What's your first thought when you wake up in the morning? Probably not morning workouts. Hitting snooze on your alarm and staying under the warm duvet on that comfortable mattress sounds so much more inviting!
But once you make yourself get out of bed and down to exercise, you won't regret it. Exercising in the morning - apart from all the benefits of moving your body - can give your body any mind energy for the whole day!
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Why Work Out In The Morning
- Your body is stiff from the many hours of sleep and inactivity
- It increases blood flow better than coffee. Your brain needs that too!
- You teach your body that you'll use more energy as soon as you wake up, so it'll be ready! That is, you'll feel naturally more energetic as you start the day.
- It's harder so it makes you feel proud of yourself when you do it
- The combination of all these helps you focus, concentrate better throughout the day, so you feel more productive and less likely to procrastinate.
- You don't have to worry about your daily exercise dose for the rest of the day
- You burn calories so you can reward yourself with a large, delicious breakfast
- Some say that fasted workout is more effective
If you want to learn more about this, here's a great book on how exercise affects your brain!
Whether you study, work, or just want to have more energy during your free time, exercise can give you a boost not only physically, but also mentally.
Thing is, you don't have to exercise for hours on end. Even one push up is better than no push up!
Here are my 5 favorite morning workouts to boost your productivity and focus:
1. Walking
Not into anything hard or fast-paced? Go for a walk! Even just ten minutes of walk can boost your mood and move your body enough to feel the benefits.
If you can, wake up a little earlier and walk your dog, take a stroll with your partner, or take yourself out and use that time for some introspection. You could also listen to a podcast, audiobook, favorite mood-boosting playlist, or simply enjoy the sounds that surround you!
No time for that? Walk to work or school, or if that's unrealistic, get off one stop sooner or park your car farther away than usual. If you still have the energy, walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator!
Walking also has a great effect on your memory and decision-making. Important factors to being more creative!
No wonder so many of us get great ideas while we walk!
2. Running or Other Cardio Exercises
Get your heart pumping with a little cardio!
Go for a run around the house, to the nearby park, by the lake - wherever you like! Not only can you enjoy the landscape, but you also improve your lung and heart health, which leads to better blood circulation, lower blood pressure and optimal resting heart rate. When your heart functions optimally, your blood can transport oxygen better to your organs, including your brain!
Ever heard of runners' high? That's a feeling of euphoria many get after running or doing other form of cardio exercise. When you're already in a good mood, it's way easier to tackle the day's challenges!
If you're not a good runner yet, I recommend you go for a power walk instead or get on your bicycle.
Bad weather? You can do cardio at home too. Jump rope, go up and down the stairs in your building, or put on your favorite songs and dance! As long as you get your heart rate up, it counts.
3. HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)
Heavy exercises in short intervals - that is what HIIT is all about. In a short but intense 10 to 30 minute-session, you can burn a ton of calories while also building muscles.
Many agree that this is one of the best ways to get the most out of your exercise time: burn fat while building muscle and saving time.
HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training usually combines short bursts of intense exercise with short periods of lower intensity movement or rest. It challenges your heart and lungs more than continuous movement as they need to adapt to the quick changes, therefore the improvement is faster. This makes HIIT one of the best morning workouts!
You can include a wide range of different exercises in HIIT, like running, cycling and skipping. Body weight exercises tend to be the most popular choice.
HIIT keeps your heart and lungs healthy. You may not feel full of energy right away (a good HIIT session can be rather exhausting!) but it definitely pays off long term.
As mentioned above, a HIIT session can be as short as 10 minutes, and you can do it from your bedroom, so you most likely have time for it.
However, it requires more energy than regular cardio, so you may want to eat a banana before getting started.
4. Stretching or Yoga
After hours of inactivity due to sleeping, your muscles crave to be stretched!
Look at animals after they wake up from a good nap - the first thing day do it stretch.
In fact, you most likely do and instinctive stretch and yawn upon waking up. This action even has a name: pandiculation.
Right after you wake up, your muscles are stiff, so don't jump into anything crazy. Start slow with some basic stretches and mobility exercises.
If you choose dynamic stretches, they can also serve as a warm up before another type of exercise!
Try to do a holistic stretch - roll your neck, shoulders, wrists, circle with your arms and hips, do a few squats, move your ankles.
Here's a link to one of my favorite 10 minute morning stretch videos on YouTube.
You can also learn the classic morning yoga sequence: Sun Salutations. A few rounds of Sun Salutation A and you'll feel limber and energetic. However, if you're inflexible or tend to be overly stiff as you wake up, warm up first!
And this brings us to yoga. Yoga is a a wonderful tool to bring your body and mind together. The physical part of yoga involves stretching, mobility, strength and balancing movement, and you coordinate your movements with your inhales and exhales.
This puts you into a meditative state, helps you calm down and be more present.
While yoga is, traditionally, a spiritual practice, my opinion is that you can take form it to your own needs. Even if you're not religious/spiritual, you can benefit from the physical, mental and emotional benefits of yoga. The same goes for meditation!
The best thing about yoga and stretching is that you can do them anywhere, without any equipment (a yoga mat definitely helps, but it's not essential), and it's not as overwhelming as HIIT. Unless you do an intense 90-minute Ashtanga in the morning, you won't feel exhausted.
5. Weight Lifting
Many people swear by hitting the gym first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach. Fasted workout might help you lift more weight as your body is not busy with digesting, and you might burn fat easier.
You can progress faster with your fitness goals, and with the increased amount of energy expenditure, you teach your body to automatically give you more energy as you wake up.
Strength training boosts your immune system and gives you endorphins, so you'll feel better in your skin. It can reduce brain fog and improve your mental health too.
While it might be an amazing hack for some, please note that fasted workout is not for everyone. I personally feel lightheaded and weaker, so I need to eat some fruits or a toast when I go to the gym first thing in the morning.
As always, it's important to listen to your body - it knows what's best for you!
6. Swimming
While it might be a bit more time-consuming than the other exercises on this list, swimming is a fun, whole-body cardio exercise that also builds muscles! A 130-pound person can burn between 400-700 calories with an hour of swimming!
Many of us feel alive and happy just by being in water, and swimming can really boost your mood, while improving your concentration skills. It is also said to sharpen your memory and also improve your verbal skills.
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You definitely don't need to cram each exercise into your morning routine, and you can try a different one every morning. Even if you're not a morning person, give it a shot. Challenge yourself for 7 days of morning workouts, and if you worry you'd give up, get an accountability partner or workout buddy!
Only have 2 minutes? That's fine! It’s better to do some exercise than to not do it at all.