Top 5 Reasons to Love A.M. Exercise

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leah1023
leah1023 Posts: 10
in Motivation and Support
Article from Sparkpeople that I wanted to share with my MFP friends :-)

Top 5 Reasons to Love A.M. Exercise

Exercising early in the morning "jump starts" your metabolism, keeping it elevated for hours, sometimes for up to 24 hours! As a result, you'll be burning more calories all day long--just because you exercised in the morning.

Exercising in the morning energizes you for the day--not to mention that gratifying feeling of virtue you have knowing you've done something disciplined and good for you. (Much better than a worm!)

Studies have shown that exercise significantly increases mental acuity--a benefit that lasts four to ten hours after your workout ends. Exercising in the a.m. means you get to harness that brainpower, instead of wasting it while you're snoozing.

Assuming you make exercise a true priority, it shouldn't be a major problem to get up 30 to 60 minutes earlier--especially since regular exercise generally means a higher quality of sleep, which in turn means you'll probably require less sleep. (If getting up 30 to 60 minutes earlier each day seems too daunting, you can ease into it with 10 to 20 minutes at first.)

When you exercise at about the same time every morning--especially if you wake up regularly at about the same time--you're regulating your body's endocrine system and circadian rhythms. Your body learns that you do the same thing just about every day, and it begins to prepare for waking and exercise several hours before you actually open your eyes.

Exercise Extra: More than 90% of those who exercise consistently have a morning fitness routine. If you want to exercise on a regular basis, the odds are in your favor if you squeeze your workout into the a.m.

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  • poulingail
    poulingail Posts: 110
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    I will not be working out early as I am way too stiff to add that kind of stress to my day.
    BUT, even 10 minutes - JUST TEN MINUTES! - would be enough to jump start all of those things and make for a better day.
    So a big head nod to the poster and SparkPeople for a great tip!
  • Nikki582
    Nikki582 Posts: 561 Member
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    I only afternoon exercise on one day, and that's because I have gym classes in the evening... every other day if I say "I'll just do it at night" I never do - So I agree entirely with the last point (on my own experience) if I leave it until after work I have "too much to do" or I'm "too tired"

    I have nothing else to do at 5am. :p

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