How to Exercise in the Morning for a Better Day

HOW TO EXERCISE IN THE MORNING FOR A BETTER DAY!

First I have a guarantee, you don’t get many of those right? This is it. Morning exercise will improve your body and mind every day!

YOUR MOOD FOR THE DAY

Your mood is set in the morning so how would you like to start every day off feeling your mind and body is truly alive and fit for the day? Let me start with a few questions that pertain to the day before.

How many days have you gone to bed knowing you ate too many calories and didn’t work it off that day?

How many days have you remembered you should exercise, but it is 4 PM and you have had a long day already?

How many days have you gone to bed and obsessed over looking slim in that slinky gown you saw at a local department store or a catalog you flipped through? Have you obsessed over any of these questions?

How many of you have a challenging day to face tomorrow and need all the energy you can muster?

MORNING EXERCISE WILL PROVIDE RELIEF!

That’s the whole picture, even if you can only manage it 4 times a week, I can give you a formula which will make you feel like a winner. No, you don’t have to climb a mountain or go hiking several miles; you just have to put in 25-45 minutes in the AM to guarantee a good day. And since I use exercise as meditation as well, you have killed three birds with one stone, good mood, harder body, and relaxation benefits. You will like and respect yourself more after you are finished and be finished with major exercise for the day. So what is holding you back? Why not give yourself a built in dial to awesomeness?

There are many reasons why some moms may fight me on this Morning and here are a few.

TIME/WORK-I HAVE TOO MUCH TO DO IN THE MORNING

1. Most gyms open by 5 AM (and even have early bird exercise classes) and also have shower facilities if needed (complete with mirrors and a blow-dryer). So even if you have to be at work by 9, just set your alarm, gulp down some coffee and take off. Another option is walking. If you live in a good neighborhood, the outside is always accessible as well for a nice brisk walk. In decent weather you can just hook up to your ipod or phone and start walking so even if you have to be at work by 9, you can eat breakfast, drink coffee, there will still have plenty of time to exercise. Most workouts take from 25 to 60 minutes and you can be finished for the day with time to kill.

NO CHILDCARE

Most gyms have childcare after 8 PM (sometimes even earlier) and most daycares let you drop off your little one for a workout, so why not look at all the options? This is the time to use grandma or a good friend who is an early riser. Better yet, take the friend to exercise with you while your child is being looked after for a short time. You will be in a better mood for you and your baby. I guarantee it!

NOT A MORNING PERSON

Maybe it takes a couple cups of coffee to get you started in the morning. There are two solutions to this dilemma

Get up earlier to allow for the half hour to gulp down some coffee and get some protein and carbs before you get moving. Going to bed earlier will help as well and you know the old saying about “Early to bed, Early to rise? It is true! Most often it is just a matter of an hour. So get to bed an hour earlier, and wake up an hour earlier. Your body “will” grow to love the new you!

Have everything ready the night before, coffee set on the automatic timer, oatmeal in the bowl with a covering on, gym or walking/running shoes laid out so you can get going fast with a minimum of excuses.

Create a good attitude! If you want to shed those unwanted pounds and want to get your workouts over with, then get up and do it! Become a morning person!

Here is my story!

I am a morning person and by design a morning exerciser. I have always been weight conscious and had a true love of movement in all different forms including walking, biking, lifting weights as well as jazzercise and dance. I like to mix it up to add variety. Moving makes me feel alive and provides me both with meditative opportunities as well as physical ones. You don’t think morning exercise is an exercise (pardon the pun) in meditation? I can prove it can be.

EXERCISE IS MEDITATION

Meditation by design is a time when you live only in the moment. And exercising puts you in the moment completely. When you are trying to follow a jazzercise routine or trying to clock 300 calories on the stationary bicycle, you don’t have time to worry about your personal dramas. So exercise “is” meditation and is a great way to prep your mind for the day.

Remember, morning exercise is your choice as long as you get off your butt and just get out there. Your body just wants to move and never more so than when you are fresh in the morning!

NOT A GYM PERSON

There are other options besides the gym. I have already mentioned an early morning walk or jog but how about dance? Most cities have a good jazzercise program that offer early classes. I go to an 8 AM class 3 days a week and dancing is fun! You don’t know how hard you are working! Most jazzercise teachers are not following you with a stick so if you march in place during a step-together-step and keep moving, all will be well.

Exercising in the morning is an excellent way to put yourself first thing in the morning. Sure have your coffee, have your breakfast to give you fuel but make the early morning about moving and you will be amazed at how you feel. Make a date with yourself, romance yourself in the gym, or in the pool, or dancing to the latest tunes and you will drive home ready to face anything the day has to throw at you. You have already done something challenging, have burned some calories, and have increased your muscle mass all in one feel swoop.

I guarantee if you make morning exercise a part of your day, it will become a habit for both body and mind. Congratulate yourself and start your day with a smile.

In fact, a morning workout is a lot like breakfast in that it gets your metabolism going. Simply put, you burn more calories all day long just from the sheer fact of exercising in the morning.

8 Health Benefits of Morning Workouts

You'll consume fewer unnecessary calories. ...

You'll be more active all day long. ...

You'll burn more fat. ...

You'll lower your blood pressure. ...

You'll sleep better at night. ...

You'll protect yourself from diabetes. ...

You'll build muscle more efficiently. ...

You'll tap into the health benefits tied to exercising.

Exercising increases your productivity and gets your endorphins going. You will be more awake and ready to tackle your day by giving yourself that extra energy boost. Working out can increase your mental clarity for four to 10 hours post-exercise. The benefits of exercise linger throughout the day.

New research, recently covered by Gretchen Reynolds in The New York Times, suggests that working out early in the morning — before you've eaten breakfast — helps speed weight loss and boost energy levels by priming the body for an all-day fat burn.

According to the  National Sleep Foundationthis link opens in a new tab (NSF), people who hit the treadmill at 7 a.m. sleep longer, experience deeper sleep cycles, and spend 75% more time in the most reparative stages of slumber than those who exercise at later times in the day. THe NSF also notes that those who sweat at night tend to have more trouble catching shuteye, possibly because working out raises your body temperature, which is a known sleep saboteur.