There are many benefits to doing your exercise routine in the morning. You warm up stiff muscles and lubricate your joints. You take in more oxygen, improving your focus and energy level for the day. Most significantly, a morning exercise routine ensures you get your necessary amount of daily activity, which improves cardiovascular health, burns calories, adds muscle mass, increases flexibility and helps fight disease. Scheduling morning exercise can prove challenging, but a few tips will help ease the process. Speak with your doctor about any health concerns before implementing a morning exercise program.
Step 1
Get a good night's sleep. Making time and having the energy for exercise begins the night before. You will be less tempted to hit the snooze button on your alarm clock if you have gotten sufficient sleep.
Step 2
Warm up while getting up. As you brush your teeth and go to the kitchen to make coffee, march in place to warm up your muscles and elevate your heart rate. Breathe deeply, filling your belly and chest, to increase the flow of oxygen through your bloodstream and to your muscles.
Step 3
Eat a small, healthy snack. You need to eat to give your body energy. Stick with simple, light snacks like half a banana or a handful of raisins. Drink some plain water, too.
Step 4
Choose an exercise you enjoy. If you love a bruising regimen of pushups and jumping jacks, go at it. For a more gentler morning exercise routine, do yoga sun salutations. Doing full-body yoga poses at a brisk but fluid rate elevates your heart rate, targets all your large muscle groups and improves your range of motion.
Step 5
Set small goals. You may not be able to do a two-hour marathon training session in the morning, but you can squeeze in 30 minutes of challenging activity.
Step 6
Extend your exercise session. After your workout, keep moving. Do squats, climb stairs or walk to work.
Tips and Warnings
- Ask a friend to be a morning workout buddy to help you meet your goals.
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