"A letter to my future self for the days I really don't want to get up and exercise."

Dear Future Me,

Look, I get it.

It’s getting colder. Rugged up in old mis-matching PJs, a fluffy dressing gown and socks, your motivation to leave your warm cocoon doona when the alarm goes off at 5:15am is exactly zero.

You barely want to venture onto the cold side of the bed, let alone get up, get dressed and torture yourself with kettlebells and squats in a freezing cold gym for an hour.

So you press snooze. “Just 10 more minutes,” you tell yourself, diving back under the cosy, cosy doona.

At 5.30am, the alarm intrudes your peaceful dozing once again. Snooze.

5:44am, again. This really is your last chance to get up if you want to make it in time. You’ll be really tempted to just let yourself off and stay in bed. After all, it’s just one time — right?

Don’t. With you, it’s never just ‘one time’. Despite every fibre of your body saying no, here’s why you need to GET UP.

Watch: Those Two Girls count down the six types of people you find at the gym. Post continues after video.

You’ll moan as you throw off the covers and jump out of bed. You’ll almost take it as a sign this is a mistake when your favourite sports bra is still in the dirty laundry basket from last time and you cannot for the life of you find a pair of matching socks.

Spoiler: no-one cares. One black and one pink will just have to do.

Locking the door on the way out, you’ll silently curse everyone in the world still curled up in bed. In the car park you’ll delay braving the cold outdoors until the very last minute.

But you get out, walk in and mumble a half-awake ‘hello’ to the instructor. They’ve seen you now — there’s no going back.

As you stretch and warm up, you’ll begin to feel more awake. Human, even. “Look at me, it’s 6am and I’m exercising,” you’ll say to yourself. “Take that Kate Hudson.”

Think of all the gym selfies you’ll be missing out on. (Post continues after gallery.)

As the workout starts with a quick bout of boxing, you’ll convince yourself it’s really not that bad.

Looking at the clock to see that just five minutes have passed, yet you’re sweaty and out of breath, you’ll realise that it really is.

Squats. Sprints. Kettlebell swings. Burpees. Push ups. Lunges. With each move, you swear you can’t go any further or do anymore. You just want to stop, drop and lie in your pool of sweat.

“C’mon, keep it moving!” yells the instructor walking by.

“Easy for you to say, you’re not doing it!” you’ll angrily scream back… in your head, of course.

Me with the flying ponytail and silent curses. Image: Pick It Up Group Fitness

But you'll get through the first set. And the second. By the third you'll be barely able to breathe or remember your own name, but you'll push through because it means you're one step closer to finishing.

One more circuit to go and then you're there. Done. You can think of nothing but collapsing on the floor, and silently cursing the man in the corner who's making this torture look like a piece of cake. Mmm, cake.

Five, four, three, two... one. Sure, you may have rounded up your total burpee count ever so slightly, but you've smashed it. You'll lie on the floor, heart beating so hard you can feel it in your head, your mouth, your hands. You'll refuse to move.

Slowly, your breathing will steady. That slightly dizzy feeling will go away. You'll cool down, grateful for the chance to sit down and to feel that stretch in your legs and arms. Well, if you could feel your legs or arms.

The gym may not have quite the view but the feeling is similar. Image: Supplied.

The best feeling will be when you're sitting on the train to work. It's just gone 7am and you've just done an hour-long workout. Some people are still in bed. You'll feel awake and energetic and in a good mood and like today is going to be a good day. A productive one. You're basically Michelle Bridges. You'll sit there with a smug look on your face, formulating the humblebrag in your head.

Yes, you had a little less time in bed. But let's be honest - you'd end up just scrolling through Facebook or engaging in a war with your alarm. You can tackle your day and enjoy your evening without having to think about exercise or battling the guilt that you should really have gone (trust me, it hits.). Instead, you've smashed it out before your body or mind really knew what it was doing.

It all comes down to this, Future Self: you'll never regret doing a workout. But missing one, which becomes two, which then becomes a habit? That extra 30 minutes in your pyjamas just isn't worth it.

Love,

The Me that did get up and exercise this morning.

P.S. Unless you're sick. In which case, obviously don't go.

P.P.S. Today? You're not sick, just tired from watching Netflix til 2am. Stop that, please.

What motivates you to exercise in the morning?