Confession: I don’t enjoy working out at night. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the night group runs out of Fleet Feet Sports in Chicago, but if it were up to me, I would much rather workout in the morning.
Important Facts About Morning Workouts
- Clears up Time for other Things: By getting up early, you are less likely to miss out on fun activates later in the day. I would rather exercise when everyone else is sleeping so I can spend time with them later in the day.
- Boosts your Alertness throughout the Day: Exercising in the morning increases your productivity and you will be more awake and ready to tackle your to-dos for the day.
- Improves Self Confidence: It will give you a little pep in your step. When you exercise in the morning it gets your endorphins going and you’ll feel proud of yourself for the rest of the day.
- Betters your Diet Choices: You’ll hopefully eat better. When you feel good about yourself for exercising why would you want to sabotage that with an unhealthy lunch or snack?
Simple Tips to Ease the Switch to a Morning Exercise Routine
- Find a Buddy: Find a friend who will workout with you. This could be your spouse, neighbor or a good friend who will meet you on your early-morning run or trip to the gym. Pick a time and make a commitment to each other. Accountability is the key to success.
- Gear up the night before: Sometimes I’ll even sleep in my running clothes. You don’t want to feel rushed first thing in the morning so have your gear laid out and ready to go.
- Hit the Sack: Go to bed early. Make sure you’re still getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night so make sure to go to bed early the night before.
- Change your thinking: Instead of thinking of what a pain it is to get up early, think about how great you’ll feel after your workout and when you can go straight home from work instead of hitting the gym later in the day.
Are you a morning exerciser?
