
Image via Wikimedia
So… you want to be a morning exerciser. You want to be the kind of person that leaps out of bed and goes for a run, or surf, or at least does a few minutes of yoga.
The only problem? You can’t get out of bed in the mornings. And it’s severely hampering your exercise efforts.
Working out early in summer is hard enough – but in the winter, in the rain? Even worse. Super-chilly mornings that will only serve to encourage you to stay huddled under that doona for as long as possible.
So here are my tips for getting you out of bed and into training mode for the morning, even when throwing off your quilt feels harder than wrestling a fully grown polar bear.
Be organised
The key to morning exercise is organisation. You don’t want to be scrambling to find your headphones at 5:45am – it’ll waste time and hinder your progress.
So lay out all your clothes the night before, plus everything you need for your workout. A towel? A gym bag? Whatever it is, have it ready. If you definitely need to eat something before you exercise, have that ready too.
Sleep in your exercise gear
If you sleep in your workout clothes, you don’t even have to get dressed when you roll out of bed in the morning. It takes one step out of the process and therefore makes it all that teeny-tiny bit easier. A bonus here is that workout clothes are generally designed to be comfy, so it won’t be too rough on you.
If you feel uncomfortable in your exercise gear (heavy-duty sports bra, for example), lay your clothes out RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR BED so that you barely even have to get up in order to put them on. Sports bra, tights, top, etc. Don’t forget about the socks!
Make it easy for yourself
Can’t comprehend anything before 8am? No worries. Just get into a routine that means you get up and get going in your activity of choice without any decision-making whatsoever. It leaves no time for your brain to talk you out of what you’re doing, either.