Even Olympians struggle with early starts!

They are the epitome of human strength. Olympic athletes, for many of us, hold an almost superhuman status, achieving things with their bodies that will only ever be a dream for the rest of us. Perhaps this is the reason that many of us assume that athletes mustn't struggle as the rest of us mere mortals do in the morning. Someone that can run that far, or swim that fast can't struggle to escape the duvet, can they? According to Olympic rower Pete Reed in The Telegraph, getting out of bed in the morning is a challenge – particularly when you consider the amount of training being squeezed into each and every day. “The public often think that Olympian rowers are superhuman, but we struggle as well,” admits Reed in the Telegraph article. “In rowing, we have a training programme that is literally every day, and all day, and it can be extremely tough to motivate yourself in the morning, especially when it’s dark and cold.” The question does remain though, how do they – the Olympians with tremendous willpower – successfully get up in the mornings? “Above all, it’s the quality of your sleep that matters because the better your sleep, the easier it is to get up in the morning," Reed explains. "We have a physiologist who talks regularly to the team about sleep quality and we wear watches which monitor our body movements in the night to see how well we’re sleeping. If it’s not going well, we’ll change things and try to improve. You can do the same with apps on your phone that monitor sleep patterns and ensure your body is achieving its full sleep cycles - which are normally split into 90-minute blocks throughout the night - without interruption.” On the whole, our days are not as rigorously physical as that of Reed's, but there are definitely lessons that can be learned from his waking routine – it's all about a decent night's sleep. Even Olympians struggle with early starts!