Some people are morning people and some people are not. I get that. But if the morning is the only chance you get to workout, can you turn yourself into a morning person? Yes, you can, and I have five tips to wake up early and workout!
1. Go to bed early! If you’re going to get up early, you have got to go to bed early. Needing 7 – 8 hours of sleep each night is no joke. Just ask this girl. Seriously, get some good shut eye, wake up earlier (and happier!).
2. Set an alarm. Well, duh. But the kicker here is you actually have to wake up to it! Stop hitting the snooze and WAKE UP! I program a corny an inspirational message into mine to remind me why exactly I’m rising before the sun. Plus, itz a good reminder of how amazing I’ll feel after!
3. Have your clothes ready to go! Minimize excuses and lay all your stuff out the night before. And if you’re a total nerd like me, you’ll have more time to try to match your fitgear. (My sparkly Sweaty Band headband matches everything which is why I wear it all.the.time.)
4. Put all your extra stuff in one place, so itz ready to grab and go! For me, itz my keys, water bottle, magazine, Yurbuds, & iPod. I don’t always read a magazine or listen to my iPod at the gym, but at least I have it in case I do want it. No excuses!
5. Get your butt out the door and GO! Getting there is the hardest part, but once you’re there itz a WIN! And I know you’ve heard the quote, “I regret that workout,” said NO ONE EVER! Itz true. Early morning gym sessions may not be the most attractive, but at least you’re there gettin’ it done. Make it happen, friends!
YOU CAN DO IT!
Are you a morning gym person? Any tips you find helpful that weren’t listed?
Great tips! I usually don’t have a problem getting up in the morning for my workout, but these are really going to come in handy those days when I do
Great tips Linz!! For anyone who reads this, they will now officially have NO EXCUSE!!
Yep, I do all of these! I also have to have a PLAN. If I don’t know what I’m getting up for (weights, speed intervals, etc.) it’s much easier to hit the snooze button while I “decide.”
great tips.
shall we start a service texting people and dragging em out of bed?
Great tips girl!
I used to be an early morning workout person last semester, but I got out of the habit of doing it. I just don’t have the motivation so early in the morning anymore! I guess I needed these tips.
These are some great tips! Early morning workouts are definitely tough but I always feel so accomplished when my workout is done before I start my day! Such a great feeling!
Great tips! I’m a morning person and LOVE my morning workouts, and I do all of these things too. It really makes it that much easier to get out the door. The only exception is that my alarm reads “get your butt outta bed!”
What great tips! And these are tips that I TOTALLY need. I just cannot seem to get motivated to workout in the morning, but whenever I do I feel so great afterwards. I will definitely be utilizing some of these tips. I especially love the idea of using an inspirational message in your alarm wake-up. That seriously just might work for me
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I am totally a AM workout girl. Before I was married and had a child my alarm would go off at 4:55 to hit the gym. Now it goes off at 5am and go downstairs for an hour of ME time. I’d be a mess without my workouts!
Yes, great tips! I do all of the above & also plan my workout in my head the night before so I know what exactly I’ll do at the gym. Not having to think about it in the morning is key, you just grab your gear and go! PS. My morning alarm says “Wake the F-ck up!”, not the nicest, it does the trick though
You’re so right that getting to the gym is the hardest part. Although, if it’s early enough, I can usually drag my hiney to the gym before I even become fully awake and conscious.
1, 3 and 4 are definitely on my list!
I don’t workout in the morning, usually but I do get up early
Great tips!
i totally take advantage of the whole setting my alarm to some cheesy phrase!! i usually go with “rise and shine girl! it’s time to kick some butt!” it definitely works for me!
Great tips girl! I definitely agree with all of these. Even though it’s hard to get out of bed at first, I always feel SO good after a good early morning sweat sesh!
Awesome tips! I love the label for your alarm.
I am definitely a morning gym person. I will NOT go if I leave it until the end of the day. And nothing feels better than starting the day with a workout.
I am most weeks! This week has been a fail for the AM workouts, but always next week to get back to it. I think the key point for me is knowing it is done for the day and the fact that I dread going to the gym at night when it is so packed! Having an emptyish gym is so much better and more rewarding for me
I love how you titled your alarm ‘Itz time to rock my workout’! It is definitely a lot more motivating to read that when you wake up instead of ‘workout’.
Great advice! In the summer I am great at getting up and working out but in the winter, it is so hard to get up when it is cold and dark outside. I’m going to try to gather all of my stuff together so I can just grab it and go in the AM
Haha. YESSSSS. I am so glad you referred to me as a person who KNOWS sleep is best.
So true. I’m glad I’m recognized as having that role! My husband loves that I go to bed so early…..not. hah.
I LOVE these tips, ESP the get your clothes ready the night before tip! HUGE huge help!
Setting clothes, keys, iPod out is definitely at the top of my list. It’s 1000x more difficult to get out the door when I’m not prepared down to what socks I’m wearing.
Simple yet effective tips! I am back to waking up early and another tip I could add is to NOT listen to ourselves if we try to talk ourselves out of it. I had to learn to just tell myself to STFU and do it
Most definitely a morning person! It’s second nature to me to wake up at 4:30 and get my workout in before 6. I don’t even need an alarm anymore!
I work out every morning, NO ands, ifs or BUTS about it… But what helps on one of those days when I am dragging, is bringing a brand new magazine with me, so I can lose myself in it while reading and sweating it out! What also helps is knowing that in the scheme of things, working out is a TINY percentage of the day… And taking care of it early in the morning will only keep me focused on what I need to be focused on for the rest of the day!!
These are awesome tips! One of my favorites for those who just hit snooze, is put your phone/alarm clock far from the bed. That way you have to get up and out of bed to turn it off. By then you are less likely to go back and if you have a furry friend they won’t let you
Ps. I love your yellow tank, where is it from?
1. I hit an issue with the very first one. You mean I can’t go to bed at midnight and set the alarm for 4am? No joke, that’s what I do. Hence, me not always getting up.
2. Oh man, we need to hear that message.
3. Check. I’m with you on this one.
4. This one I don’t do. I like it tho.
5. Hmmm.. but it’s cold outside. Bed is warm.
Great tips! When I was doing long runs during training, I always set my clothes out the night before. It makes things much easier in the morning!
Accountability is another great tip. When I first started working out in the mornings I got a trainer for about a month to get me in the habit. I wasn’t going to miss a 5:30 am session that I’d paid for! But meeting a friend at the gym, putting a dollar in a jar, etc. are all tactics I’ve heard before. I’ve also found that most gyms have those early morning “regulars”, and once you become one you get heckled a good bit if you miss a few days..ha!
people always ask how i make working out in the am a priority, you pretty much nailed it with these
Pre-baby I was ALWAYS a morning work out person, now I try to do it while he is awake first thing in the am.
I am indeed a morning worker outer and I do all of the things you mentioned! Laying out the clothes are the most important step I think, after the alarm obviously
I’m no morning gym person, I definitely prefer the afternoon, but I’m all for the getting up early! I find that the best alarm clock is ambition. If there’s something I’m ridiculously excited about, whether it be a project or whatever else, being ambitious about it turns my pillow into a springboard. First thing to do though is to find something to be ambitious about, and if you don’t have anything, I’d recommend you take a close look at your passions and follow them!
If I could, I’d sleep in every day and never wake up early. But in reality, an early morning wake up call is often necessary for my training. I like to say I’m not a morning person, I just pretend to be. Great tips!
These are all the same tips I would give! Putting your stuff out the night before makes your brain have to work less and everything go faster, and you just have to DO IT! That’s the hardest part – getting out of bed and then out the door!
My tip for working out in the early mornings is to get dressed the minute you get out of bed…then you have no excuse but go straight to the gym! It’s working for me and I am REALLY not a morning person. But once I am dressed then there’s no turning back!
These tips are great!! I am a morning studier… afternoon worker outer. But sometimes I need to workout in the morning and these tips will come in handy!
#1 gets me everytime… I’m more likely to workout at midnight than 5 am. Totally hopeless.
I always have to set my alarm 30 mins before I need to get up and do four 7 minute snoozes. Random I know but it works. Haha! And I always sleep in my workout clothes when I have to do an early am workout.
I always think I can workout in the morning with limited sleep. I am not the brightest!
I’m a little late haha, but these are some pretty good tips! My hours are really flexible at work so luckily I haven’t had to use my mornings for exercising yet, but hey– maybe one day in the future! For now, I’m milking my leisure time to relax and drink coffee
Love this! My goal for February was to get up early and workout first thing. I don’t have to be at work until later and I don’t work every day, so it’s really hard for me to get up early when there’s nothing pressing me to. I find that when I HAVE to workout early, I totally can. Usually, the earlier I get my workout done, the more accomplished and productive I feel the rest of the day too.