I HATE mornings. Loathe them. Abhor them. Getting out of bed in the morning is akin to the pain of flaming bamboo skewers shoved through my eyeballs.

I've been a night owl my whole life. (Three years ago I went into labor with my first kid at 3 AM... while I was playing a video game with Hubby.) Even with two kids now, I rarely hit the sack before midnight... and often later.

But with a busy family life and 2 young kids, I know that working out in the mornings is the best time to ensure that I get regular exercise. Unfortunately, that means waking up at 5:30 am if I want to workout before Hubby goes to work.

Did I mention the flaming bamboo skewers?

I've tried all the usual tricks: setting my alarm clock far away, putting out my workout clothes the night before, positive self talk, using an alarm that makes me solve math problems before I can turn it off, sheer willpower. Nothing seems to help.

Any suggestions?

Wow, Banana. It's like hearing myself talk. LOL. I too tried the laying clothes out, putting the alarm far away. I end up shutting it off or pressing snooze 10 times. It's ridiculous! It's funny... when I was in the military - I actually had no problem getting up. Probably for fear of getting in trouble. Now, it's so different. I'm never late to work or anything due to it... Just can't get my butt to the gym before work. Ugh...

Wow, you sound exactly like my daughter. She has two little ones and has been anight owl her whole life. She is expecting her third in two weeks. She comes to life at dinner time and that is when I start to wind the day down. Once when she was a teenager (I would walk at 6AM before work) she wanted to come with me so I woke her up to come with me. She did get up and made it halfway and seemed to be like torture the whole way she even stopped half way and waited for me to come back.
Is it possible to work out in the evening? You sound like you would certainly have the energy then. Just a suggestion.... good luck on your journey!

OMg. I try to hit the hay around 10 (which usually turns into 11). Getting up in the morning is like TORTURE - even though I go to bed at a reasonable time. If I could only sleep until 7 or 8 every day... that would be perfect. I NEVER exercise in the morning. I tried once a few months ago and it was like torture and the work out was terrible - I just couldn't get into a rythmn. I am 5 - 30 mins late for work almost every day. I have not been able to break this habit in the 11 years I have been in the working world.

Lately, I have been toying with the idea of getting up at 6am to get in an extra, quick 30 min workout. IDK. If I could only get in to the habit, it might not be torture anymore.

I remember a professor in college saying that you could reset your internal clock - you would have to stay up and sleep in later each day until you came to the time you wanted to be at. Of course - who can do that? I have to go to work every day. I have a child and a hubby. My life doesn't allow for me to do that... but it kinda makes sense that it might work?

ive been a night owl my whole life, why try and fight it, exercise after the kids go to bed

may i make a suggestioin?? instead of setting your alarm early to wake up and work out (which. btw, definitely put the alarm clock for away so you HAVE to et out of bed at least) just set your alarm to wake you UP early...but dont work out... yet... at least for a couple weeks untill you get used to waking up earlier, and you start going to bed a little earlier to compensate over time..... wake up, drink some cofee, watch the news, go early into work, whatever, but dont force the exercise. Once your body has adjusted to being up that early (and it really WILL only take a couple weeks) THEN start incorparating exercise...maybe only 20 minutes at first.... whatever...... but you have to get your body used to being awake at that earlier time and functioning, before you can think about working out... ALSO, jumping in the shower ASAP when the alarm goes , also helps wake you up...even if you just stand under the water for a minute or two......

I am a night owl also. I have tried so many times to be that "get up early and workout" person and I just can't. If my life depended on it, I would die. And the few times I have done it, I wasn't able to put my best effort into it. I did feel better the rest of the day. But, once I accepted that I just won't do it in the mornings, it became a lot easier to find time to workout. Before I was always so focused on waiting until I could get up in the morning and workout and it was always my excuse - I just can't get up and so there's no time to exercise.

My favorite time is about 9 30 after the kids go to sleep. I have the energy to really go full steam and once I am done, I stretch and it winds me down and I sleep soooo well. I wake up feeling more rested because I think I sleep deeper. And, I have learned to set the alarm 15 minutes earlier to make sure I eat a healthy breakfast. THAT, I can do.

I really like the advice above from mkroyer. That sounds like it could work. I guess we all adjust out schedules for daylight savings?

My personal opinion is the workout you will do, regardless of what time it is or what activity it is, is the best one.

Do they really make alarm clocks that will make you solve math problems before turning off? I can't tell if that was sarcastic or if such a thing actually exists!

I am a night owl, too. I also swear that I just require more sleep than the average person. 8 hours leaves be groggy, but functional. Less than 6 and I seriously cannot survive the day. With no alarm and nowhere I need to be, I can easily sleep 11-12 hours a night... but somehow there is a huge difference between sleeping 11 hours and getting up at 6 am and sleeping 11 hours and getting up at noon. Maybe it's all in my head at this point?

I have read some things about changing your circadian rhythm, so it seems it can be done, though I've never actually tried. I have woken up early and worked out exactly one time. After I got through the 45 minutes of torture, I promised my body I would never do such a thing to it again.

Yeah, it's an app on my phone.

oh my! you've described every little detail about me lmao thats crazy! lol

Hi banananutmuffin. BTW, love your name. Anyway, I have two kids too and I've found as they've gotten older the evenings are chock-full of activities going on so my time to exercise is severely limited. Also, I took up running recently and my hubby is not home early enough in the evening to watch them so I can go run. So, therefore, I've started getting up at 5 a.m. (yes, I did say the ungodly hour of 5 a.m., lol) and do my running then. I have to say, I love it. The warm weather and sunshine is a great motivator for me personally. It's cool out in the morning and not many people are out and about yet. It's so...peaceful. I do my Pilates and weight-training at night once the kids are in bed because they would distract me in the morning so hence the evening exercise. Although, once school starts again, I plan to do all my exercising in the mornings after I see them both off to school. Because once they get off the school bus, everything goes helter skelter, lol.

I'm naturally a morning person so staying up to when the kids are soundly asleep has been a problem for me. The opposite of you, lol. I drink more water, it keeps me hydrated and therefore more alert.

Maybe try going to bed one hour earlier for a few nights and getting up a little earlier until your body's internal clock is somewhat adjusted. Also, the days when I run, it's great to think that my workout is basically done for the day at 6 a.m. Just a thought. Hope this helps.

P.S. My first child came along at 3 a.m. too!