How I Finally Learned to Exercise in the Morning
I’m not a morning person, and I never have been—except for the money. At my old job, I started at 5 a.m. for years and, against all odds, showed up to work out every day. Now I teach cycling classes twice a week at 6 a.m., up from the more comfortable morning shift. However, until recently, I slept through every alarm on the other days, even though I knew I needed to get up and go to the gym early to start the day off right. It took me a long time, but I finally managed to become the kind of person who gets up before the sun and finishes her daily workout before my friends even get out of bed. Here’s what I did.
I made up financial bets
Since I started teaching cycling classes at 6 AM, I’ve noticed two undeniable things: I can easily get myself out of bed if I’m promised money, and my day is noticeably better when I start it with a workout. I’m simply more alert, productive, and generally happier when I start my morning with exercise than when I start it by sleeping in. It was obvious I needed to start every day this way, whether I was paid or not, but tricking myself into exercising “for free” became my first problem.
The solution turned out to be one you might not like: I had to tie my financial investment to what I wanted to do. Instead of getting paid, as I do when I teach, I needed to pay so I would have the motivation to not let my investment go to waste. This became a problem because one of the perks of my part-time teaching job was a free membership to a high-end gym here in New York City. Not to be picky about a gift horse, but free and unlimited access to a fancy gym didn’t really motivate me; it was available whenever I wanted to go, and if I didn’t want to go at all, I wouldn’t lose money on it. So I started signing up for introductory offers at all the studios in my area. They usually lasted one to two weeks and cost less than a regular membership at the same studio would have cost if I hadn’t taken advantage of the trial offer. I paid, but not too much , and it was enough to get me started. Every morning I got up, slowly but surely forming a habit. However, the introductory offers expired, and I had to scramble to find a new place to go, which disrupted my daily routine and didn’t contribute to stability.
Then I downloaded ClassPass and set up automatic monthly payments, but since unused credits carried over to the next month, it wasn’t as motivating. I noticed how much more consistent my “use it or lose it” practice had become, so I kept ClassPass because it was still useful , but I was looking for other options. Eventually, thanks to ClassPass, I found a studio in my area that offered Pilates-style strength training. I was thrilled—but the unlimited monthly pass cost several hundred dollars. I put it off because it seemed prohibitively expensive, but eventually realized it might be the only way to motivate myself to stick to the routine I was slowly building. Finally, I took the plunge. I traded a fortune for access to a studio full of so-called “megaformers.” I’ve been working out at this studio every weekday morning at 6:30 (except when I’m teaching a class, then I’ll pop in at 7:30) for a month now. Sometimes I’ll pop in at 5:30 just because I can. Who the heck is she? I’m not only ready, but I’m looking forward to buying it again next month.
Was it really necessary to spend hundreds of dollars on this? Absolutely not . But it was crucial for me to associate financial risks with my mission, and from my perspective, they had to be very serious. A cheap membership at a big gym never motivated me. What’s $25 draining my checking account every month along with all the other subscriptions I’d forgotten about? When I paid a little more to join gyms that offered free classes, even signing up for morning workouts didn’t always help, since there was no fee for skipping classes. (Now, as a teacher, I understand how disgusting this is, but I’m just being honest.) My subconscious is stubborn; it really wants to stay in bed, and I had to take extreme measures to overcome it.
An inexpensive gym membership might be just fine for you, but I want to warn you that in addition to the financial investment, you also need to dedicate time. It’s not that I find it difficult to exercise in general; I do it every day, but I wanted to start in the morning rather than squeeze in workouts in the evening or whenever I felt like it. That’s why paid classes are so important: they’re scheduled. I can’t just go whenever I feel like it, and I can’t decide I don’t want to go when the time comes. The combination of a significant amount of money and the need to be there at a set time is fundamental to what I do.
I rearranged my schedule.
This brings me to the next important step. Buying classes, memberships, gym memberships, apps , or anything else isn’t enough if you don’t make time for them in your life. I had to take a hard look at my schedule. I resorted to many of the planning tips I’ve written about here, like time blocking and time boxing , and I also started using prioritization techniques to figure out what could be restructured. The MIT method—or “most important” —was helpful because it allowed me to calculate the impact of my daily activities on my larger goals, while leaving room to recognize the positive impact morning workouts have on other parts of my day. With other prioritization approaches, workouts didn’t rank so high because they’re more optional than the work I have to do to keep a roof over my head, you know? But my goal here was to make more room for it and create a lifestyle that specifically positioned exercise as a morning activity, so the MIT method helped me put it front and center.
Like financial investments, this backfired: at first, I tried to get more serious about going to bed early. It doesn’t align with my true self, and it never has. Frankly, most of the time, I just didn’t do it. I’d fall asleep at 1 a.m. and wake up at 5, just so tired. I’m lenient with myself in these situations, because being too hard on myself would demoralize me and undermine my overall goal. Eventually, if the fatigue starts to frustrate me too much, I’ll adjust my approach and go to bed at 10 p.m., like a more reasonable person. Now, I build time into my schedule for naps (something I rarely did before). Breaks are an important part of overall productivity , as is giving yourself space to express yourself without trying to make too many radical changes at once, so a nap occasionally works well. I also try to avoid intense work in the evenings. I can’t force myself to go to bed early, but I can at least stop starting new projects at 11:00 PM, which will only make me more sleepy the next day than if I were relaxed before bed.
I’ve noticed I’m starting to make small, subconscious changes, though I haven’t yet become a fan of going to bed early. I go to bed much earlier than usual when I’m out with friends, though I go home less to sleep than to go anywhere. Also, last night at 11 o’clock, I was struck by inspiration to paint a piece of furniture. Normally, following the ” 10 minutes and one minute” rule, I would have jumped into action as soon as it occurred to me. But yesterday, I didn’t, knowing better than to get too caught up in something complicated when I need to unwind before my morning Pilates workout. Yes, these are small steps, but they’re much more helpful for forming long-term, sustainable habits than a complete personality overhaul. The latter is rarely long-lasting, but small, gradual changes add up to long-term success.
I was looking for incentives
This part is funny, so here’s a break. For me, any significant life change should be accompanied by small rewards, and I’m not talking about the mental health benefits of exercise, the improved appearance, or the increased productivity after a workout. I’m talking about small pleasures. First, sticking to my new schedule has opened the door to achieving my goals through the various workout tracking apps I use . I’m big on using the Peloton app to track all my workouts, even the ones I don’t do through the app or on a stationary bike , mainly because I think it gives me a more complete picture than using the built-in workout tracking feature on my Apple Watch, and also because it contributes to my daily streak (currently: 274 days). Entering my workout information into the app first thing in the morning ensures my streak, which is literally just a number on a screen, but it motivates me.
I’ve also started using something similar to SMART goals to track and reward progress. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, I tell myself, “If I go to class tomorrow at 5:30 a.m., I’ll stop at Dunkin’ for a donut on the way home,” or “If I work out every morning this week, I’ll buy myself one new set of workout clothes on Sunday.”
Wearing fun, coordinated outfits is also integral to my personal process, as it lifts my spirits before I even leave the house and helps me feel more focused and capable at the gym, but that may not be the case for you. In fact, none of this necessarily applies to you, but it can serve as a guide. The general idea here is this: I took the time to consider what I want (waking up early and working out); and what I know about myself (I’m motivated by money, my schedule wasn’t conducive to doing this, and I need constant small rewards to keep going); then I combined these facts into a new, step-by-step strategy that worked for me . No matter what you want or what motivates you, you can do the same by relying on a few productivity hacks and self-awareness.