Being able to start your day in a productive fashion is one of the most effective ways to get yourself busy, active and just overall more healthy. However, it also means learning about the importance of working out early in the morning – that’s probably the biggest hurdle most people face.
Just think about some of the benefits of getting your work out done in the morning: more energy (to work out as well as afterwards), increased productivity and creativity, your training is done and out of the way, etc.
The problem is adjusting and changing your mindset to be on that lends itself to a workout early in the morning. If you worry that you might not be quite cut out for that kind of exercise, then you might want to try and put the following tips into practice.
Get enough sleep
In our article about how much sleep is enough, we stressed the importance of getting a good night’s sleep on your physical and mental health. If you want to have a productive morning, have an early night, simple as that.
Aim to get at least 7 to 8 hours a night sleep, depending on what works for you. Some people can function with 6 hours, others need 9 to 10 hours. Just make sure you’re regularly getting getting enough sleep, having a routine makes a big difference.
Doing this is going to make it much easier for you to get a good night’s rest and wake up early enough to even work out. More importantly, it will make sure that you have enough energy and motivation to do the work out.
Don’t snooze
Remove the snooze on your phone – it’s a killer trait for those who want to get up and exercise early. Snoozes feel like a false time to get up, and it’s easy to use that extra padding we gave ourselves for some more time in bed before we go to work.
By getting rid of your snooze, you know that when your alarm goes off you have one chance to get up or risk ruining your day. So, it makes it easier to force you out of your bed and to get active.
Then you are more likely to be up and to have the time to get some exercise done before going to work.
Work out at home
One of the biggest roadblocks for people getting their workout done in the morning is getting to the gym. I’m fortunate enough to live very close to my gym – either a 10 minute walk or a 2 minute drive (depending on how much time I have).
However, for other people, it might be a 15 – 20 minute drive or even longer. If you factor in the time for the return trip and getting ready for work, then you can see just how impractical it might be for some people to get a work out in, no matter how early they wake up in the morning.
A solution for this is to make your morning workout something you can do at home and preferably with little to no equipment. You can still get in a gym work out in the afternoons or weekends, but making sure you get a morning session in will kick start your day in a great way!
