HOW TO START AN EFFECTIVE MORNING WORKOUT ROUTINE

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Have you been thinking of starting a morning workout routine ? Are you confused on how you can start one and keep it for the long run? If you have answered yes to the above questions, Then this post is what you need to read. Stick with me to the end to get a FREE morning routine planner as a bonus.

I began my morning workout routine when I was a teenager in high school. At first, I was working out in the evening. What prompted me to start were my classmates who were performing well in Math with minimal effort. I observed that almost all of them either played a sport or exercised. Out of curiosity, I began the journey of working out.

I went for a jog in the morning before a math test and got an A. Also, I  realized that  I was more alert in class and my productivity escalated. I later progressed to working out in the morning which I have been doing till date.

Having kept a consistent morning workout routine for the past five years, I have an idea of what does and doesn’t work.Therefore, In this post, I will explain the benefits of having a morning workout routine. Also, I will give you guidelines of starting a morning workout routine that you will follow to the end. These tips will get you working out in less than a week. As a bonus, I will be gifting you a FREE morning routine planner to help you get started.

Here are a few related  posts you might want to read, too:

• Morning Routine Ideas that Will Make You Want to Wake Up Early.
• How To wake up early without an alarm
• 12 reasons you wake up feeling tired everyday
• How to wake up early and not feel tired.
• 8 things you should never do in the morning
• 7 healthy self care habits to maximize your morning routine
• How to create the best productive morning routine

Let’s dive right in!

What are the benefits of having a morning workout routine?

We always have an option to workout anytime. After trying out both evening and morning workout routine, I have come made a conclusion of the best time for me. The biggest challenge of working out, is finding time to do it. However much we can squeeze time for it, some duration are just not  suitable. Below, I will let you know why I prefer working out in the morning:

• It gets exercise out of my way before I make a million excuses of why I shouldn’t exercise. There are some days when I give myself a million excuses of why I shouldn’t workout. This happens mostly when I put it off and postpone it to a later time. This was one of the reasons why I shifted my workout from evening to morning. Evenings are great but most of the time I was too tired to do mountain climbers or sumo squats.Completing my workout in the morning just made it easy to be consistent.
• I start my day on a good and positive note. Whenever I exercise, the positivity I  get carries me through my day. This is because, endorphins are released  which interact with receptors in the brain that reduce the perception of pain. This triggers a positive feeling in the body similar to that of morphine known as “runner’s high.” It is accompanied by a positive and energized outlook on life.

Before we go any further, I want to give a disclaimer. All the information in this post is from personal experience and it is not intended to be substituted to medical guidelines from your doctor. If you have any underlying medical condition, consult your physician before starting a workout routine. Read my disclaimer for more information.

How to Start a Morning Workout Routine

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1. Select a suitable time

Having a suitable working out time is the first step to planning your morning workout routine. The simple reason for having one is to help you be consistent without straining all the other activities planned out for your day.

It has to be realistic. This is greatly determined by the time you wake up. If the earliest time you wake up is 5:30am which gives you enough time to workout and still prepare for your day, then setting your workout time at 4:30am will not work in  your favor. You will always feel strained waking up and end up giving up on working out which isn’t the desired outcome.

Also, do not let someone’s working out time influence your choice of suitable time. There are many YouTube videos and blogs that tell you to wake up and work out at certain time. However, choose what works for you without feeling strained.

Also, pick a suitable time that you can workout whether it is on weekends, weekdays or holidays. Remember that you are working out for the long run.

2. Get enough sleep

Decide how much sleep you need to get that will enable you to wake up to work out. If you feel that 7 hours of sleep is enough for you to be fully rested, make sure that you get enough of it and wake up to the suitable time you choose to workout. Remember that your body is not a machine and it needs enough rest to function at its optimum.

If you know that you will have to wake up earlier than usual to workout, get into bed earlier. This will prevent you from losing sleep in the name of waking up.

Experiencing insomnia might be the cause for you not getting enough sleep. I wrote a detailed post of hacks that you can use to fall asleep instantly at night. Read the full post here.

3. Prepare your sportswear the night before

You do not want to wake up early to workout only to take thirty minutes to look for your sportswear. I bet that you will grow weary and get back to your bed to sleep. To avoid this drama, search for your sportswear early enough and prepare them for the morning workout routine. If they are dirty, you can choose clean ones or clean them.

Furthermore, it gives you a clear state of your sportswear. If you choose to be jogging or go to the gym, you do not want to wear torn sportswear. That will be a big blow to your self confidence and you do not want to go there girl.

Also, if you notice that your sportswear is old,too big or small, you will be mentally prepared to make a new purchase.

4. Avoid snoozing

Remember how I stated that finding  suitable time to exercise is the first step to starting a morning workout routine? Snoozing your alarm will stop you from working out. It will not only make you wake up feeling tired, but also deprive you of your fitness goals. Don’t let snoozing stop you from building a strong and beautiful body. Whether you want to broaden your hips, loose weight or get abs, let the end result be more important than a brief moment of satisfaction of sleeping a little more.

I have a proven roadmap of how you can start waking up without an alarm. Read it here.

5.Mentally commit yourself to your morning workout routine

When you shift from an emotional to a logical level of thinking and mentally commit to working out in the morning no matter the circumstance, you are more likely to keep the routine. It is not enough to want to workout in the morning. Commitment combined with discipline is what will get you to where you want to be in your fitness goals.

Assume that you are married to working out. Even when you do not want to do it, you do it anyway because you made a lifetime commitment. The same way commitment in marriage that keeps it going works the same in working out. Mentally commit to waking up and working out even when its too cold or your on holiday. Your commitment will pay off.

6. Have an exercise plan

If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. This also applies to having a workout routine. You have to plan for:

• What type of exercise you are going to be doing.
• How often you want to work out.
• Where you will be exercising from.
• The duration of time you will use per exercise

Having a plan for your workout will save you time wondering what you are supposed to do and make it more effective. I know how tiring creating a planner can be. That’s why I made a FREE morning routine planner for you. Click in the image below to download it.

7. Start out slow

Your body is not a machine. It is bound to get tired too. When I first started working out, I would get all sort of body aches from muscle cramping to back aches. As I persistently continued to work out,it became easier and my body got used to it.

When you are starting out on your morning workout routine, your body might give the same response. Don’t let this stop you from moving closer to your goals. Start out slow and gradually increase your momentum as time goes by .

8. Turn on your lights after waking up

Light has been shown to trigger feelings of alertness in your brain helping you to fully wake up. This will help you to wake you up leaving no room for you to avoid working out. There are awesome light that go on when your alarm rings that can help you wake up even when you are a ” snoozeaholic.”

9.Take time to be fully awake

You do not want to wake up early to exercise only to be mediocre at it. Sometimes, it is caused by not being fully awake. If you wake up and immediately start working out whether it is swimming,running or jumping on your treadmill, you do not want give it your lowest game.Instead you can try out a few things to help you be fully awake. You can drink water, splash water on your face, do meditation or read a book to help your mind be fully aware of its surrounding.

10. Put together a motivation workout playlist

Music is a big motivator for action especially if it is relevant to what you are doing at the moment of listening to it. Having a  motivation playlist to listen to when working out motivates you to keep going even when your muscles are screaming for relief. I love listening to Fearless Motivation when working out. The music is designed to motivate you especially when exercising.

11.Exercise often

Exercising often for a long period of time will help you get into the habit of working out. It takes roughly 66 days to build a  habit. Therefore, if you do it consistently enough, after some time, you wouldn’t need an alarm or someone to remind you to start working out.

Also, You shouldn’t anticipate a situation whereby you take two weeks break between exercise. You will always feel like you are starting from square one. That’s a situation that you should never anticipate for. You can avoid it by exercising frequently.

12. Reward yourself after exercising

It is not an easy thing to wake up early to exercise. It takes discipline and commitment to get into your fitness goal. Rewarding yourself after getting to where you want to be or reaching a milestone is a big motivator to keep going. You can reward yourself with:

• Massage
• Spa date
• Buying yourself a gift
• Going for a vacation

You deserve to reward yourself after working hard on your fitness goals.

Should you create a morning routine in your life? Maybe you struggle with making an effective morning routine because :

• Your life is busy and finding the time to follow a morning routine seems impossible.
• As a woman,you’re used to caring for others and making time for yourself causes you to feel guilty.
• Spending time in your morning routine for yourself doesn’t feel indulging.
• You don’t know what morning routine activities to do and how often to do them,

If you can relate to any of these morning routine struggles, I have the perfect solution for you and I am giving it for FREE! Click below and get your morning routine planner.

Parting shot

Creating a morning routine workout is a commitment that you make on yourself to become better physically. It is simple but it is not easy.

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