A few years ago I started joking around with my friends about being great before eight – as in exercising before 8AM.

The number of times I have successfully done this can be counted on one hand. Literally. I have distinct memories of every time I have actually woken up to my alarm – meaning gotten out of bed rather than snoozing 17 times –  and actually worked out before work.

Don’t get me wrong – I wake up pretty well in the morning. I make a day of meals (depending on how well meal prep went), often times unload and reload the dishwasher, do some laundry, and when necessary, do homework or make an errand or two on the way to work. It’s not as though I can’t crawl out of bed and be productive before 8AM. I just can’t exercise.

I’ve read countless things about how good it is for your body and soul to exercise in the morning – and from a scheduling perspective, it makes a lot of sense too. I’ve read tricks about starting your workout immediately upon waking up, before your body can even realize what’s going on. It doesn’t matter. I’ll throw in 10 push-ups before the shower or do some squats while brushing my teeth, but for some reason, I can’t seem to get out for a run or to a spin class or a yoga class more than once a year.

We could dive into why this is – laziness, tiredness, my mattress, subconscious self-destructive tendencies – but the why isn’t my concern at the moment. I’m determined to workout every morning during this workweek.

I’m going to employ all the techniques I can think of:

• lay out my gym clothes before I go to sleep
• set a second alarm – and not the one on my phone that’s within reach of my pillow (another issue we’ll approach later)
• have my meals prepped and a shake ready to go
• sign up for a class outside of my gym that I’ve paid for
• make a plan to meet a friend for a class 

I will do it. Or I’ll try my very best.

I’ll let you know how it goes.