Saturday, November 3, 2012

Finding Motivation When You Just Want to Sleep

I don’t think you can have a conversation about fitness without discussing motivation. Motivation is that force that gets you out of bed, up off the couch, or just off your butt and moving.  Because it’s so important motivation is not a subject I’m going to just approach, write about it once and then walk away. It’s something we will come back to often because it is an ongoing thing that never goes away while you’re finding fitness.  

So let’s start with getting up in the morning to work out. I’m a pretty early riser (6-7am even on weekends), not by choice—probably by genetics. That being said, I will admit that I do not like getting up to work out. In my heart I know I should get up every other morning, at least, and go for a run but finding the motivation to get out of bed, get dressed and put on my running shoes is beyond difficult.  So trust me, I get it.

We will ignore the negatives of getting up earlier to work out. Part of motivation is looking at the positives and letting go of the negative stuff that keeps you from doing something. Let’s, instead, focus on the positives of getting up and working out first thing in the morning….. 

1.       It crosses one thing off your to-do list—We all have these crazy busy lives. Work, school, taking care of others, taking care of ourselves,  cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, and the list goes on. It’s difficult to squeeze in fitness so why don’t we just do it first thing and it’s done for the day.

2.       It only hurts for a little bit—Okay working out shouldn’t really hurt. I am talking about that mental hurt of peeling yourself out of your warm bed even before you need to just so you can go for walk, run, or whatever form of exercise you chose. From experience, I can tell you that once you get into a routine it gets easier. You just have to suck it up, start the routine, and stick to it. WARNING: Do not break your routine because then you have to start all over again.

3.       ENERGY—There is an energy boost that you get from working out in the morning that you’ll probably won’t get working out any other time of day.  Getting the blood pumping early in the day seems to last throughout the day. This alone should be great motivation for getting up!
 
These are just three positives. Once you get going you will find more. In fact, come back and share them with us. I’ve included a short article that focuses on getting up and running in the morning but it translates to any other form of exercise.


I’m going to lead by example. I’m going to set my alarm to get up tomorrow morning (a Sunday, no less) and go for a run.

 

1 comment:

  1. So true... whenever I get into an exercise routine, I hate to break it b/c I don't want to have to start all over! I'll have to keep that in mind to help keep me going :)

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