Hacker News Reader

Comment by IAmGraydon | Hacker News Reader

I used to stay up until around 1am every night. I found it very easy to fix this - I now go to the gym at 5:30am. Within a couple of weeks I found it very easy to go to sleep at 10pm or earlier. It’s more than just getting up early - you’re telling your body you need it to be ready to perform early in the morning. Just like a muscle grows when you demand more of it, I think this sets off an adaptive reaction that results in earlier and easier sleep.

View on HN

Okay, but now you're going to the gym at 5:30 in the morning. For everyone who isn't an early bird, that's literal torture. In other words, it's nice if that works for you, but this is not really generalizable.

I was a big time night owl before we had kids. Now, I get up without an alarm around 5-5:30 most days and am able to fall asleep around 10.

I don’t mind the change at all and don’t think it’s impossible for most people to habituate themselves to a different schedule.

Going to the gym at 5:30am is torture for everyone. I’m not some weirdo who enjoys getting out of my warm bed and going out into the cold and dark to pick up weights. I do it precisely because it’s hard. The workout that happens in the gym is great, but the real workout happens in my head every time I have to tell myself to get up and go.

I'm not an early bird. I work out with a group at start times between 4:45 and 5:45 AM five days a week. Most of the other people I work out with are also not early birds. We workout early in the morning because that is the only time of day where we don't have other demands on our time.

Nobody is being tortured (literally or figuratively) and it is highly generalizable.

Meh. Anyone can get used to it after a while. A little torture is good for you.

I go to sleep at 1am. I wake up at 9:45am. Is there something wrong with this?

I have my daily standup at 10:30, so I have enough time to drink water, and do morning rituals before I start to work. Feels good. I don’t know what would be the advantage of going to sleep at 10pm and waking up at 6:45.

That’s approximately 4 hours of work per day (excluding the ‘whatever comes’ time). For most businesses, availability during standard office hours might be too limited with this schedule.

Where do you get "4 hours of work per day" based on when their work day starts? It's missing the second half of the equation - the end of the work day.

I would say there's nothing wrong with it if it keeps you happy and healthy. For me, getting out of bed at 10:30am would feel like I'm leaving a lot on the table. I like to be productive with as many daylight hours as possible. It's personal preference. If I were retired and looking to relax a bit more, I might adopt a bit later schedule.

Always at 5am whether I like it or not. I'd love to be able to hit the gym then, but my morning poop is a mandatory piece of my wellbeing routine, but that requires me to eat breakfast to get the works going. I can't lift with a full belly and my high protein diet means that proper digestion is a 2+ hour affair.

I have always been curious how people manage this to workout so early. Do you skip pooping? That would wreak havok on my workday.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com