I recently found myself jogging in my neighborhood as the sun was rising and as I was bathed in a pocket of warm glowing light feeling like I was in a Nike catalogue, it dawned on me (pun intended) that I had finally become one of those elusive people I had always aspired to be. Aspire because this desire for something unobtainable hadn’t been from a lack of trying; there was a period of time where I was determined to make it happen but soon found I lacked the motivation. The morning alarms were always too painful, the workouts with half-awake muscles felt inefficient, and I found myself crashing every mid-morning and afternoon drained of energy.
But now I find myself craving the streaks of orange and pink coming up over the horizon. The smell of slightly damp lavender as I run through the neighborhoods, and the quiet streets punctuated by the jarringly loud clanging of the garbage trucks on trash day. I start my day feeling motivated, having already checked off one of the biggest things on my to-do list. There’s no longer the latent feeling of dread throughout my day knowing that I still need to do my workout. In fact, I feel a slight sense of disbelief that I don’t have to think about my workout—like that was too easy or I had somehow cheated.
So what happened? How did this sporadic exerciser finally crack the code on one of the hardest habits to build? And how can you do it too?
Set a goal (and don’t make it crazy). For me, it’s the 10K I’m committed to at the end of October. This goal should have a defined end date and a measurable outcome of success (complete the run, do x number of workouts, etc). I love signing up for races because there’s a training plan I can follow which takes the guesswork out of what I should do. I have a workout calendared for every day depending on how much time is left until race day.
My goal only works because it’s attainable. Now is not the time to stretch set goals because the habit is the stretch goal. My morning workouts average 30 mins and while that is shorter than my definition of “a good workout”, suboptimal is better than nothing and this allows me to get a satisfying amount of sleep while still fulfilling my personal and family responsibilities in the morning.
Now share your goal with as many people as you can—that is some built in accountability!
Leverage your natural sleep cycle. I don’t set an alarm for my morning workouts. This has been the most critical component for success as it means I wake up when my body is rested and ready, and I’m not interrupted in the middle of a sleep cycle. I’ve found I naturally wake within a 15-20 min time range and will adjust workouts if needed for the available time I have. I used to wake up and scroll my phone while waiting for the rest of the household to wake up and now I will still scroll a bit if I wake up on the earlier end, but otherwise I’m on a mission.
Eliminate the activation energy. Okay it’s impossible to completely eliminate, but I do everything I possibly can the night before to prep for my morning workout. This includes selecting and placing my workout clothes (socks included!) next to me so I can reach them without having to get out of bed as well as putting my running shoes, sunblock, hat, earpods, and any other accessories I need next to the front door. It might feel like overkill, but these are actions you’ll need to do regardless, and trust me: the ROI is much higher when you do it the night before.
Do not deviate. I have two rest days calendared a week but instead of lounging in bed those mornings, I still get up and make it a priority to take a walk around the neighborhood. Even if I accidentally sleep in, I’ll still get out of bed as soon as I wake up and get out of the house for a bit. This conditions your body to expect morning movement and eliminates the next morning “hangovers” post-rest day where it feels even harder to get up.
Reap the benefits. Speaking of hangovers…I’ve found that working out first thing in the morning has forced me to make better decisions. This results in a better mood, better sleep, and better physique! I’m a casual social drinker but find I drink less- and less often- because I want better sleep quality. I also find myself practicing better sleep hygiene by winding down my evening and transitioning off my devices by a certain time so I’m sleepy by a time I know will have me rested for a morning workout the next day.
Your schedule and training plan will shift with so many factors (weather, illness, vacations, etc.) and these steps allow for that flexibility. Some days you’ll get out of the groove but it’s never too late to get back into it. Make a commitment to get to bed earlier and start it again the next morning. So take gentle care of yourself and in the words of my favorite Youtube fitness instructor, “Let’s go!”.
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