HOW TO FALL IN LOVE WITH MORNING WORKOUTS
I know, I know. Waking up before sunrise when the rest of the world is sleeping seems impossible. Why would anyone WANT to do that, you might ask? In this post I want to share all the reasons I LOVE early morning workouts (trust me it was NOT always this way) as well as provide you with 5 tips that you can implement right away! If you have a full time job and are discovering that working out after your long day just isn’t happenin’…morning workouts may be for you!
The main reason why I have come to LOVE morning workouts is because it feels really freakin good to put myself first. The very first thing I do now is workout- which helps take care of ME. My job is HARD and incredibly stressful. I deserve and NEED this stress relief before I can be the best version of me.
I also love that even though waking up at 4:20 am isn’t always my favorite thing, my workout is DONE and it’s not looming over my head all day at work. I realized that I started making an awful lot of excuses of why I couldn’t workout after work. Professional development and school events started taking over and then before you know it, I skipped my workout- again. With morning workouts, none of that can even be an issue.
5 TIPS THAT WILL HELP YOU LOVE MORNING WORKOUTS:
1) GET ENOUGH SLEEP.
I can't stress this one enough. Everyone is different and requires a different amount of sleep but I'm telling you, it is 1000x easier to get up when you aren't totally exhausted. I try to go to bed by 9:30 and wake up at 4:20am.
2) SET OUT EVERYTHING THE NIGHT BEFORE.
The key to this is making your life as EASY as possible when your alarm goes off at the a** crack of dawn! You do not want to be scrambling trying to find shoes, figuring out what to wear or packing a lunch for the day. I lay out my workout clothes and make sure my lunch and gym bag is packed the night before. DO THINGS THAT WILL SET YOU UP FOR SUCCESS!
3) HAVE AN ACCOUNTABILITY BUDDY.
I know not everyone is lucky enough to have a friend to workout with (it does help a lot!) but you can even have someone who texts you each day and makes sure you're working out- or join a fitness challenge! Find someone who will hold yourself accountable and make sure you aren't skipping! Make sure you do the same for them too.
4) PRE WORKOUT.
This is a major one for me! Even if I get 7 hours of sleep the night before, I still feel really tired when I wake up. Maybe because it's pitch black outside and everyone else still soaking up zzzz's. I use 1st Phorm's megawatt preworkout (currently using blue raspberry) and it's delicious! Here is a link to that if you want to try it and get FREE shipping. Remember 1st Phorm offers 110% money back guarantee so if you don't like it (which you will) you can send it back and get what you paid for it + 10%! They are seriously the best.
5) SCHEDULE YOUR GYM SESSION LIKE A MEETING.
Yes, you read that right. It amazes me how many people don't have their goals written out. How can you expect to accomplish something if you don't plan it into your day. I'm telling you- WRITE IT DOWN. Would you cancel on your boss? No. You are JUST AS IMPORTANT (actually, more) than a meeting with your supervisor. Start acting like it! Get accustomed to looking at your planner/to do list daily and stick with it! Be careful not to overload your to do list though and write down a million items that you won't finish- stick to 5 critical tasks (aka the power list that I talk about on my IG all the time!)
BONUS TIP: If you have a long commute like me, (I drive 45 minutes to the gym every morning), find podcasts to listen to! I enjoy listening to podcasts to pass the time. I’m interested in business/entrepreneurship but all of these listed below will teach you things you can use in your everyday life even if you don’t own a business. My top 5 favorite podcasts are:
1) MFCEO project by Andy Frisella
2) Bucci Radio by Amanda Bucci
3) Angie Lee Show
4)Lewis Howes- School of Greatness
5) Rise podcast by Rachel Hollis
P.S. Did you know I have a podcast? You can listen to it here - https://anchor.fm/teachers-gone-strong. You can listen to it on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Anchor and etc! Let me know what you think :)
I hope those tips were helpful, loves! Let me know if you start crushing your morning workouts by tagging @teachersgonestrong in your social media!
xo,
Brooklyn