look, I know, waking up before 5 am is not pleasant. but sometimes you gotta make sacrifices and lose some sleep to get it in. and sometimes it is really rough (if you follow my insta stories there are many pre-5am stories about being tired)

but waking up before the rest of the world getting a whole workout in before most people are even awake feels so good. i fully believe it is the best way to start the day.

when I first started my working out i would wake up at 4:10 am Monday - Friday. and i did it with no caffeine (crazy I know) but I would stumble out of bed, put on my workout clothes and walk down to the treadmill and start walking on it all before i was even all the way awake. i would be part way into my warm up before i would even realize i was working out. and by that point i was already there, so i may as well finish.

now i wake up at about 4:40, toss on some workout clothes, ingest some form of caffeine (sometimes preworkout, but i did just switch back to coffee) and i'm off to the gym before 5am. I definitely need caffeine more now than i did originally because i'm weight lifting and being groggy during that is asking for disaster.

anyway... here are my main tips for getting an AM workout in:

be prepared!
1. that means having your workout clothes laid out, having your workout plan ready to go, and whatever else you may need ready to go (headphones, coffee, car keys, etc)
ease into it
1. i didn't start off working out at 4 in the morning straight out of the gate. i started off waking up 20 mins earlier than usual to go walk on the treadmill, then i went 30 mins, and so on, until i was getting almost a full hour workout in.
make it routine
1. waking up early is not always easy. (trust me, i have had some ROUGH mornings) but if you keep making that effort to wake up evantually you'll do it and start moving without even thinking about it. i swear, most mornings i am up and dressed and drinking coffee before i even realize i woke up.
make it something to look forward to
1. waking up before the sun is so much more difficult if its for something that you don't want to do at all. for me, the energy i get from exercise and the fun i have playing with kettlebells or hitting PRs drives me to go to the gym. find what makes you want to get up and go and make that your AM workout session.
go to sleep at a decent hour!
1. i know this one is pretty obvious, but seriously. if you stay up late, waking up early is so much harder. go to sleep at a decent time and set yourself up for success.
plan some sort of reward for yourself
1. could be during your run you get to listen to that new playlist you created or that post-workout snack. whatever motivates you, make it happen.
if you fail, don't quit
1. look, waking up early won't always happen. that's part of life. however, don't let that be an excuse for the rest of the week's workouts. so you skipped the gym on tuesday, just reset that alarm for wednesday and get it done!

i know, these are all pretty straight forward but this is what i've been doing for 2.5 years and i'm still going strong.

my morning workouts are genuinely what get me out of bed every morning and what keep my energy up throughout the day.

i promise, you'll never regret finishing your early morning workout, but you may regret skipping one.

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