Morning workouts! You may not be a morning person and mornings may not be the best for your schedule, but lots of studies show that the most committed exercisers do their workouts in the morning. Exercising in the morning means getting it out of the way early, it means only showering once and it means not getting distracted by the “must-haves” that occur during the rest of the day and night.

How can you transform yourself from sleeping in your comfy bed to getting your workout done?

• Get everything ready the night before. If you go to a gym, pack your gym bag before you go to bed. If you’re walking or running from home in the morning, get your clothes picked out and piled up, along with your charged up phone and music. Do everything you can to not make excuses when your morning grumpiness threatens to take over.
• Exercise with a buddy. This makes the activity more social and keeps you accountable.
• Or…relish the alone time. For working parents, caregivers and people who work in large offices, a little bit of solitude can be rejuvenating.
• Wake up slowly but with a pattern. If you need to baby yourself, have your tea or coffee or water, then get dressed, then put in your contact lenses.
• Treat yourself with a healthy snack either before or afterwards (but make sure its calories don’t negate the workout!)
• Put your workout in your daily calendar and treat it like an appointment with yourself.
• Try something new, either interval training or a new piece of equipment, a new weight to lift or even a new walking or running route.

Whatever you do, find some ways to stay motivated and to make your workouts a reality.