6 Benefits of Exercising in the Morning

6 Benefits of Exercising in the Morning : Trying to get a night owl like me to drag myself out of my comfy bed even before the rooster crows to exercise is an uphill better.

You stand a better chance of extracting water from stone.

If I get up before 10am, my brain feels like mash potatoes and my body feels disjointed from my head.

The good thing is, that’s the old me speaking.

Old habits die hard and it took every ounce of will power I had to get myself up early to workout before I start my day.

It’s rather amazing the feeling you get for doing so and the benefits that come along with it.

Here are 6 benefits that I experienced firsthand for getting up early to exercise.

1. Better Eating Habits

It’s not very often that you feel the urge to cramp your face with unhealthy food after an intense workout.

In the past, breakfast to me was bacon, cereals, cupcakes or anything that’s edible in my fridge. These days, I’ve gravitated towards more wholesome and nutritious food to re-fuel my body after my workout. And this had a ripple effect to the rest of my meals.

Managing the quantity and quality of your diet is important for a healthy life.

2. Improved Sleep Quality

We all have finite energy stores in our body to get through the day.

As beneficial as it is from exercising early in the morning, it also tires you out when night rolls in. Sleeping at two in the morning was common for me until I made the change.

These days I can barely keep my eyes open past 10pm and I sleep like a baby all the way till morning.

Many of us underestimate the importance of sleep quality which can have a direct impact on your health.

3. Increased Mental Alertness

Why drown your body in caffeine when you can increase your mental alertness with a good morning workout.

I’m not a fan of long monotonous cardio hence HITT works well for me. All you need is 30mins of puke inducing intensity and you’re done.

Even though I might feel physically tired from my HITT session, there’s an unexplained lightness to my mental acuity. In fact studies have shown that a good workout in the morning is twice as effective than your usual cup of coffee when it comes to ‘waking up’ your brain.

4. Losing Weight Became More Effective

Before I started exercising in the morning, I wasn’t in the best of shape.

I had a habit of snacking late into the night as a night owl and I exercised as frequently as a Halley’s comet sighting.

Since I have to be up early to exercise, I didn’t have much of an appetite for a pre-workout meal. I will usually go through my workouts with an empty stomach.

I noticed that I was losing weight at a constant rate which never happened before. Based on my research, this was due to two reasons. Firstly, exercising in the morning gives your metabolism a nice boost which means more calories burnt. Secondly, by training in a fasted state, your body burns fat instead of glucose as its primary energy source.

5. It Puts Me In a Better Mood

I’m a completely different person in the morning compared to the afternoon. Grouchy and short-tempered are the adjectives that I would use.

Exercising in the morning has put me in a better mood to take on the challengers of the day. This is from the release of endorphins that you get from working out.

6. Less Snacking At Night

Supper was one thing that I indulged in due to my unhealthy sleeping habits. The longer you stay up, the hungrier you get.

Needless to say, it wasn’t the healthiest of meals. It usually consists of something sugary or fried. Now that I’ve started sleeping earlier, there’s no urge or desire to squeeze in another meal after dinner.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many tangible and healthy benefits that you can get from exercising in the morning. Regardless of whether you are a night owl or early bird, it’s something worth incorporating into your life.

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