How to get out of bed for your morning workout

There’s nothing better than getting your morning workout in before you even get to the office. But let’s face it – there’s nothing worse than having your alarm go off before the sun has come up.

If you need some extra help dragging yourself out of bed, look no further than this reddit thread, which asked, “People who choose to get up early and work out, what is your inner talk that motivates you out of bed?”

Read more: The 5 worst things you can do in the morning (before you leave your house)

Thousands of people responded – here’s what some of the respondents had to say:

1. 'Yesterday you said tomorrow'

From Crossover9988: “I used to stay up ’til 2 a.m. each night ’til I saw this quote in a Nike ad that said ‘yesterday you said tomorrow.’ IDK, I just said keep going until it becomes enjoyable – it’s really just alone time to listen to the music you want to jam out to!”

Read more: This make-ahead cinnamon-almond green smoothie is perfect if you’re not a morning person

2. Count down from six

From HarmlessSponge: “If you’re having trouble moving, use that six second rule people talk about. Count down from six – the rule is you have to be doing the thing you don’t want by the time you get to one. And you never let yourself reach one. You’ll be moving in no time.”

3. Make a morning routine

From AMA_About_Rampart: “There’s not a lot of inner talk involved. I get up 90 minutes before I need to be at the gym. So after showering and a small breakfast, I get to watch Netflix for around a half hour. If I were to hop out of bed and head straight for the gym, then that probably wouldn’t go well… I like to have a chance to relax for a bit beforehand.”

Read more: Kick-start your morning with this 10-minute body-weight workout

4. Get disciplined

From Shiv_: “Discipline trumps motivation. Even your best attempt at motivating yourself will occasionally fail. But if it’s discipline that drives you, you don’t need to be motivated in the first place – you’ll just go, whether you want to or not.”

5. Do it for the alone time (and the Pokémon)

From HordeShadowPriest: “I don’t go to the gym or do any weights but I run each morning. Right now is the best, it’s still kind of cool outside and just great running weather. I do it because I get my alone time – and I get a little bit of Pokémon GO in there as well.”

6. Think about all that energy you’re getting

From AntiparticleCollider: “I like to have the mindset that working out doesn’t cost energy, it gives you energy.”

Read more: What’s better for building muscle: morning workouts or evening ones?

7. Find some workout buddies

From gamingwithganky: “Having other people at the gym who expect you to show up and work out with them. That is often enough to at least get out of bed.”

8. Invest in… farm animals?

From neubs: “I have baby calves I feed that are on a fixed schedule anyway. I made a weight lifting set out of some pipe and tractor wheel weights in the barn so I get some reps in.”

^{Originally published on www.menshealth.com}

^{Image credit: iStock}