Training makes you feel good! Regardless of how much you hate your coach during training, the feeling afterwards is like you stand about 2 feet taller and your muscles feel twice as big. Being a morning person may not sound like the most appealing proposal to you, but it could be a change that helps you get some regularity with your exercise. Despite those internal battles where one half of you says “Get up!” and the other is clinging on to your bed sheets for dear life and fighting to hit the snooze button, getting into the morning habit could be one of the best things you do for your fitness.
Now we aren’t talking the whole fasted cardio thing, it still remains unclear whether training in the unfed state is actually of any benefit over the course of a day. However, the mental benefits of early training could be more powerful to your long term results than any fast tracked fat burning hack. If you were to record every day where you either didn’t go to the gym, missed a session or maybe just had a really bad session, you would see that most of the time a lot of it comes down to your mindset and thoughts.
So if it isn’t about turning your body into “a fat burning machine”, then why bother getting up in the morning?
LESS DISTRACTIONS
One of the biggest killers to productivity is those small interruptions to your rhythm. In the afternoon, you are more likely to get phone calls, have to stay back at work, emails and other tasks that could stop you from going to the gym. The benefit of rising when everyone else is still in bed is you have that hour to yourself. You can focus on what you are doing, and hit it with more intensity.
BEAT CRAVINGS
Studies have shown that training early in the morning makes your brain less responsive to grabbing food because it looks good. This works best with high intensity exercise rather than long slow cardio.
MORE ENERGY
When we ask our 5.30am’ers why they train so early, they often tell us how they feel they have more energy for their day. This could transfer over to your work, study or home-life. In fact, many of our mums here at CrossFit Border choose to train because it makes them less stressed for their day and “easier to be around”.
IMPROVED MEMORY
Early high intensity exercise has been shown to improve memory. 21 subjects each had their memory tested before, immediately after, and 30 minutes after cardio exercise. The results showed better cognitive abilities in the post-exercise timeframe than before. This could be huge for those early morning meetings, brain storms or study sessions.
FEEL EMPOWERED
Training makes you feel good! Regardless of how much you hate your coach during training, the feeling afterwards is like you stand about 2 feet taller and your muscles feel twice as big. This confidence can have profound effects on how you view yourself, and how you act around others.
BETTER SLEEP
Having a regular morning training session can help your body get into a rhythm for the day and allow you to hit the pillow sooner. This can have huge effects on stress levels, and your ability to recover each day.
LESS EXCUSES
Getting your session ‘outta-the-way’ early can stop those afternoon excuses from slipping into your mind towards the end of the day. So when work has been busy, or your legs are tired, you know you have already done the hard work and can enjoy your downtime with friends or family.
Getting into morning rituals is pretty easy after a few attempts. Make sure you get to bed early, prioritise your health and give yourself an hour that’s only for you. Get yourself booked into the early classes, and feel how it effects your day.