It’s challenging but the benefits are the best. That’s what I’ve learned about training outdoors early in the morning. Every day has been better when I’ve been able to drag myself out in the morning to move my body someway.
What I’ve learned also is that getting yourself out of bed and out from the door is about mental and practical things.
Here’s my 10 ways how to get yourself to do morning outdoor workout:
1. Prepare everything
It has happened to me countless times that I’ve woken up, haven’t found my training clothes, given up searching and started making coffee.
Make things as easy as possible. Use couple of minutes in the evening to put your training clothes and everything else you need ready.
2. Train yourself mentally to wake up early
Mental training is everything. If you’re mentally well-prepared to do something, the better are your chances to do it for real.
Inner speech works for me. I for example say often to myself in bed that “Ok, so tomorrow you’ll wake up 5 am. It’s going to be hard but you can do it. It’s worthwhile because you feel so great after your workout. Do it tomorrow and the next morning you can sleep again a little bit longer.”
3. Sleep enough
No late movies before early morning workouts. Wiser is to go to bed at the same time with the kids.
It’s just so much easier to get out of bed when you’ve slept two hours longer.
4. In the morning don’t think. Just get up.
Get a grip on the first moment of your day. When the alarm goes off, try not to think of anything. Do not give the power to any negative thoughts. Just get up no matter how it feels like.
Read more: 3 steps to start your day fresh.
5. Grab something small to eat if necessary
I can go for a 30 minutes walk in the morning without eating anything but I can’t do anything more with an empty stomach. Banana is the most common choice for me before my early morning workout. And a glass of warm lemon water because I feel it wakes me up well both physically and mentally.
Choose what works for you. Eat or not eat at all.
6. Don’t touch your laptop or phone before your workout
This is important! It has also happened to me countless times that I’ve grabbed my phone, started to do something with that and later on noticed that I need already to wake up the kids. No time alone in fresh air that morning.
Beware with all time thieves!
7. Keep your focus on feeling afterwards
You open the door and feel chilly, stiff and tired. In the worst case it’s dark and rainy too.
That moment is hard for us all so try to skip it by thinking the moment when you come back inside, feeling refreshed and energetic. That thought has helped me many times to make the step outdoors.
8. Enjoy outdoors
Often our head can be so full of thoughts that it doesn’t matter where we are because our attention is only in our thoughts. That way we can miss very many good things.
When I go for an early morning walk I consciously feel the fresh air, listen to the sounds around me and pay attention to things around me, not in me. Learning to enjoy outdoors with all of my senses has increased my motivation to go out because I remember experiencing so many good things there.
9. Flatter yourself
If you’ve been able to go outdoors and do some exercise early in the morning, you definitely deserve some kind and encouraging words!
Positive words cause positive actions. That’s how it just goes.
10. Acknowledge the benefits of your morning outdoor workout
How do you feel when you’re eating breakfast after your workout? How does it feel mentally to start your workday after you’ve worked out already? How do you feel after work when you can relax because you’ve already exercised in the morning?
For your motivation it’s important to acknowledge the good things. It doesn’t mean that it’s easy to wake up next time to do your early morning workout but it may be an inch easier.
If you need more tips and motivation to start your day with some sort of outdoor activity, I recommend my personal trainer Kersten Kimura’s post “Something I’ve Done For Years (And What You Should Try Too).
