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My Top 5 Early Morning Workout Tips

I don't know about y'all, but I'm such a pro when it comes to hitting the snooze button on my alarms in the morning. I'm also really, really good at talking myself out of getting up and going to the gym to get in an early morning work out.
 
But it's cold outside.
Ugh, it's raining.
I'll just go tomorrow morning instead...
It's dark out!
 
Anybody else like that? I'm sure I'm not the only one. I'd much rather workout in the morning at the gym when it's pretty empty than fight the after work crowd in the evenings, so I'm pretty set on trying to wake up early to go. It's hard though!

I love daylight savings time as much as the next person but that first week after? So hard to get out of bed and get to the gym. Figured I might not be the only one having trouble waking up early for the gym this week so I thought I'd share five things that I do to make it a little easier in the mornings.

 
Set your alarm & lights.
I set about 5 alarms to make sure we're up in time to get to the gym and I've programmed our lights to come on at a certain time in the morning. While the alarm is easy to snooze, it's a lot harder to ignore the lights that you can't turn back off unless you open up the app on the phone or ask Alexa to do it for you.


{& yes, it does take that many alarms to get me up in the morning. My husband loves it.}
 
Lay out your workout clothes the night before & fill up your water bottle ahead of time.
This is a must for me. I lay out my clothes, my shoes, and my daily contact lenses to make getting ready in the morning that much easier. Put out anything that you need to get to the gym including your workout bag, wallet, keys, etc. The fewer decisions I have to make in the morning or things I have to find, the better. Same goes for the water bottle - it's much easier to open up the fridge & grab your water bottle than it is to hunt down one in your kitchen.





Go to bed on time.
Don't play on your phone in bed {guilty!}, read a book you can't put down, or stay up late binge watching something on Netflix. If you're exhausted in the morning, no alarm or light is going to convince you to get out of bed.

 
Have a workout plan.
Got a class you want to attend? Got a specific workout that you want to do? Got a set number of miles you want to run?

It's a lot easier to wake up and go when you know exactly what you're going to do when you get to the gym that day.
 
Have someone to hold you accountable.
Find a friend to workout with! Having someone hold you accountable to your workouts is huge - at least it is for me. I don't want them to know that I opted out of the gym for whatever reason. For me, my husband holds me accountable for going to the gym in the mornings and I hold him accountable for going with me.
 
Unless it's raining outside.

Because seriously, who likes going to the gym in the pouring down rain?

 


9 comments

  1. Love all this - I used to be such a morning workout person but the winter has had me switching to afternoons - I'm hoping when it warms up I can get my act together to get back into it in the mornings. The set workout plan is a great idea!

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  2. Winter morning workouts are rough! Accountability helps a ton-and that's a great tip to fill up your bottle the night before!

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  3. Great tips! My best work out streak was because I had an accountability partner. We were both counting on each other to be there, so it made it really hard to cancel on each other.

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  4. Thanks for this!! I am usually pretty good at getting up early and going for a run first thing, but this week I have been on the struggle bus big time!!! Definitely trying some of your tips! :)

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  5. From one morning workouter to another, this list is spot on! Some days are so hard to get up and get moving, but my days go so much better when I make it happen!

    Jen
    jpabstfitness.com

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  6. I used to work out in the mornings, but got out of the habit. You have me wanting to go back to it! It totally helps me to lay everything out. Even if it's just an at-home work out, having my clothes ready to go helps!

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  7. Great tips! I'm definitely more of an after work workout gal, but when I was working out in the morning I used to sleep in my gym clothes so I could literally wake up and go! Ha!

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  8. i hate getting up in the morning, but i hate working out after work even more lol. i am jealous you can program your lights, that would be a game changer for me. i set the same amount of alarms, and i also set a few on my fitbit haha. you hit the nail on the head - the fewer decisions i have to make, the better.

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  9. Okay, I seriously needed this because I struggle so much getting up in the mornings to work out!! Also, love that y'all have your lights come on at a certain time..that would definitely get me out of bed in the mornings lol!

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