Ever notice that a morning workout has several advantages for your body and your mind? Studies have found that you will feel more alert and productive all day if you exercise in the morning.
We know not everyone is a morning person, and fewer of us are willing to work out in the morning. But getting up and get moving is actually an amazing way to start your day. For most of us, the question is how to overcome our laziness and procrastination – how can we get everything ready in limited time and get to the gym in time?
If you find getting up and exercising in the morning is easier said than done, try the below 15 usual tips and tricks that may do you a great help!
1. Go to Bed Early
Going to bed early at night has many advantages. It leads to being relaxed and good sleep quality so that you are much more energetic to start your day when you get up! If your goal is to get up early, you mustn’t go to bed too late. For example, if you fall asleep at 4 a.m., you will definitely not able to wake up at 5 a.m., right?
2. Pack Accordingly
One possible disadvantage of exercising in the morning is that your time is limited. Suppose you’re dressed and fed – now it’s time to head to the gym. But don’t forget anything that you might want to bring with you. Nothing is worse than getting to the gym and realizing something is at home.
So it’s necessary to pack up what you need and prepare your bag accordingly, especially when you are an athlete or a coach that teaches different classes. Packing accordingly will help you overcome the limitation by having a set of routine and not wasting time looking for your sneakers, water bottle or keys.
3. Get Things by the Door or in Your Car
Suppose you have put everything that you might want to bring with you by the door. Now that you finish a set of routine. What you need to do is: put on your shoes, pick up your bag and get into your car to the gym. It will be great if you place your bag by the door. No minutes will be wasted and nothing will be left.
Also you can keep several things in your car at all times – like your workout gloves and headphones. That further reduces the changes that something will be left behind when you are still a little sleepy.
4. Have A Better Breakfast
You may want to eat something quick, like a banana or a handful of almonds, to give you a boost of energy before working out. Then after you cool down, have your real breakfast and make it special as a reward for your efforts.
Instead of a high-fat muffin or fried eggs and bacon that may sabotage your exercise efforts, you should have a healthy, satisfying breakfast, such as eggs with veggies or oatmeal with fruit and nuts. When you get back, that will motivate you as well.
5. Set 2 or More Alarms
For Holly Rilinger, Nike Master Trainer and co-creator of BeachFIT, setting 2 alarms is necessary. The first one lets her know she has 15 more minutes to sleep, which makes her happy. Then she meditate for 10 minutes, drink an almond milk cappuccino, play music, and throw on a super-bright Nike outfit. “Caffeine, clear head, neon. I’m out the door and ready to take on the day! ”
For some people, maybe setting 2 alarms isn’t enough. They may need 5 or more alarms, starting half an hour before they want to get up. They get into the habit and bombard themselves with obnoxious alarms. Finally they get up, and will thanks themselves later.
6. Move Your Alarm Clock
Instead of sleeping with the alarm next to your pillow or your bed, move it to the other side of the room. That way, you’ll have to get up and get out of bed to shut it off. Once you’re up, it’s much easier to stretch, put up your workout clothes and head out the door to go to the gym for a morning workout routine.
You can also set your alarm to a song from your workout playlist to get you in the mood for workouts.
7. Turn to Your Furry Friends.
Trust me, nothing is more effective than one or more barking dogs barking at you to get you up and running. If you own a dog that you run with in the morning before you before, or a cat that wake you up for cat food every morning at 5 a.m., you definitely have to get up and be their servant.
8. Try Some Coffee
For many people, coffee is their life. They drink as much coffee as they can to get their zombie-like bodies out the door before they know what’s happening to them. Caffeine gradually wakes them up.
So if you are a person like that, you can try a cup of coffee everyday when you get off your bed. It does work.
9. Cool down to Warm up
This works great especially in cold day. If you ride a bicycle or a motorbike to the gym instead of taking a bus or driving a car, you don’t even need a cup of coffee! The temperature is extremely low in winter morning. And the bitter breeze smacks so hard in your face that will definitely wake you up!
10. Load Fast Tempo Music Onto Your iPod
A great number of people love listening to music while working out in the gym. Actually music is a good motivator, especially in the morning. Research has shown that listening to music when you work out can product positive thoughts and help reduce fatigue.
So try using a faster tempo to pump you up. If you have a great playlist, it can be enough to get you out of bed in the morning.
11. Ask A Friend with You
Having a workout routine buddy is a great motivator as well. If you are still unsure you are going to make your morning wake up, ask a friend to go with you. Make plans to meet your exercise partner at the gym or on the tennis courts at 7 a.m. You are less likely to be procrastinated if you know someone is waiting for you.
12. Reward Your Efforts
If you meet your workout goals and get up early five out of seven days to work out in the morning, do something nice for yourself at the end of the week, like seeing a new movie, go to your favorite restaurant or getting yourself a Beats headset.
Find what motivates you and use it to get you out of your bed each morning for your workout routine.
13. Tell the World About Your Plans
You can tell everyone you know about your morning workout routine. Post your plans on Facebook, Twitter, your blog or other social media website. Once you do so, it’s harder not to follow through with it.
14. Sleep in Your Workout Clothes
If you sleep in your workout clothes, you will keep in mind that you have a plan of getting up early for morning workouts. Also it saves time as you don’t need to change clothes when you get up in the morning.
15. Make It A Habit
Do it no matter what and make it a habit. To get to the bigger goal of working out in the morning, you should also stick to small habits along the way, like packing your bag accordingly and setting 2 alarms. If you get used to this small habits, you will gradually find it much easier to achieve the bigger goal of working out in the morning.
When you gradually get used to working out in the morning, you benefit a lot physically. Beside, you got something else – consistency or perseverance that helps you to move farther and further in life and work field.