How to become a morning person

As someone with a very busy working life, I found myself at the point where finding the motivation to train after a long day at work was very hard. Not to mention the constant fight to get any of the equipment (we've all been there). Some days I worked too late or was so tired I couldn't train and when I did it meant not being home for my evening meal until far too late. Frankly, I wasn't enjoying it anymore and was becoming frustrated.

It was then that I decided to try and switch up my routine and train before work. For months I had toyed with the idea but the 5.20 alarm call completely turned me off. However I stumped up the motivation to give it a go and over a year later I haven't looked back! Now I'm not saying it was easy to begin with but I soon found myself in a routine and the early starts became natural. My training is now done before I even start work so if my day is long or stressful, at the end of it I can head straight home to get ready for the next!

When I tell people about my routine I often get comments such as 'I don't know how you do it' so I thought I would share with you my top tips for becoming a morning person! 

1. Prepare, prepare, prepare

But seriously I can't stress how important this is! I make sure that all of my meals for work the following day are ready in the fridge. I also have my bottle and aminos ready to go. This means I can simply grab them on my way out.

I also prepare my clothes the night before. I have my gym bag packed with my work clothes, towel etc and then leave my gym clothes in a pile at the end of my bed ready to get into in the morning. This way there is no decision or faffing to be done. I just hit auto pilot and get ready!

2. Plan your workout

If you are training before work, the chances are you are under time pressure to get done and get to work. Therefore planning your session the night before/ planning all of your sessions for the week means there is no aimless wandering or wasted time and you know as soon as you wake up what your goals are for the morning. Take a look at One of CSN's weekend workouts here for inspiration. 

3. Get to know your fellow morning crowd

I find that I see the same faces each day and so have made a conscious effort to get to know them (at the makeup mirror mostly!!). I find this really helps as if I am tired and struggling any days I know we are all in the same boat and some social interaction can always cheer you up! 

4. Love what you do

Frankly, if you don't love your training then you are not going to get out of bed before sunrise to do it. Training should be enjoyable and for me, I look forward to each session. This is because I have found a type of training programme that suits me and I recommend you do the same, you won't believe the difference this can make! 

5. Get plenty of rest

Going to bed at 1am each night and getting up early to train is simply not sustainable (trust me I’ve done it!). I don't always get to bed as early as I would like due to late working, however, I do my best to rest and make sure I catch up at weekends too! Also, think about planning your rest days so for example, Wednesday is a good one as it's then 2 days on with a lie in before the next 2 days.

6. Don't feel you have to

Finally, there will be some mornings when you wake up and you simply are just too tired. This is absolutely fine and you shouldn't feel bad about taking the decision to leave the gym and get a couple of hours extra sleep. You will thank yourself the following morning when you are feeling fresh again.

So the overriding message I suppose is do it because you love it and always be prepared!

As always Team CSN are here to help, call or email us today and we can give you professional, unbiased advice on all your nutrition and supplement needs.