Five ways to help you wake up for early training sessions
There’s no denying it: we all love to sleep. But there’s also a lot to be said for waking up early and getting your day started before everyone else.
90% of business executives wake up before 6 am on weekdays.
Why? Because it gives you momentum, motivation, and more time in your day. Plus, you get to feel smug about being more productive than everyone else.Sport is no different. Although it’s a struggle to get up, you end up more energised and motivated after an early morning workout. Sometimes you’ll have a hectic schedule, and a few hours at the start of your day is your only chance to fit in a training session. Or maybe your team training starts a little bit earlier than you’d like. Either way, there are plenty of things you can do to make these early sessions a little bit easier.
1. Prepare everything the night before
If you’re waking up earlier than you’d like, you want to make your morning as straightforward as possible. You’re probably not going to want to leave your bed, let alone track down a clean pair of socks or prepare a full meal.
Get everything sorted the night before. Plan what you’re going to wear and have it laid out ready. Prepare a nutritious breakfast you can grab and go or eat while getting ready. And make an evening routine of packing your bag. You don’t want to end up forgetting something essential because you packed while half asleep.
2. Move your alarm
The snooze button is all too tempting and easy to press. Next thing you know it’s two hours later, you overslept, and that’s one less training session you had this week.
Reduce the temptation of snoozing your alarm by moving it away from you. Keep your alarm clock or phone across the room or even in a different room altogether. This way, you’ll have already left your bed and embraced the cold to turn it off. And at this point, you may as well go and work out since you’re already up and awake!
3. Reward yourself
Unless you really like training sessions, they won’t motivate you to wake up. But there’s nothing wrong with giving yourself a little extra motivation to get up and train. Incorporate other things you really enjoy into your morning routine.
For example, if you wake up early for a training session, you can watch an episode of your favourite TV show while you eat breakfast. Or, on days you make it to an early session, treat yourself to your favourite lunch afterwards.
4. Earlier nights
This is an obvious one, but it’s still worth mentioning. If you’re going to wake up early, do yourself a favour and go to sleep a little earlier. On average, we need 7-9 hours of sleep a night. So factor this into your early rises.
If you end up sleep-deprived, making it to early sessions will be even harder. And if you do make it, your performance is sure to suffer.
5. Be consistent
The key to making early wake-up calls easier is to be consistent. Although you might only have morning training a few times a week, try to wake up at the same early time every day.
Your body likes routine, so you’ll only be making it harder by waking up early some days but late others.Think of it this way, now you’ll have a few free mornings to be productive and focus on other aspects of your life!We’re not going to lie and say that waking up early for training is fun, easy, or enjoyable. Because we all know it’s not. But it can be extremely worthwhile. You might find you train harder and your whole day becomes a lot more productive. And after a while, your body will get used to it. You never know, one day you might even beat your alarm!