Most people have a preference of time for working out.
Morning people usually like the earlier workout while night owls might prefer an afternoon session. However, there may be times when the perfect session time is not possible. Here are a few tips to prepare for and stay motivated for a new session time.
Switching from afternoon to morning workouts
- Go to bed in your workout clothes. I am a morning person and I still do this! Have everything ready to go in one spot.
- Fill up your water bottle (Josh’s favorite is here)and leave it next to your keys, glasses and any other belongings you need for the gym.
- Set a backup alarm for 10 or 15 minutes after your main alarm. If you really do not like waking up early and sometimes accidentally shut off the alarm instead of hitting snooze, you have a fail-safe with the second alarm.
Switching from morning to afternoon workouts
- Pack your workout clothes and any other gym gear you need, like an extra snack or water bottle, the night before and leave it in a spot where you will remember it, or better yet, leave it in your car as a way to set it and forget it.
- Schedule it into your calendar. When I worked a 9-to-5 job, I created an out-of-office appointment for my work-out sessions as a reminder not to schedule any meetings too late in the afternoon that day if possible.
- Know that any frustrations or annoyances that come up throughout your day can be used as motivation to crush your upcoming workout!
– Erin
At the end of the day, something else to keep in mind is that workouts can be great at any time of day if you just have the motivation to get to the gym. Evening workouts usually have the benefit of circadian-based hormone advantages while morning workouts may help wake you up for a more productive day.
Finding a workout buddy or starting at a gym with some sort of structured training is a great way so make things a bit more fun (and have somebody to text you). And we aren’t just saying that because we sell training. Training with other people is objectively more fun.