It’s 5:45 a.m. My iPhone alarm starts blaring and I immediately want to hurl it out my window onto someone’s unsuspecting windshield. Instead of taking out my frustration on my phone and a vehicle, I shut off the alarm and sit up straight. Here we go again, I think to myself. In the next 15 minutes, I go through the motions of heading to the bathroom, washing up, getting dressed, tying my laces and filling up my water bottle. I take a moment to down a couple of energy gels before I head out to the almighty Plex.
About an hour and a half after I’ve woken up, I’ve sweat out all of my toxins, pushed my body to its physical limits, listened to some sweet pump-up music, and seen a couple of friends. Every time I leave the Plex after a grueling morning out I feel so accomplished. While the majority of BC students are sleeping, I am getting my workout out of the way and starting my day right. Thinking of trying a morning workout but weighing the pros and cons? Here’s a list of the ones that were on my list before I made the transition!
Pros:
Your workout is done early in the day and you have the rest of the day to take care of your remaining schedule. By working out from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m., a time when you might ordinarily be sleeping, you’re knocking something off your checklist and adding time to your day that you ordinarily wouldn’t have. Now instead of trying to fit a workout into your afternoon before your club meeting or office hours, that extra hour is yours to do with it what you like.
You’re more likely to work out in the morning if you commit to it. By pushing your workout to the afternoon, you up the odds of having something get in your way and preventing you from working out. Say you find out that you have a group meeting for a Finance project at 3 p.m when you were planning on spinning. No more spin for you! If you try a 7:15 a.m. morning spin class, you’ve fit in your workout and you can attend your meeting without worrying about missing a workout.
You’ll become more consistent, as a morning workout will become part of your daily routine. Schedule it into your planner and check it off once you’re done! How accomplished do you feel now?
Working out in the morning jumpstarts metabolism and keeps it elevated for hours post-workout. You’ll burn more calories all day long. So hey, you’ll have extra calories to have a little froyo!
Your energy is up for class and whatever else you’ve got ahead. Sure, you might not be so energetic when you wake up at 5:45, but post-workout you’ll be feeling great with a smile on your face.
The gym is far less crowded in the morning without all of those weightlifting guys and elliptical-ing girls around. You’re pretty much guaranteed whatever machine your heart desires when the gym is nowhere near as crowded as it is around 5 p.m.
Your mind is cleared for the upcoming day; working out in the morning not only ups your energy levels but it also wakes you up to take on the day ahead.
You’re more likely to make healthy choices throughout the day. Why reverse all the hard work your put into your morning workout with an unhealthy choice? Keep up the good, healthy work and take care of your body.
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The cons are few in number, but here are the only ones I could think of!
Yes, you do have to wake up early, which is not fun. But getting up is the hardest part; once you’re up, you’ll survive.
You should go to bed earlier. Do you really want to wake up at 6 a.m. to work out after having gotten 4 hours of sleep? I think not. Okay, you might have to ask your roommates to be a little quieter at night so that you can fall asleep. But if they’re good friends, they’ll understand and respect your choices.
It’s colder in the morning and the walk to the gym isn’t so pleasant. Suck it up and wear a sweatshirt; you’ll live.
Little time to have a snack pre-workout to fuel yourself up. Try a half banana or a small bowl of oatmeal; neither are enough to make you nauseous and give you sufficient energy to power through your workout. I go against my better judgment and don’t like to eat pre-workout, so I usually pop a couple of energy gels.
It takes some getting used to, but you’re a human, you’ll adapt. Once you get into a pattern, morning workouts will become a vital part of your daily schedule.
If you’ve got trouble motivating yourself, check out the Plex’s Group Fitness schedule. They’ve got wonderful classes scheduled each morning with instructors who will motivate you!
Photo sources:
http://engine2diet.com/the-daily-beet/the-college-greens-morning-workouts/