How To Get Yourself Up For A Morning Workout

Sometimes it feels like getting out of bed is half the challenge. But the benefits to your body are worth the momentary pain of dragging yourself outside to move each morning.

Here are our tips to really rise and grind:

1. Prepare. Prepare. Prepare.
   It’s important to remove any barriers or excuses your half asleep self may make in the morning. Make things as easy as possible. Lay out your clothes and shoes the night before. Set a timer on your coffee pot. If you’ll need a morning snack, prep ahead of time. Have your workout bag packed and by the door. Anything it takes to allow you to roll out of bed and right into your workout.
2. Sleep.
   Make a rule, no late nights before early morning workouts. It’s so much easier to get out of bed in the morning when you’re waking up refreshed.
3. Jump out of bed.
   Don’t give yourself a second to think about whether you should get up or how you feel. Don’t scroll through your phone. Don’t allow time for excuses. Train yourself to pop out of bed the second the alarm goes off. If you don’t “think” and just react, you’re halfway there. It may not feel great in the moment, but it will once you get to your workout.
4. Make it a habit.
   The more often you get up early for a workout, the easier it will become. You won’t have to think about should you do it tomorrow. You just will. You’ll start to wake up earlier. Your body will be expecting that morning exercise rush. Don’t let it down.
5. Cherish the afterglow.
   Spend time to acknowledge the benefits of your morning workouts each day. How do you feel during breakfast? How do you feel mentally starting your day after you’ve already worked out? How accomplished do you feel checking things off your list already? Do you feel you have more energy later in the day? To motivate you to continue, it’s important to acknowledge all of the good things you get after each workout.

We all know the affect our daily activities can have on our energy and mindset.  Sometimes, all it takes is one bad email, phone call, or meeting (sometimes all three) and we’re more likely to head for the comfort of home instead of the gym.  The point is, don’t give yourself all day to come up with an excuse not to exercise, or to make other plans that will prevent you from exercising.  Complete your workout in the morning and give yourself the rest of the day to focus on work and enjoy the activities of the day or to make plans for the evening.  After all, you can’t skip something if you've already done it.

More Tips:

• Reward Yourself. Treat yourself to something special for making that hard morning choice.
• Schedule a buddy. It’s hard to skip an early workout when someone else got out of bed and is waiting for you.
• Keep your alarm away from your bed.
• Turn the light on. (If you’re not waking a partner.) Blinding light first thing makes it harder to go back to sleep.
• Splash yourself. Splash cold water on your face (or jump in and out of the shower) to refresh you and wash the sleepiness away.

Like what you see in the image? Get the October collection today!