Last updated on June 3rd, 2020 at 01:02 pm
Let’s stop making excuses and start working out at the best time of the day – the morning to reach our fitness goals, improve our health and develop discipline! Join my 30-Day Morning Workout Challenge to make exercise a daily habit, a part of your morning routine and get all of the benefits!
A while back I had made working out a morning habit I couldn’t start my day without. I would wake up, not even wash my face, put on some workout clothes and shoes and do a workout at home or go out for a run. I LOVED IT. I loved how it made me feel in the very moment (and I never enjoy my late-day workouts).
But I especially loved how it affected the rest of my day and made it WAY better. Just a quick morning workout made me feel more in control of my life, my emotions and my other habits. I felt really awake and alive.
It magically transformed me from a grumpy person who HATES everyone and everything into someone who’s positive, has more energy, is more productive and actually likes mornings.
If you want the same, this is my 30 day morning workout challenge and I hope you join! Morning exercise is the best, really!
Workout Challenge Goals
With this workout challenge I want to:
- Improve my health (ALWAYS!)
- Reduce back pain and other aches
- Get fit & tone up (I’m realizing I actually want to lose only a little bit of weight, and instead get more toned)
- Get more done during the day
- Be more positive
- Develop more discipline in my everyday life
- Make morning exercise a habit
It’s funny how all those negative feelings and outcomes come & work together, all at the same time. But exercise can change it all, I KNOW IT!
Benefits of Morning Exercise
What’s The 30-Day Morning Workout Challenge:
The 30 Day Morning Workout Challenge is very simple: Wake up and exercise every morning for 20-30 minutes, that’s all. You can do this workout challenge at home or anywhere you want.
You definitely don’t need a gym membership, but even if you love the gym – you choose the workouts.
For me, in the morning I work out at home or go out for a run / to work out in the park when the weather is nice. Okay, so mostly I exercise at home, sue me. It’s more convenient and I actually get it done.
The Workout Split
With this challenge make sure to do a proper workout split – don’t do the same workout 7 days a week. For example this is my workout split:
How To Start Working Out In The Morning
Believe it or not, working out in the morning is way easier than working out later in the day. At least for me.
The way I do it is:
- have my workout planned/preselected for the day
- have my workout clothes already laid out
- Wake up 35 minutes earlier
- Get out of bed, put on workout clothes and get right to it!
That is it.
Well, if I go out to exercise, I might wash my face and brush my teeth before, but this isn’t promised.
How To Prepare
I hate preparation, but without it, there’s a big chance to fail at any fitness challenge. Believe me, I’ve tried many times before I succeeded to make morning exercise something I just do. So here’s how to prepare:
- Make a workout plan – Super important to keep you on track. If you don’t know what workout you’re doing on that day, there’s a big chance you won’t do anything. Prepare a workout plan (or choose one of mine below) and stick with it for a week. Then do another one for the week after and so on.
- Don’t eat late / or overeat the night before. Same goes for drinking (a LOT). What this does to sabotage you is that you wake up boated and tired in the morning and you feel like you can’t even move.
- Wake up 35 minutes earlier. Don’t hit snooze, go to bed earlier, so you can get enough sleep and wake up early to actually do your workout and not rush through the morning. When you have the extra 30 minutes you are going to do those morning exercises.
- Eat a quick breakfast after that – I won’t eat before my workout, as I’m trying to get rid of some belly fat and fasted exercise (esp cardio) helps with that. But a healthy breakfast after the morning exercise is important to fuel your body and to not go crazy hungry as the day progresses. If you do need to eat before exercise – have something nutritious, but light like banana and nuts for example.
- Check it off! Once you did the workout for the day – check it off! It’s super motivating! I even created a small pdf to print out and hang somewhere you can see, so you can track your progress! You can download it here (you don’t need to sign up).
Is There A Workout Plan?
I don’t believe in workout plans. Don’t believe that someone else can create something that is made for you. Only you can. (I explain how to make your own workout plan here)
However, I’ve already made a few workout plans in the past in the hopes they can help my mom, or for myself and shared them here, so you can start with them.
Complete Beginner Workout Plans
These plans are for people who have never exercised before or have rarely done so.
And here’s a more advanced beginner workout plan if you’re getting back to fitness/don’t exercise regularly:
Intermediate/Advanced Workout Plans
- Fun Workout Plan To Lose Weight Week 1
- Workout Plan To Lose Weight Week 1
- 7-Day Workout Plan With Weights
Pilates, Barre & Yoga Workout Plans
More Workouts To Choose From
If that’s not enough, check out these workout round-ups for workouts I love and can recommend:
- 8 Pilates Workouts To Tone Everything
- The 5 Best Workouts To Get In Shape Fast
- A Week Of Pilates Workouts You Can Do At Home
- 9 Barre Workout That You’ll Love
- 6 Best Workouts To Tone Your Booty
- 15 Favorite 10-minute Morning Workouts (combine 2 of these for the challenge)
- Tone Your Arms With These Workouts For Women
And, if you need more resources, here are some awesome Youtube channels that have great workouts:
Staying Active Throughout The Day
Don’t skip other small daily physical activities, only because you work out in the morning. A morning workout is not an excuse for eating badly or being lazy later in the day! It’s a bonus. Something you do to feel even better. Whatever needs to be done in the garden, at home, at the beach, at the club – wherever – do it! Commit to always going for it, even if you don’t feel like it.
One workout a day can’t erase 8 hours of sitting, so try to be as active as possible throughout the day. Don’t sit for more than 40 minutes at a time. Breaking up long sitting intervals with even 5 minutes of walking can improve insulin sensitivity (prevent diabetes and belly fat!). And if you walk 5 minutes every hour for 12 hours, you’ve got an additional 60 minutes of physical activity. Not bad.
I recently started recording my steps and found out I have days when I do 300 steps, sometimes even less. Such an eye-opener! I also found that I easily get to the recommended 10,000 daily steps when I go out for a walk and the weather is nice right now, so I have no excuse.
Food & Diet
I’m not a fan of diets and restrictions, but I believe in eating whole foods and avoiding processed foods. It’s better for your health, your quality of life, your productivity and mental health. So, because diet is huge for weight and fat loss, if that’s your goal and you’re eating whatever you want and wondering why you’re not seeing results – change it!
You can start with the 7-Day clean eating meal plan I shared, try any of my other clean eating plans or even better: create one for yourself with recipes that you really love!
I personally will do a 16/8 split of intermittent fasting and will incorporate as many vegetables as I can during this challenge. Not eating after 5 pm has been one of the most efficient ways for me to lose weight in the past and I’m sure it will work for others as well.
Okay, guys I hope you join the 30-day morning workout challenge – it is for everyone – beginner or advanced, all you really have to do is start. If you do start the challenge, let me know if you have any questions & update me on your own progress as well!
