing the little voice telling me to stay in bed. I slapped the **** out of that little guy and got my butt in the gym and it isn't nearly as hard any more. You just have to take control of that weak, pathetic little man that is inside your head and strangle him to death and soon enough you will be just fine. Hope this helps

Later

ReturnedFire

11-18-2005, 02:57 PM

this helps me when i have to wake up early:

1. alarm across room
2. turn off alarm, go to bathroom, turn on the light and just sit on the toilet for like 10 minutes and sleep and/or poo.

HahnB

11-18-2005, 04:00 PM

Not really sure where you got all that from out of my post? I work a 8.30am-5pm job, therefore not needing to get up "extremely early".

My original point being that if i didn't get out of bed and go to work i would lose my job, income etc, which i need, which is why i have to get up and find it easy to do so.

I didn't pursue a degree but did go to college and fully passed what i studied. It wouldn't of made a difference had i done otherwise.

I know people who run their own businesses and hardly find a spare minute in the day. Plus those who spent years studying to get their degree and work more hours than i do.

I don't really get your point?

I wasn't referring to you specifically.