So I’ve recently gone from a creative, freelance job where I could set my own hours (generally worked nights) to a 9-5er with more structure.
Hence, I’ve been doing the 5:30am workouts with my local master’s group, once it’s light out will be doing some morning runs, etc.
Here’s the problem… I am a complete night owl and can’t fall asleep before about 1:30. When I DO go to bed early, say 11, because I know I have to get up at 4:50 for swim team, I can’t fall asleep. It’s almost like I get so nervous that I have to get up ridiculously early that I can’t fall asleep because I am afraid I will over sleep.
This is kind of rambly, sorry. I guess here are my questions:
any night owls have the same problem? do you get up for morning workouts? how did you adjust your body to get used to this?
for a 5:30am swim, what time do you normally get up?
does anybody on here suffer from insomnia and still train? I would say twice a week I can’t fall asleep and toss and turn until about 3:30am.
how many hours of sleep a night do you get MINIMUM and still workout the next day? If I can’t fall asleep until 2am, does it even make sense to get up and do a 5:30 swim or would I be better off just getting more sleep?
Thanks in advance for any advice, I am really having a problem with this.
Court
Not sure how long you have been at this routine but I imagine that you will adapt. I could be wrong but I think the whole night owl/ early riser thing is more habit than anything else. I used to always be up late back when I could get away with it. Now having kids, early training and early travel I am up everyday before 6 and go to bed as early as I can with no issues. As to your other question I always feel better when I get up and train than when I try to sleep a bit longer. Good luck.
I agree with the getting up to train vs another hour of sleep theory. I am the opposite - a morning person. I regularly get up around 3 AM to go for a six mile run before starting work (I go into work about 5 AM). I find tho that if I get less than about 6 hours of sleep, then I’m in bed earlier that night (8 or9 PM, instead of my usual 10 PM). It all balances.
And so what if the training run isn’t your optimal pace or whatever. It’s training. Do it for fun.
trying to workout on 3 hours of sleep in not at all conducive to training. If you prefer to stay a night owl, maybe just do your workout/ workouts after work. Do one at around 5:30pm, and do another around eight. In my experience a few sleepless and or short nights of sleep wont initially bother you but eventually over the weeks, as it becomes a pattern and they build up, it eventually will take a serious toll on the body and training. You will not recover nearly as well and your workouts themselves will begin to suffer from lack of energy. just my opinion. I need a minimum of seven hours and prefer 8 to keep my training cycle on track.
I’ve been a chronic insomniac for about ten years. I’m forced to get up early to workout; and, I also am a night owl (as are most insomniacs). Before you change your routine, I would highly suggest you try very hard to adapt. You don’t want this insomnia to entrench itself; believe me, it’s a bugger to rid yourself of it: I’ve tried all the remedies, from meditation to cognitive therapy to medication.
If you can’t fit into the new sleep regime, then I would abandon the early morning workout, and sleep in. Do more training after work, and just a shorter, more intense session before work.
It’s hard for a lot of people to understand but some people’s clocks work differently and some people just can’t fall asleep. If it was up to me I’d wake up at 10AM every morning and stay up until 2-3AM. I tried that morning shit for 16 months before I finally gave up and regained my sanity. I would get in bed at 10PM, go to sleep at 1AM and wake up at 5AM for a workout. I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t making any gains and getting sick every 4-6 weeks. If I lived even 50 years ago, I’d probaly be some derelict drunk who couldn’t hold a job. Fortunately, I make my own hours and don’t have to worry about firing myself.
You need to go see a sleep doctor. He will give you drugs, they don’t tell everyone they need a CPAP machine. You’ll have to make some lifestyle changes along with the pills, but they will help you get started. I still occasionally have sleepless nights, but my sleep patterns have improved dramatically. It will take time and you may have to experiment with pills until you find one that works for you. Experimenting with pills sounds like fun but is anything but. One of them turned me into a zombie for 2 weeks, which wasn’t much worse than when I wasn’t sleeping, but my balance was also off so no training. One caused various hallucinations and amnesia (my wife telling me that I was on all fours barking like a dog in the middle of the night was one of the more tame ones).
Find another masters group if possible, there is no reason to beat your self over the head with a hammer every morning, so why work out when you’re not really going to benefit. That’s not the easy way out, it’s the smart thing to do. If you have discipline, you’ll get the work done, just not at 5:30.
I’m a night owl too, and I’ve found that the earlier I have to get up, even if I’m a little tired, I can’t sleep (I worry I won’t wake up in time so I toss and turn). Ambien works great. Once I’m asleep no problem staying asleep. I take 1/3 to 1/2 a pill about 1-2 a week to help me get to sleep if I know I need to get up early the next day.
have never been a nightowl, but have always had jobs where I worked late - either doing emergency surgery at ghastly hours, or (in last decade or so) working on deals 'til 11 or 12. I also manage to have trouble sleeping quite often - but have ALWAYS done my workouts in the morning, because (a) it’s the only time I can really call my own; (b) my body works best in the morning; and (c) most races begin in the morning.
For my 5:30 AM swims, I am usually up at 4:15 so I can eat something before working out. I don’t want to have a double empty tank (no sleep and no nutrition)
As long as I can get three hours of sleep, I’ll try to get up and train. It’s toughest if I take the ‘pinkeye’ flight from CA, landing in NYC at ~12:30 AM; that usually means getting into bed no earlier than 2:30 or 3 AM.
On the other hand, I try to listen to my body; if I wake up and feel totally shredded, I’ll just go back to sleep and either shrink, shift (to a later time) or blow off my workout.
Sleep requirements are highly individual. I almost never get more than 6 hours of sleep; when I have huge training weeks (for me, that means 10 hours or more), I may have a couple of days with 6.5 - 7 hours, but my usual night is about 5 or 5.5 hours.
Sleep patterns are highly individual. I’m also very much a night owl. It is rare that I can get to sleep before 1:30 or 2am. The more I try to force myself to sleep (earlier), the harder it is to sleep… i.e. that’s just asking for insomnia. So, I long ago gave up on changing my habits. My mind just comes alive in the evening and I have to roll with it. My wife’s been able to adjust her sleep schedule to be more inline with mine. She can pretty much sleep whenever, without even trying. I’m very fortunate for that!
I’ve tried getting in morning workouts and I find that I just do better training at lunch and in the evening. I’m basically worthless for much of anything before 8:30 or 9 in the morning. So, evenings it is for me. I have great lighting systems for cycling and running… absolutely essential for the dark winter nights.
Hey, being a night owl ain’t that bad! Enjoy the pervasive peace and quiet when most everyone else is asleep. =)
Probably not… I think I live in the wrong neighborhood. But I do remember the ER doc in Sacramento fixating and trying to scrape the grease stain off on the end of my exposed finger bone in '78, now that was gruesome. It still gives me the willies.
I hear you. These threads always make me feel better about my sleeping problems, compared to the responses by people who brag about how they sleep 9 hours every night and that is the key to their success, and when they wake up early and work out a lot they sleep so much better, and that is what we all shoulkd do blah, blah …
Anyway, there is an adjustment period for early rising, but I think consistency is the key. Waking at 5 some mornings and 8 others just won’t work for most people. But like one guy said, if you can’t adjust over a period of weeks or months, it may not be for you. I think we can do ONE good workout or race with just 3-4 hours sleep, but an awesome workout after 3 nights in a row of minimal sleep? forget it.
Last year, during IM training, there were weeks when I slept poorly (4-5 hours) 2 or 3 nights a week, despite waking every day between 5 and 6 and trying to get to bed by 10. I often tossed and turned til 1 or later. But I did at least get 7+ hours the other 4-5 nights a week. I worked out 30-90 min. in the a.m. (6-7 a.m.) and 60 to 90 p.m. before 7 p.m. plus weekends … I’m training 50 % less now and sleeping much better (7+ hours 5-6 nights a week, with only one bad (5 hr) night a week) and I hope I can keep it up when I bump up the training again.
“It’s almost like I get so nervous that I have to get up ridiculously early that I can’t fall asleep because I am afraid I will over sleep.”
Yep. I remember this. It still happens when I am afraid of missing the bus to coach cross country, or something like that.
I admit I take Tylenol PM 1-2X a week. It works OK. Ambien 1 or 2x a month. Great stuff. No side effects that I can tell for me. Good luck!
