The early bird gets the worm, right? You will find a thousand early risers who will stand by this affirmation no matter what, while on the other side of the barricade, another thousand voices will yell at once: „shut up and let me sleep!”.
Where do you find yourself right now? Dreaming until late in the morning or waking up and working out even before the sun gets its first rays through the window?
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Early rising defeats night owls
As strange as it may sound, getting to bed an hour earlier is actually more efficient than waking up an hour later in the morning. The reason for this comes from the fact that when you go to sleep late, you throw off your circadian rhythm cycle. Your body compensates with a stress response. Over time the stress takes it’s toll.
No matter how much coffee you drink or how many RedBull shots you pour down your throat, the small pump isn’t nearly as refreshing and replenishing as a good night’s sleep.
When it comes to workouts, sleep is a vital part of the whole process. It is during sleep that muscles recover and harden. Long time athletes and gym rats have proven that a good sleep reduces muscle fatigue (and diminishes soreness) as well as allowing the body to develop at a faster pace.
Additionally, in the early morning hours, crucial hormones (i.e., testosterone) that help build muscle mass are elevated in the body. By exercising in the morning, you’re taking advantage of these naturally circulating hormones as they’re peaking, rather than later in the day when they’re lower.
How do you get it done?
Most people which are working out early in the morning are usually getting their running shoes on and do a large lap around the neighborhood, park, forest or whatever suits them best. Running is a great way to get your heart pumping blood and your lungs fill up with oxygen; that is, if you’ve got enough time to do it.
Obviously, running a little is better than none, but here are also some other exercises that will stimulate your body early in the day, giving you a slingshot start:
HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) – This one burns through fat like a hot knife through butter. The best part? It takes no more than 25 minutes from your morning routine. Check a great HIIT workout video here.
Bodyweight Workouts – No matter how early you wake up, hitting the gym might be a difficult task. But hey, you don’t really need dumbbells when you’ve got your own body. Pushups, bar pull-ups, crunches, there are a bunch of them you can fit into your personal morning workout.
Warm Up & Get Inspired
Great, you are working out! But did you warm up? Since you’ve just woke up, your body is tender and needs to be prepared for effort. Before working out, allow 5 minutes for warmup exercises.
Slow bends, twists and raises will get the blood flowing throughout the muscles and highly decrease chances of injury.
Whether you are still struggling to get out of bed or just needed that little punch to get one more rep done, inspiration is easy to find.
Check out our weekly friday inspiration post, with handpicked photos designed to inspire you to get your butt out of bed early in the morning and burn those calories like never before!