Early morning workouts – 5 reasons to set your alarm

By Samantha Clayton, November 27, 2012

Ever wondered why athletes often make sure they get in an early morning workout or training session? Let me assure you – it’s not only to get it out of the way for the day, or because we are all happy morning people! There is always a method behind the madness when it comes to sports training.
As an athlete my reason was simple, I knew that an early morning workout would positively affect my performance and attitude. Getting up early requires discipline and athletes with discipline are successful. After adjusting to the initial shock of opening my eyes before the sun was up and getting used to the routine, I realized that I performed better early in the morning.   My training stats confirmed my hunch – when I was a professional sprinter I achieved more during my early morning training sessions.
Scientifically it makes sense that our body is more efficient after a good rest and, as most people get their largest dose of rest and recovery at night, the morning is a time when your body is firing on all cylinders.  You may also find you are more focused early in the morning before you face the challenges of your day-to-day task list.  As a competitor, I also wanted to train my body to be ready if I ever had an early race. We talked about why competitions can help with personal fitness a few weeks ago and it’s important to prepare your body if you want to win a race that starts at the crack of dawn.
While you may not be preparing for your next race, there are good reasons for setting your alarm early and jump-starting your day with a positive jolt.  I love to take athletic principles and use them in the fitness world and this idea can make a huge difference as you work towards your fat loss and fitness goals.

Five early morning workout tips to help you get up & get going

Focus

An early morning workout will free up the rest of your day and allow you to focus on the things you need to achieve.  I find that the clear mind I get from jogging gives me the peace and quiet I need to plan my day and to make sure nothing is forgotten.  Try using part of your exercise time to decide how you will spend your day so that you can make the most of your time.

Prioritize

We all have good intentions and I hear from so many people who say they always PLAN to workout but, over the course of each day, their time just fills up and they don’t prioritize exercise over the hundreds of other things they need to do.
How many times have your good fitness intentions gone to waste because your day became hectic, leaving you  with no time or energy to take care of your body? By getting up early and starting your day with a workout, your plans can’t be derailed.

Be Positive

Improve your mood with a natural rush of healthy hormones. Exercise promotes the release of happy endorphins in your body. Starting your day with an early morning workout will generate a happy, positive feeling that will impact your own life and the lives of people you come into contact with all day long.

Achieve

Success and the feeling of achievement will help you to build confidence. There are few better feelings than accomplishing a goal, both in sports and in life.  By setting good habits and working out early, you are achieving a goal of being active. Confidence is a terrific byproduct that comes from determination and success.

Metabolize

Morning workouts can help you to burn extra fat throughout the day. By kick-starting your day with exercise, you are also boosting your metabolism and forcing your body to use energy to re-generate during the day. Exercise can improve your resting metabolic rate, which can make your body more efficient at burning calories.
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Not swayed by my five reasons to exercise early?  Well, as I always say: some exercise is better than no exercise and, really, whatever time of day you can squeeze in a workout is fine.  Just so long as you do squeeze in the time to be active in some way every day!
I know there are a multitude of reasons why an early morning workout may not be for you.   My hope is that this list will help you avoid the common mistake of deprioritizing exercise as I believe feeling fit will bring a heap of benefits into your life.  Many people tell me that they feel a sense of guilt if they don’t start their day with activity or if they, once again, fail to fit in an after-work workout.   I also find that starting your day positively by taking care of your body can boost your performance in other areas of life.  By making your workout one of the first things you do each day, you side step the risk of exercise becoming a chore that you can keep delaying as other activities take precedence.
Exercise at any time of day can provide your mind and body with a life-changing boost. Just make an effort to be consistent and don’t let excuses stop you from being the best you can be.
Written by Samantha Clayton. Samantha is a paid consultant for Herbalife.

Weight Loss Challenge...It Works!

The first of many Weight Loss Challenges came to an end. 123 pounds and 113.5 inches lost, that is almost an ENTIRE person’s weight! Everyone stuck through it, and never gave up even if the scale did not agree with them. What was is that helped these awesome participants to lose so much weight as a team? Many factors – Motivation, Inspiration, Dedication, Persistence, Determination, Perseverance, Attitude, Commitment and most importantly – WILL! Motivation is one of many key parts to achieving your goals, not just for weight loss, but for anything and everything in life. You must be motivated to pursue what you have set your mind to achieve. You must be WILLING to do things that you haven’t done before and be WILLING to accept change. Look in the mirror. Look at yourself physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. Do you LOVE who you see in the mirror? If you do not love what you see, CHANGE IT! Change is a progress and progress is Impossible without change and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. Set your mind on drive; tell yourself you are ready to change. Seek that motivation, that WILL inside of you that will take you to places you have not been before. If you change the way you look at things, then the things you look at will change. Begin changing the way you look at being healthy – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually and INSPIRE others around you to do the same. This is exactly what everyone in the Challenge did. They were motivated and it was contagious. They motivated each other to keep losing weight, even if some weeks were better than others. It did not matter when the will to change began; the important thing is that IT happened! Whether it was before they walked in through the door on the first day, or when they walked out the door the last day, each person made the DEDICATION to being healthy. The general goal was to lose weight and to be healthy. They dedicated themselves to one step at a time and each step after was be a huge leap to achieving what they were dedicated to. The goals were simple to achieve once they DETERMINED what their specific goals were – one pound at a time! One pound then changed to two pounds, to three pounds to TEN pounds. Bodies, minds and emotions began to change because these were people who made a strong and deep dedication to pursuing a particular goal. That dedication took an enormous effort – and not just effort but PERSISTENCE and DETERMINATION. You may put in 100 percent of your effort into hard work, but without Persistence and Determination, there is a chance for failure. You must be WILLING to be PERSISTENT and DETERMINED with your goals because as we all know obstacles; big or small, are in our day-to-day lives and when they are blocking us from getting to our goals we can either let them stop us dead in our track or we can plow right through them. A strong and healthy heart a Winning ATTITUDE and PERSERVERENCE will take you a long way in any journey. Your attitude determines your altitude. It can be your BEST friend or your WORST enemy. If you tell yourself you CAN’T do it, then you won’t! You will stay where you are and you won’t get to where you should, want and NEED to be. The attitude I saw in every individual was that of a winning person – everyone won. These individuals sought out change and were WILLING to change. They had the right attitude and were open to listening – not just hearing. They listened to the advice; they took the advice and ran with it. On those days where the scale was not everyone’s best friend, each individual was willing to stay COMMITTED and to continue doing hard work after they were tired of doing the hard work they ALREADY had done – That’s PERSERVERENCE and COMMITMENT! To achieve anything requires Faith and Belief in yourself, Vision, Hard work, Motivation, Inspiration, Dedication, Persistence, Determination, Perseverance, Attitude, Commitment and WILL! I have no doubt that everyone that participated or that will participate in future Challenges will not just achieve their weight loss and health goals, but have and will obtain a little more knowledge to INSPIRE others to do the same. Thank you for allowing me to help you throughout this challenge and future ones! One pound at a Time… Your Coach, Rosie Lorenz “It ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward.”