Tricking Yourself into Exercising

Let me lay out a scenario and see if it’s familiar.

1. Wake up, groggy because it’s early.
2. Maybe have a quick breakfast and head to work.
3. Work hard (ish), getting stuff done and taking names. Basically, CRUSH IT.
4. Get off work and head home.
5. Get home, tired from working so hard (ish). CRUSHING IT takes lots of focus and energy!
6. Because you’re tired and worked so hard, reward yourself by laying on the couch and watching Netflix for a little while (or 4 hours of binging). Substitute video games, cable, reading a book, knitting, or napping to taste.
7. Have some dinner (stopping Netflix, optional).
8. Maybe do some hobby stuff before the end of the day. Depending on how good the Netflix binging is going, keep doing that.
9. Go to bed, on time… or possibly late.
10. GOTO 1.

If this happens to you more often than you’d like to admit, then you and me have that in common. I’m tired from work! IT doesn’t really CRUSH ITself, you know. So when I get home from work, the last thing I feel like doing is working out. This is bad because my work is pretty sedentary, and working out is what I need to do. The cycle of work, sleep, laze, hate self for not exercising, hate that the hate is not strong enough to get me to actually exercise, repeat is a rough one. But last week, I discovered a way out. It works pretty well, and I wanted to share it!

Exercise Immediately After You Wake Up

You heard me. Not like “have a nice breakfast and get ready to exercise.” Nay. The night before, set out everything you’ll need to go on a run or lift or whatever you prefer. Running shoes. Socks. If you’re the jammie-wearing sort, wear clean workout clothes as jammies¹. When you wake up (maybe 20 minutes earlier than usual), roll out of bed and put on your gear and get to it immediately. I have found that currently I can run about a mile and a half loop before I poop out. This will improve hopefully. Just do what you can do, but don’t kill yourself. You want to feel like doing it again tomorrow and the next day and the next day and the…

But, I can jump right in the shower and head to work. And the best part? Since all of this happened between the time of bed and the time of shower, I remember nothing. I’m not awake yet! Still asleep, brain-wise. But my Fitbit says I’ve got steps and burned calories. And I get to skip the self-loathing that usually comes with not exercising! 🌚

Caveat

The first day, you’ll be pumped to do it. It will go great and you will feel great. The second day you will be groggy, but your excitement over being one of the people that exercises will keep you going. Days 3-5 will be rough, though. Stick to it. The bad feels of tiredness/soreness diminish eventually, and the good feels from taking care of your body don’t!

Conclusion

Anyways, that’s just been my experience. I don’t know if I’m actually dropping the babyfat, but I’d like to think so. If you have any other protips to make it easier to exercise, let me know.

Train while your enemy sleeps. Bonus points if your enemy is lazy you.

— Me, probably.

¹I’m a grown man who consistently says “jammies”. Whatever. Don’t judge me.↩

Author: Ryan Palo | Tags: exercise tricks fitness | Buy me a coffee

Like my stuff? Have questions or feedback for me? Want to mentor me or get my help with something? Get in touch! To stay updated, subscribe via RSS