Getting out of bed in the AM to work out can be hard, but maybe working out in the morning is your only time to be active and look after your health.
Thus, you need to push yourself to get out of the covers and jump out of bed.
Whatever your goal for exercising is, laziness and comfort are the enemies to achieving them. Do you agree?
Continue to sleep with your dreams, or wake up and chase them. – Carmelo Anthony
You’re not the only one having trouble dragging yourself out of bed and kick-starting the day with exercise. Trust me, I’ve been there, too!
But, it’s never too late to form new habits.
So, I’m giving you 8 tips you can use to get out of bed in the morning and start exercising!
Follow these long enough until they become a habit. Then, everything will be automatic!
Create your routine in advance
Plan out your day in advance. You can do it the night before.
If that is too daunting or not your thing, you can opt to just outline your tasks for the morning.
This creates a sense of urgency at the back of your mind. That will prompt you to wake up and get those tasks started asap. And, of course, prioritize working out in that morning list.
It is important that you keep your goals realistic, though. Overestimating your abilities to finish the goals you set will just leave you anxious instead of productive.
Prepare a workout routine in advance so you don’t have to spend time every day planning what to do in the gym.
Likewise, you can also create a meal plan in advance so you have the ingredients ready, and all you need to do is to cook them.
When writing your routine, do a brain drain. Write every short-term task you need to accomplish. If it is not urgent and can be done later in the week, remove them.
Then, for the urgent tasks, break them down step by step into manageable chunks. Here’s an example…
Instead of just writing down “prepare for workout”, you can break it down into:
- Have coffee
- Eat breakfast
- Grab workout gear
- Go over workout routine
Then, as you check off those small tasks, your brain rewards you with feel-good hormones.
This positive reinforcement makes accomplishing the other tasks something to look forward to, instead of something to dread.
Prepare your clothes and workout gear the night before
This is a time- and mental energy-saving tip you should be doing.
Most of the time, picking out which clothes to wear can take more time than taking a shower and eating before working out.
You sometimes forget that you are supposed to work out, and get caught up choosing between pairs of clothes like you were attending a fashion show. You know it, and I, too, am guilty of it.
The same goes with your workout gear. Put everything you need in your gym bag before you head to bed — your gym towels, protein shaker bottle, exercise bands, skipping rope, and your headphones.
In the AM, getting geared up for the gym would simply mean putting on your pre-planned attire and grabbing your bag. And, there’s less chances of leaving something behind.
You’d be out of the door quicker than Usain Bolt running a hundred meters.
Have a pre-workout meal or drink ready
Proats, or protein oats, are easy to prepare and packed with high amounts of protein and carbs, which is exactly what you need for proper workout nutrition.
Simply mix oats, milk, and protein powder in a bowl the night before. So, in the morning all you have to do is heat it and eat.
The less complicated the task you have to do before working out, the more you’ll look forward to the workout itself.
You can also set your coffee to brew before your alarm goes off so that you have a hot cup of joe ready when you walk out of the room.
If you prefer drinking your breakfast, then I suggest drinking a mass gainer in the morning.
Like proats, it is a high-carb and high-protein meal that will provide you with the fuel you need for exercise and recovery. And, it’s not too heavy to make you sluggish or bloated during your workout.
You can sip on it while going over the list of things you need to do or while reading a book. This stimulates your mind and helps you out of that groggy state.
Workout near or at home
If going to the gym is tough, you are less likely to go, right? Just imagining the traffic and how long you’ll be driving can be enough of an excuse for you to bail on the gym.
Sign-up for a gym membership at the facility closest to your home so that heading to the gym itself does not feel like a chore on its own.
If you have the money, you can invest in a home gym instead. You might be paying a huge amount for it now, but you’ll never have to pay for gym membership ever again.
Then, all you have to do is step into the garage, living room, or backyard. It will save you time, energy, and gas money.
Plus, you’ll be forced to use it so the amount you invested won’t go to waste. And whatever the season is, getting to the gym would never be a problem.
Make the gym as accessible as possible.
Station your alarm far from the bed
When your alarm is just an arm’s length from where you are lying, it’s easy to press snooze and doze off again.
Place your alarm inside the room but place it as far away from the bed as possible. This will force you to get out of bed, walk, and turn off the alarm.
Once you do that, your brain and body have been stimulated enough to get you out of your half-asleep state.
I found that placing it near the door is effective for me. So that once I turn it off, Ican head out of the room and start with my pre-workout morning ritual.
Make your bed immediately after waking up
First, making your bed gets you moving and your blood flowing. This makes you less likely to crawl back into the sheets.
After, you most probably would not want to wrinkle the sheets again or redo making the bed. Thus, you are giving yourself no choice but to bid your bed goodbye and start your morning.
This small task sets the tone for your day. It starts your day with discipline, action, and organization.
This tiny accomplishment sets you up for finishing one task after the other, and that includes exercising.
Choose the right training type
Pick an exercise or design a workout that you will look forward to doing. Don’t make yourself dread working out.
For improving body composition — gaining muscle and losing body fat — you can create a workout program that incorporates resistance training and cardio.
In-between your lifting sets, you can skip rope for rest. Or, use it at the end of the workout for active recovery.
You can also alternate days for lifting and cardio.
For overall health, you cannot separate training for strength and hypertrophy, with cardio training.
If you don’t like doing cardio, then it probably would be a bad idea to plan a 30-minute morning run first.
If you like lifting weights but hate leg days, then try a push-pull routine where you’ll be training the upper body with the lower body in the same session.
The key is to put the training type you like doing first.
Improve your sleep hygiene
Quality sleep is vital for improving your physical and mental health, productivity, and overall quality of life.
Ditch the phone 1-2 hours before your established sleep time.
The blue light from your screen interferes with the production of melatonin, which signals your body to start winding down and prepare for slumber.
Plus, social media content is designed to stimulate your mind, keeping you glued to the screen and disrupting proper sleep patterns. You end up sleeping late and sluggish in the morning.
Also, avoid consuming caffeinated drinks and heavy meals at least 4 hours before bed. Caffeine keeps you awake, a large meal keeps your metabolism revving high, hence, your body awake.
The last tip for sleep hygiene is to keep your room dark. Close the curtains, turn off the lamps, block out any light source.
All of these are done to create a regular sleep pattern.
In the morning, open the curtain and let the sunlight in. If you wake up so early that the sun’s not yet out, turn on bright lights. You can also use a wake-up light.
A lack of sleep negatively affects your motivation, and energy levels the next day. Thus, improving your sleep hygiene will directly impact how you start your day.
The better your sleep hygiene, the easier it is to get out of bed.
Final Thoughts
Wanting to exercise in the morning is already a big step in the right direction. Now, what you need is to actually start working out on a regular basis.
Use these 8 tips to help you form the healthy habit of being active in the AM!
Not only will these tips help you get out of bed and exercise, but they will also help you achieve more tasks throughout the day. One task completed will turn into many tasks completed!
Ready to start your mornings right?