How to Motivate Yourself to Exercise Every Morning

Long before I noticed any fitness benefits of doing burpees every morning, I noticed something else: I really, really, did not want to get out of bed. Because once I got out of bed, I would have to do my burpees.

Remove the Little Annoyances

The worst thing about morning burpees, I found, was not the exercise itself—that I can handle—but the fact that it gets you all sweaty and gross first thing in the morning. And if you do 30 burpees in your pajamas, you’ll end up with super sweaty pajamas. Ew.

So I change from my pajamas into workout clothes. If I’m going to work out more that morning, that system works just fine. And if I’m not, I sweat into a sports bra and a pair of shorts, then peel those off and take a quick shower before getting dressed for the day.

Another minor annoyance is that I really don’t like exercising immediately after I wake up. But morning routines last minutes to hours, not seconds. I realized I felt a lot better about exercising if I did it maybe 20 minutes after waking up, after I’d had a chance to have some caffeine, feed my kids, and maybe spend a few bleary-eyed minutes scrolling on my phone.

Make a Small Commitment

Maybe you can do a ton of burpees when you get really motivated, but you’ll have to do your exercise every day, even on the days you feel really tired. Even on the days work is super busy. So I’m not doing 50 burpees a day; I told myself I would do a minimum of 10. With all the burpee variations that are possible, chances are there’s something you can do 10 of. (Or five! Or three!)