These Are the 7 Reasons You Should Exercise in the Morning
Morning movement has the potential to improve every area of your life. Here’s why.
Morning rituals are huge right now. I couldn’t tell you how many morning ritual articles and books I have read lately, from the morning routine of the Queen to the morning routines of the most successful people on the planet.
In fact, I even wrote one myself. And one of the most common components of these rituals is exercise. Evidently, exercising in the morning is important. But why? Here are the top 7 reasons you should exercise in the morning.
1. Morning movement tells your body that it’s time to be awake.
This effect is especially true if you can get outside for your movement. Light, and especially natural light, reset your circadian rhythm. Early morning sun exposure is a great way to reset your circadian rhythm and improve your sleep quality.
Morning exercise can actually shift your circadian rhythm, which is important in a society that causes our circadian rhythms to always be off. Aubrey Marcus, founder, and CEO of Onnit and author of Own The Day, Own Your Life, explains that moving in the morning is vital for optimizing the circadian rhythm and setting the tone for the day to ensure that you own the day, rather than the day owning you.
Movement releases cortisol and endorphins and increases your core temperature as well as circulation, all of which are going to make you feel more alert, full of energy, and ready to focus.
“To optimize circadian rhythm for performance, you need to add light and movement to the first 20 minutes upon waking up.” — Aubrey Marcus, Own The Day, Own Your Life
2. Morning movement will provide you with clarity and focus for the day ahead.
Exercise in the morning fills your lungs and body with oxygen and increases blood flow after a stagnant night. Exercise will nourish your mind, body, and soul every single morning before anything has happened to oppose this effect.
These days we are constantly bombarded with information, bad news, demands, and mind-numbing entertainment. Exercising first thing (before you check your phone and email!) will ensure you get some time just for you before you’ve had the input of anyone else.
Another cool benefit of morning exercise is that it has been found to increase cognitive abilities as effectively as a cup of coffee! Morning exercise has also been shown to improve decision-making later in the day.
For a lot of people, exercise can also be a way of meditating, a practice that greatly increases clarity and focus. In fact, you can even do a movement meditation. I find that the mindfulness and self-awareness that results from this practice allows me to think more deeply than at any other time. I have had some of my greatest and most profound thoughts during walking meditations, and it leaves me with a sense of profound focus.
3. Achieving small victories is a great way to start your day.
Morning exercise gives you a personal success ritual to start the day with a sense of accomplishment. Waking up and completing something first thing is a great way of setting yourself up for a productive day and makes it more likely that you’ll maintain this productivity throughout the day.
Ben Greenfield, health and fitness expert, and New York Times Best Selling Author is a huge advocate for morning movement. He explains,
“You completely de-stress your body and prepare your mind for productivity.”
Exercise also produces serotonin, the feel-good hormone. So, exercising in the morning gives you a boost of happiness to start your day. Exercise has also been shown to improve social interactions and decrease cognitive rumination throughout the day, all from the small victory of doing some morning movement.
4. Even if you have every intention to workout later on, things come up.
Moving in the morning ensures it gets done before anything gets in your way. We all have the intention of going to the gym after work or after the chores are done, but something always comes up. We also tend to be so exhausted by the end of the day that the last thing we feel like doing is exercising.
It can get really hard to motivate yourself to go to the gym or go for a run after a long day. Exercise tends to be the one thing that gets continually rescheduled in our busy lives. If you prioritize exercising first thing in the morning, nothing can get in the way of it. And according to Ben Greenfield, light exercise in the morning actually makes it more likely that you’ll exercise later in the day.
5. Morning exercise helps negate the effects of our sedentary society.
We all know that we sit way too much. Our bodies were not designed to sit or be still for long periods of time, but sometimes it can’t be helped. But morning exercise will help negate the detrimental effects of this sedentary lifestyle. This means that doing morning exercise will make it less harmful for you if you then have to go and sit for the remainder of your day.
“A sedentary life causes you to breathe only shallowly, and this strains the heart and starves the brain… You think you are fatigued or bored at the end of a day of sitting, but it’s really more than that. Your brain is starved of oxygen, and so are the tissues in your body.” — Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar, Change Your Schedule, Change Your Life
6. Morning exercise makes it easier to sleep at night.
People who exercise in the morning are more likely to go to bed earlier, have a more restful sleep, and wake up earlier than those who do not. This is important, as our current lifestyles, with lots of blue light and stimulation after sunset, cause melatonin to be released later in the day than it should be.
This means we won’t feel sleepy at night when we should and the melatonin will still be in our system when we wake up, which is why we can feel so groggy and half asleep in the mornings.
As mentioned above, exercising in the morning will reset your circadian rhythm and get you back on track, making it easier to go to sleep and wake up the following night. But exercise also improves the quality of your sleep as well.
One study found that exercise reduced the amount of time it took to fall asleep and reduced the number of times participants woke up during the night. Therefore, through two different mechanisms, morning exercise will help you get better sleep.
7. Your metabolism will get a boost.
Fasted morning exercise is a great way to boost metabolism and burn fat. After exercise, the body experiences excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) and your core temperature is increased, meaning you’ll burn more calories throughout the day compared to if you exercise later in the day. To reap even more benefits, have a cup of black coffee or green tea beforehand. This will help with the mobilization of fatty acids during your movement.
“Exercising early in the day primes the body to receive energy and to process that energy efficiently, whereas intense exercise later in the day offers far less benefit to your metabolism… gives your metabolism a boost first thing.” — Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar
Exercise in the morning has myriad benefits. Morning exercise:
- Resets your circadian rhythm,
- Provides clarity and focus for the day ahead,
- Cultivates a sense of achievement first thing,
- Ensures you don’t skip your workout,
- Helps counteract the negative effects of sitting all day,
- Makes sleep easier and more restorative, and
- Enhances the metabolism
Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar captures the essence of morning movement well:
“While it’s tempting to think of exercise solely as a means to fitness or weight loss, it’s really much more about making you feel alive in your body.”
Morning movement will leave you feeling focused, calm, and with a sense of achievement to start your day. Your channels will be unblocked and you will feel alive in your body. You will be well equipped for a productive and successful day.
