Best Time to Work Out? In the Morning!
Best time to work out?
Working out in the morning is BEST!
Especially if you can do it in a fasted state, working out first thing in the morning is a great fat burner. It also wakes you up and gets you ready for the day – and doing it first thing in the morning is a sure fire way to keep you from using the excuse that you ran out of time to work out.
[Side note: I’m working out on a small meal now as part of a new program called the 80 Day Obsession – read more about it here.]
Making a habit to get up in the morning and workout can be really hard for some people. In fact, it’s one of the hardest things that I help my clients overcome in the beginning.
Here are 5 tips that I share with them that I think can help you too. But aside from these tips, you really just have to own this, draw that line in the sand and reassure yourself that this WILL become a healthy habit if you just commit for 3 to 4 weeks with no excuses! YOU CAN DO THIS!
1. I’ve noticed that my friends and family members that have a hard time getting up in the morning also have window coverings that block out the natural sunlight. Open those up or take them off and allow the sun to gradually wake you up and tell your body that it’s time to get up. I never shut the blinds in my bedroom windows.
2. Have you ever tried to have your alarm out of reach? It’s much easier to get up and stay out of bed if you have to do more than just reach over to turn that annoying alarm off. When I have to get up super early to travel, I will put my phone in my bathroom and turn the ringer up so I can’t sleep through it and I certainly can’t ignore it.
3. OK, you got up to turn off that alarm, now turn on some motivating music and use something with peppermint in it to wake up your senses. This could be toothpaste, mouthwash, gum or a mint. You’d be surprised how much that blast of cool pops the eyes wide open.
4. Have everything set out the night before. This includes your shoes, workout wear, bottled water and pre-workout snack in the fridge and a plan of what you want to do the next morning. This is one reason why I love working out at home because it’s such a timesaver. I don’t have to look ‘put together’ (and boy do I ever look like a hot mess!) Plus, the commute is literally 90 seconds. I know, I’m lucky!
5. Call on a friend or your partner. Even if they don’t want to work out with you in the morning, ask them to hold you accountable by texting them a picture everyday of you up and starting your workout. A good friend will oblige and a great friend will say, “Let me join you!”
Society has made a sedentary lifestyle way too easy. Unless you’re in the fitness industry or work a laborious job, you’ll never get enough exercise in the day to stay your healthiest.
We need to schedule it, we need to stick to it and we need to honor it.
It absolutely does not need to be anything crazy. Just get that heart rate up for 30 minutes, get that healthy glow going (ok, sweat) and it will make all the difference in how you look and feel…BIG TIME!