How to get motivated for early morning exercise

April 22, 2022 | icebreaker

Early mornings can be cold and dark, and when bed is so warm and comfortable, it takes real motivation to pull yourself up and pull on your workout clothes.

But, you’re not likely to regret making the effort once you do get up and exercise, so try these simple tips for motivating yourself to get up for an early morning workout.

Get a buddy or join a group

When someone else is relying on you to get up, it becomes a lot harder to make excuses to stay in bed.

Whether it’s just you and a friend going to the gym together, or a buddy system in a larger fitness group such as a bootcamp, knowing that someone will be waiting for you can make all the difference.

For extra motivation, decide on an agreement between you for no-shows, such as you buy them a post-workout smoothie next time, or an extra 20 burpees as penance.

Treat yourself to new activewear

There’s something about new fitness clothing that makes you more motivated to put it on.

It feels good, it looks good, and you can imagine yourself hitting new personal bests and reaching your fitness goals while wearing it.

But our icebreaker merino training gear won’t just look good - it will also wick away sweat to keep you dry, and naturally insulate you to keep you warm on cool early mornings.

Get everything ready before bed

Before bed, remove any possible hurdles that could get in the way of you getting up and out.

This could be:
● Filling your drink bottle
● Putting your breakfast banana (etc) next to your bed
● Setting out your workout clothes or packing your gym bag
● Getting your things ready for after your workout (such as work clothes)

And don’t even think about telling yourself that you’ll fill up on petrol on the way to the gym!

Set your phone screen to your motivation

When your alarm goes off in the morning, like most people, you probably pick up your phone.

What’s on the back screen?

What image or message could you save there that would mean the first thing you see is the most motivating thing you could see? Perhaps a quote, a picture of the outfit you’d love to wear, an image of the sports event or major hike you’d like to do, or simply a loved one you want to get healthy for.

Tell yourself you can go easy today

It sounds counterintuitive, but it really can work.

When you’re lying-in bed struggling to find a reason to get up when you’re just not feeling it, tell yourself this: “I’ll go, but I’ll just take it easy today.”

After all, any exercise is better than none at all, and if that’s what it takes to get you moving, so be it. You’ll probably find that you’ll end up being able to work as hard as usual once you’re warmed up anyway.

Start going to bed earlier

Half the challenge of getting up early is not getting to bed early enough.

But you’re not suddenly going to be able to fall asleep at 9pm if you’ve been going to bed at midnight. Instead, gradually go to bed earlier and earlier, even if it’s just by 15 minutes per night.

This can help to put you into a better sleep schedule so you’re not trying to climb out of bed (or exercise) when you’re sleep deprived.

However you manage to motivate yourself to exercise, and at whatever time of day, icebreaker has got your back with everything from gloves to base layers for those tough workouts.