How To Get Up in the Morning and Go to the Gym

What does it take to get you to the gym in the morning? Many people have a hard enough time getting up in time for work - let alone getting in a solid workout. Add a dash of cold weather to your morning and let's face it -- you're staying in bed again, hitting snooze until your bus pulls away. Most of us need all the help we can get (there's even a blog dedicated to helping you wake up early).

But what about the people who seem to be able to beat the system? How do they do it? How do they leave their warm beds on - let's say - a dark morning with a chance of rain and sleet? Well - many people find morning time in the gym helps their day go better.

How can you get yourself up and out? For starters, it's about creating a habit. Some say it takes a month - thirty days - to create a habit. If you have a big calendar you might hang it where you can see it. Check off each day you go to the gym on that calendar - to prove that you really did it! You should try to go to the gym every day - even if when you get there, all you do is sauna and shower. If you don't go every day, you are probably not creating a habit.

Some people go to the gym because they appreciate the sense of camaraderie. You will find role models at the gym who are fitter than you are and who are more consistent in their exercise program. You will also make friends with people who work out at the same time you do. When you trade workout tips or commiserate with them you are forging a relationship that will make you want to go back and see them - often!

Still others find their workouts become an addiction. That's a good thing. Those endorphins that you read about in health and science publications are real. Here's how they work, according to WebMD: when you exercise, your body releases chemicals called endorphins. These chemicals interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain. For that reason, endorphins may help people who are experiencing depression. 

Some people, like this woman who has been coming to the gym at the same time for decades, say it's because of all three reasons - habit, camaraderie, and addiction:

A couple of odd ideas - one woman I talked with does not wear pajamas, but sleeps in her workout clothes. When the alarm rings, she puts on her running shoes and heads out the door. Another woman jokes that she just goes for the hot coffee that's available in the lobby. Once she is at the gym, drinking the coffee, it seems silly to turn around and go home without a workout.

What do you do to get up in the morning? What is your best tip for getting to the gym? No idea is too strange - if it works. Leave your thoughts in the comments or check out the poll in the sidebar.