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Should You Workout In The Morning?
So the alarm goes off and you think to yourself, I got 15 more minutes and decide to hit the snooze button. An hour goes by and you eventually decide to get up and get ready for work.
You get up feeling like crap thinking to yourself, I really should have gotten that early morning workout in. Now your whole day is ruined because you decided to sleep in. Raise your hand if you have started your day to this theme song before.
So should you workout in the morning?
The logical answer would be yes, but we know that life has a way of throwing logic out the window. With work, getting kids ready for school and not getting a enough sleep throughout the night, it may be hard for you to jumpstart your day with an early morning workout.
Just like living a healthy lifestyle, deciding to workout in the morning is about creating a habit. My goal is to help push you into forming good habits on your way to a healthy lifestyle.
Start Your Day Off Right
There is no better feeling then knowing you got a good intense workout out of the way and are now free to do other things later on in the day.
That sense of accomplishment when you step out of the gym after an intense workout and say to yourself “I did it.” Well that is what working out in the morning can do for you.
You can get into you office or classroom feeling good about yourself knowing that you are already ahead of the game when it comes to your health.
You also have more energy throughout the day to get things done. Even if you hate your job, at least you get to enter the office with a positive attitude and more focus to accomplish any tasks you have set for the day.
Creates A Routine
Deciding to workout in the morning takes a lot of self-discipline and willpower. Through this, you are able to form good habits which helps you in working towards accomplishing your goals. When you are able create a routine for yourself, it almost becomes second nature as you continue to create this habit.
The same way you get up for work and fix the kids breakfast, making time to go to the gym involves the same commitment. Yes you have to wake-up a bit earlier, but by forming this habit, you are making sure to commit to a lifestyle that benefits you in the long-run.
Also know that it does get easier with time, so don’t be to hard on yourself if you miss a day or two. Create a schedule, and work on committing to that schedule week by week.
Boost In Metabolism
A great thing about working out in the morning is that little boost you get when it comes to your metabolism. At a time where most people’s breakfast consist of coffee and donuts, getting that early morning workout is going to increase your appetite and give you a reason to make sure you have a full healthy breakfast before you get into work.
Whether that breakfast is a protein shake, smoothie or some oatmeal, it sure beats having coffee and donuts. Thus making sure your metabolism is constantly working allowing you to burn off more calories during the day. This Phenomenon is called EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption).
The way EPOC works is after an intense workout, your body is continuing to burn off calories during the day even at rest. So even if you are at your desk or grocery shopping, because of that intense workout you had in the morning, your body continues to burn calories.
It is important to understand that in order for EPOC to work effectively, you have to be engaging in some type of high intensity training like cardio or weight lifting. So make sure to increase the intensity of your workouts if your current routine only consists of light jogging on a treadmill.
Avoid The Rush At The Gym
Like most people that choose to skip out on the early morning workout, they usually make time for it after work. Which means the gym where you go will be jammed packed with people trying to get their workout in for the day.
There is nothing worse than having to wait for the next machine to be available so you can start your workout. This can lead to a very ineffective workout thus stopping you from getting the results you want.
Also depending on which gym you go to, some people use after work hours for socializing. Now there is nothing wrong with chatting it up with friends, but if you are serious about getting results, you want to use this time to get a productive workout.
Better Sleep
The same way early morning workouts can give you that boost of energy you need to accomplish tasks throughout the day, it also lets you know when it is time for your body to rest. Waking up early in the morning to exercise will help improve your sleep.
You will get a healthy sense of fatigue when you are done with the day, thus preparing your body for rest. Morning exercise will not only increase the length of your sleep, but also help improve the quality of your sleep.
As opposed to working out in the evening where the adrenaline from the workout could keep you awake. We all know that there is nothing worse than being wired right before bed waiting to fall asleep.
SO WAKE UP!
So make sure to get up and kickstart your fitness goal with an early morning workout. You will be more sharp, in a better mood, and ready to tackle all of life’s obstacles during the day.
This is your life and your health and it is important to take control of it and form good habits. It all starts with YOU and how you decide to make fitness a part of your daily life.
So don’t be afraid to share below on how you plan on getting up in the morning to kickstart your day.
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