When I started going to the gym, I established the habit of going after school, at around five in the afternoon. However, towards the end of my senior year of high school, I was juggling many extracurricular activities, hard classes, and a part-time job, so I simply did not have time for evening workouts anymore. The only solution to this predicament was waking up at an ungodly hour to get my butt to the gym before school. Certain things are painful but nothing is more painful than rolling out of bed at four fifty in the morning and then performing physical activity while it is still pitch black out. I exaggerate, of course, because- while it was super tough at the beginning- the more I did it, the easier it got to do. Not only that, but getting my work out done first thing made my day feel way more productive and brighter overall. I would get to my first class energized, jacked up on endorphins, and the feeling never did seem to subside. Now that I’m in college, I continue to work out in the early morning (granted, I wake up at six or seven o’clock now, not five). I do it partially because my evenings are busy, but also because I love the feeling of putting in work before the day begins. Here’s some tips that have helped me get become a morning work-outer:

1.  Make it a given: No ands, ifs, or buts- your workout has to happen and is happening first thing in the morning. When I go to sleep at night, there’s no question in my mind that I’m going to the gym as soon as I wake up. Treat it as if it were an exam or an important meeting that you can’t miss or re-schedule or make excuses for. No snoozing the alarm. This way, your brain will begin to operate on auto-pilot in the mornings and you will find yourself in workout gear, wandering over to the gym or for an outdoor run as if it was any other daily event.
2.  Prepare: This one is a popular tip, but for good reason. If you take a few minutes the night before to lay your clothes out, pack your bag, leave your sneakers and headphones by the door, maybe even plan a healthy breakfast, you’ll be way less likely to make excuses and flake on your date with the weight room.
3.  Get a buddy: Thursday workouts are my favorite workouts because I go with two of my best friends. Yeah, they often distract me and act shamefully weird in front of everyone else, but that’s what makes my Thursday lifts special and fun. Besides, it’s hard to pull out of a morning work out once you already promised two other people that you’d be up by seven-fifteen.
4.  Sleep and eat enough: Of course you’re not going to want to work out in the morning if you went to bed at two in the morning and only had a sandwich the day before. Ideally, you want to get six to eight hours of sleep for optimal recovery, and you want to eat a balanced, healthy diet sufficient in calories.
5.  Have some self-compassion: You know what? It’s fine if you need the extra sleep one day and you skip the gym. It’s fine if you go in and feel weak. Heck, it’s fine if you do five minutes of activity and then walk straight back out. The important thing is getting right back up the next day and continuing to build up healthy habits that will last you a lifetime.