Functioning on lack of sleep

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Pippadog1

Cathlete
Hi all

This is just a query. I noticed alot of you do early morning workouts. Some people get up at 4.00am and workout. I just wondered how you stop yourselves getting so tired. I would love to be able to function with little sleep but I just can't seem to manage it. Is there some secret ingredient, lots of water perhaps or energisers. I just can't seem to keep up with everyone.

Thanks
Laura
xx
 
Well, you need to go to bed earlier! :D I am a 5am'er, and I have been so tired since the time change -- it just has really done me in. I even go to bed early, but for some reason I've just been so tired. I don't think you can really function on a lack of sleep in the long run, so you're going to have to find some happy medium where you are getting enough sleep, but pushing the limits.

-Beth
 
Hi, Laura.

I'm an early morning worker-outer! :D I usually get to SLEEP by 11pm at the latest. I can get to BED sooner than that, but my body doesn't really settle down till 11 or so. My alarm is set for 4:30am and I'm usually in the basement HITTING PLAY on the DVD player (or iPod) by 5:20am or so.

When I'm eating cleanly or very well, I have energy throughout the day to keep up with LIFE, which includes Mom to 2 kids, PTA President, care-giver, volunteer, school employee, etc. However, when I'm not eating well, then my butt is a'draggin' all day long!

The other thing I find, for me, is that drinking my water is essential to keeping me going. I've had days/weeks where I eat well but haven't had my water (which is a gallon a day) and THAT makes a huge difference in how I feel also.

It all becomes habit after a while.

Gayle
 
I'm a morning exerciser, but I don't necessarily function on less sleep. I just have to go to bed earlier than I otherwise would, like the others who commented above. I get up at 4:00, so I have to get to sleep between 9:00 and 10:00 to feel rested enough. I'm always tired when the alarm goes off, but if I've gotten to bed early enough, I can pull it off. (I often miss staying up later, but if I don't get to bed and get my workout in early in the a.m., my workout generally just doesn't happen.)

Good luck!

Deborah
 
I am an early am exerciser too. BUT I go to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 pm. My boys get up very early and we are on the go all day. I can't keep up on lack of sleep. I can do a weight workout in the afternoon but NO cardio or it keeps me awake!!!!

Today I was outside all day playing t-ball with my boys, if I don't sleep tonight, there will be no early workout for me tomorrow!!!!

Good Luck
and just ignore Gayle- she runs on jet fuel all the time!!!

ellie
 
I cannot seem to sleep longer than 5 hours. Sometimes it catches up with me and I take little cat naps on my break at work. 10 minutes of resting in the first aid room seems to help. On weekends I take longer rests if I can during the day, and I seem to function OK. Even when I don't exercise in the morning my body wakes up at 4-5am. On weekends I can stretch it to 6 or 7, but I am usually up until midnight.
 
I am a 4:00 exerciser, and I have always been an early bird. I generally want to fall asleep around 8:00pm, although for one reason or another, I can't actually go to sleep until about 9:30 or so. I do work out in the evening as well, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, just because my schedule allows for it. On those days I do more complicated stuff, requiring me to drag out all my fitness gear. I can also be much louder then, which is great!
 
i think everyone just needs a different amount....

dh and i go to bed and wake up at the same time. i wake up 1-2x/night to feed the baby and he never even stirs when she cries out. i never nap....he does on the weekends.

depending on baby's schedule i either workout at 530am or 8pm. i never have any problem getting to sleep. waking up is another story!:p

hope you find something that works for you!
 
I start at 4:30 a.m. and am in bed by 9:00 p.m. and hopefully asleep by 9:30. That gives me about 7 hours, which works ok for me. For years I taught a 5:15 a.m. spinning class, and I sure wasn't going to bed at 9:00 then, so I think I've trained my body to function on less sleep. Now that I've been reading so much about the importance of sleep, it's a wonder I didn't screw myself up.
 
I think for most of us, we are not operating on lack of sleep, we are just going to bed earlier. I have to get up and get my workout in early or like others have stated, it probably would not happen. I work a very demanding job and I am just too worn out most nights to do anything when I get home.
Rachel
 
i think that i have just gotten used to functioning on less sleep. i get anywhere from 5-7 hrs a night. I have a bit of insomnia so top that with getting up at 4:45 to workout and i'm tired. But the workouts always give me energy for my morning. At lunch time i try to grab a 20 min power nap which really helps get me through the rest of my day. I'm usually in bed by 9:30 but i'm up and down throughout the night. I just do it. I don't think about it. Its the only time i can get my workouts in so there is no negotiating at this time. You will be really tired for the first week or two but your body will adapt and in the end you may even sleep better. good luck!
 
I am an early am exerciser, usually up by 4:45 am. I go to bed between 9 and 10 pm, so I usually get about 7 hours of sleep or so. My body would really like to sleep 8.5 or 9 hours per night, but that's just not realistic. On the weekends, I nap to catch up on sleep.

I agree with Kate, different people need different amounts. My husband could survive on four hours a night, but not me!

I am pretty much always tired when the alarm goes off at 4:30 am, but then again... I would be tired if the alarm was going off at 6 am or 7 am or whatever:p
 
For me, it's all about the trade off. I've been working out in the morning for years. I discovered it's the way to trick myself. Now, my alarm goes off at 4:30, and I'm sweating by 4:40.

I'm in that zombie like state before I get going, and I'm half asleep for about the first 15 minutes of my workout. So before I know it, I'm done! :) Seriously!

I also find that if I don't work out in the morning, I WON'T do it when I get home at night. I'll make excuse after excuse and generally feel crappy about it. I know this. So when that alarm goes off, no matter how tired I am, I think about having to do it after I get home from work (when i'm TRULY tired) and that always motivates me to get up.

I'm in bed usually around 9, and asleep before 10 most nights. And if I'm lucky, my 9 month old let's me sleep all the way through the night. My luck is about 50/50. Ha!
 
I am just amazed at those of you who can function on 5 hours of sleep! I totally get those of you who just go to bed earlier, but Gayle, how the heck, do you go to bed at 11 p.m. and get up early??? If I'm not getting 8 hours of sleep, you don't even want to be around me the next day! ;) Heck, even after 8 hours of sleep, I find it hard to get up! ;) I wish I could make myself go to bed early and get up early to work out, but I'm too much of a night owl - never gonna happen! ;)
 
Nope, I'm a night owl so don't mind doing my w/o's in the evenings. I prefer to do them as soon as I get home from work but usually have to wait until DS is in bed at 8pm. A couple years ago I tried getting up at 5am and I'd be falling asleep driving my car to work in stop and go traffic. I don't find a.m. w/o's give me the energy to get through the day. I will admit the side benefit of a.m. w/os is life generally won't interfer in the same way evening w/os do and foresee a time in the future where I may have to give a.m. w/os another shot:(
 
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