You know all the benefits of a workout at dawn, but when your alarm buzzes at 6am, you may need a few tricks to get yourself out of bed and into the gym.
Tell your roommate about your plan.
It’s a lot harder to blow off that morning exercise once you’ve told someone about it. Your roomie may even decide to join you! Need a bigger boost? Post a status about your morning goal and promise to update your friends and family later that day.
Prepare the night before.
Make the move from bed to gym as easy as possible. Pick out your outfit the night before and leave your sneakers, water bottle, headphones, and student ID at the foot of your bed.
Get dressed.
Before you hit that snooze button, push yourself to achieve a smaller goal – just put on your workout clothes. Knowing you’ll have to change back into regular clothes makes you much less likely to skip.
Visualize the day.
Before you pull the blankets over your head, think about the three classes and four hour work shift you have later that day – and how much more stressful it will be to try and fit in a jog then.
Treat yo self.
If you exercise every morning for a week (and don’t cheat!) buy yourself a small present. Bonus points if the reward encourages fitness, like new music or a nice pair of running socks!