The number one excuse for not sticking to an exercise routine is lack of time and energy. For that reason, getting up in the morning to exercise is a good way to maintain a routine. Waking up early, time and energy may sound like an oxymoron, but there are a number of benefits to starting the day with physical activities.
Those who get up in the morning to exercise not only wake up the body but wake up the mind. A morning routine gets the metabolism moving after resting all night. The results linger on throughout the rest of the day and even up to 24 hours. A revved up metabolism, therefore, leads to more calories being burned during the day.
Not only do people who exercise in the morning burn more calories; they also have more energy to get through the day. This is a physical and mental perk. Physically, they don’t get that mid-morning or mid-afternoon drag that most experience in a typical day. Mentally, they can accomplish their designated activity, whether at work or running errands. The benefits to the brain can last as long as 10 hours after the completion of a workout.
It may sound strange, but exercising in the morning helps individuals get a good night’s rest. This benefit occurs because when a person has more energy to complete their day’s activities, they don’t need to take naps to rejuvenate their bodies nor or they exhausted by the end of the day. Thus, the quality of their sleep improves tremendously.
Once the body gets accustomed to waking up at the same time in the morning, the body’s internal clock starts ticking better. When the body’s internal clock, or circadian rhythms, is synchronized, many people don’t even need an alarm clock to wake them up. The body learns when it’s time to wake up and time to go to sleep because it has established a set routine.
Another benefit of exercising in the morning is that individuals are more likely to stick to the program. Of all people who start an exercise routine and work out in the morning, more than 90% stick to the routine. This makes sense because, as the day progress, more distractions get in the way of exercise. By the end of the day, most people just want to unwind and relax.
Of course, getting up in the morning for some people may seem impossible, especially if they have families. However, try getting up 30 minutes earlier than everyone else and doing simple exercises or use DVDs that have workouts that are less than 30 minutes. Some programs are even broken up into 10 minute segments. Then, gradually build up to a longer time in the morning. If, for some reason, exercising in the morning doesn’t work, getting some kind of activity during the day is still better than nothing.
