HOW TO START WORKING OUT IN THE MORNING
How to start working out in the morning when you’re not a morning person by nature? 8 top tips to help you become an early gym goer
- Prepare everything the night before
Having everything ready will save you some precious time and make your morning smoother. Grab your workout clothes, socks, shoes, hair tie, anything you’ll need and put everything together in your bathroom. Pack your gym bag and put your car keys & water bottle next to it. - Go to bed early
You know what time you need to get up for your workout and you know how much sleep your body needs. Plan accordingly and make sure you go to bed early enough. The last thing you want is to still feel asleep and sluggish during your workout! - Don’t hit snooze
Try to get into the habit of immediately getting up. Don’t let your brain talk you out of it. The more you think about hitting snooze, the less likely you’ll be to take action to get up for that planned morning workout. - Have an NRG-boosting morning routine
Start the day on the right foot. Think “I get to exercise this morning” instead of “I have to exercise”. Turn on a workout playlist, rehydrate with a glass of water and get ready to hit the gym or register for a pre-registered workout program like our NRG 4 Life Bootcamp which is run every 4 weeks on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays from 6:00 – 7:00 a.m. Just showing up, rather than having to hope that your morning workout is effective makes it even easier to stick with a routine. Having a great group of the same like-minded participants over the course of the month along with a super motivating and friendly instructor will add camaraderie, which in turn helps with the built-in accountability! - Think about the results
Working out in the morning has plenty of benefits from uplifting your mood to helping you stay more alert mentally, give you more energy later in the day, cope with stress better and goes a long way to providing that oh so needed sense of balance. Once you start feeling these benefits, you become much more motivated to get up early and stay on track. Current research is now telling us that HIIT (high intensity interval training) workouts can boost the metabolism which means our bodies become more efficient at burning calories while at work and rest not just during the actual exercise session! - Fuel up pre and post-workout
In order to have the energy to get through your morning workout session, be sure to choose proper pre-workout fuel. Not everyone likes to eat when rising however, we need to definitely rehyrdrate right away as we often wake up dehydrated and in a fasting mode. Something light that will sit well without weighing you down like a piece of fruit combined with a little protein will do the trick! To avoid feeling light headed from a sugar rush (which will happen if you only have the fruit), mix the half a cup of fruit with half a cup of plain Greek yogurt and a tablespoon or two of hemp or chia seeds. This balanced mini meal can be made the day before and doubled, This would give you a snack before the workout and then equally as important, you’ll have some after as well so the body doesn’t store fat or worse yet, burn muscle. This can happen if we don’t refuel with something light (or your full breakfast) right after any workout. Another great idea is a chia pudding or overnight oats. There’s many great recipes online. For an extra boost of energy, include plain coconut water (avoid sweetened kinds as the sugar in the fruit is enough and controllable). It’s full of natural electrolytes. You might even want to try adding some, along with a few slices of your favourite citrus fruit, to your water and sip throughout the workout. Be sure to avoid processed sugars which are often packed into “healthy” energy, protein and granola bars or shakes. We love Daryl’s High Performance bars as they have only a handful of healthy, pronounceable ingredients and they’re easily digestible. They’re available at the front desk at a price that can’t be beat either!
If a shake or smoothie, is your morning go-to, get all your ingredients ready to go the night before. Just turn on your blender, sip and go! Be sure again, that you have a source of protein in there with your fruit and other ingredients so you’ll not just be able to make it through your workout session, you’ll have the building blocks to get the most out of it (and that translates to the best results)! If you’re using protein powders, read labels carefully and choose one that has fewer ingredients and mix it up by experimenting with some of the plant based ones out there which can be more easily digested. I rotate my protein sources for this reason
- Set realistic goals
If you’ve never been an early gym goer, I’ll be completely frank, you won’t easily start working out in the morning, however, like anything new, it takes practice and a routine will help. Aim to wake up early and go to the gym three times a week, then progressively add more sessions. - Stick with it
At the beginning you might fall back asleep once or twice, or feel too tired to get up. Don’t berate yourself and remember your goals. Set backs are a part of life. Know this is part of the process don’t give up! Give your body a few weeks to adjust to your new routine. I promise it won’t be that hard when you’re used to it.