Pros of Morning Workouts
That’s a picture of my morning alarm clock. Yes, after doing this for six years, I still need multiple alarms to get me out of bed :)
Let me start off by saying, I LOVE morning workouts. Absolutely LOVE them, and cannot see myself to ever going back to working out in the evenings. I’m not a morning person at all — the first challenge of the day is always getting out out of bed, but nothing feels better than getting done with your workouts by 7 or 8 AM, and the rest of the day is yours.
Now, when I got my first job out of college, I used to come home at at around 6 PM. I’d do pretty much nothing for an hour or two, and then I’d head to the gym. I wouldn’t be finished until 9 or 10 PM some nights. And that was fine — this whole setup worked for a while. But around 2014, I learned that one of my coworkers at the time was going to the gym in the mornings, and he made a compelling case for it. I also thought he was crazy, but I decided to try it for a week, and lo and behold, I’ve maintained that habit ever since. After doing this for six years, I’ve learned a few things that will hopefully convince you to cover to morning workouts:
Pro #1: you basically leave yourself no other option but to workout. When you wake up at 4:30 AM or 5:30 AM to go workout, you almost force yourself to go. What I mean by that is, if you are able to get out of your bed, get dressed, and eat a quick breakfast, you’re likely not just going to sit there and say, “Okay, I’m not going to the gym now.” Why? Because what else are you going to do? You’re already awake, you’re already dressed, and there’s nothing else going on that would pull you away from the gym (it’s not like anybody else is awake that you can talk to). You could argue that you would go back to sleep for another hour, but you’ll find that you’re already wide awake after you’ve gotten dressed and eaten something. Now on the flip side, when you come home from work at 6 PM and are getting ready for an evening workout, there are so many other things that can pull you away from going. Leave it to the morning workout to force you to go.
Pro #2: the rest of the day is yours. Let’s say you workout in the morning. When you come home from work later that day, the rest of the day is literally yours. You can come back, and do NOTHING, go do one of your hobbies, spend time with a friend, etc. Over the past few years, I’ve had a plethora of different interests, like dancing, gaming, guitar playing, etc. Getting done with my workouts early in the morning allowed me to explore these hobbies at night-time in a much more structured format (I could go to dance lessons at 6 PM instead of going to the gym, for example). You could argue that you can still do some of these things at 10 PM or work around evening workouts, but I think you give yourself a ton more options by going in the morning and just getting the damn workout out of the way.
Pro #3: it’s better for your career. Two call-outs for this one. First, you’re going to be more alert at work, I guarantee it. You’re going to come in having accomplished more in the first 2-3 hours of your day than most people do in a 24 hour period. Your alertness and focus will improve, and you’re going to do a better job at work. Secondly, if you have to stay late, you’re not sacrificing your physical health in order to do this. If your workouts are in the evening and you work late, sometimes you’re too tired to workout when you get home, and that’s understandable. But, if you workout in the mornings, then you won’t miss critical workouts in the evening if you have to stay late at work. You can stay as late as you need to. Personally, there have been bouts throughout my career where I’ve had to stay until 8 or 9 PM, and while I’m still tired when I get home that late, I still feel physically healthy because I’m getting in my workouts in the morning.
Pro #4: you’ll probably stick to your diet better. When you workout in the morning, it stays with you throughout the rest of the day. It’s easy to turn down the slice of cake at the office, or to go out and eat when you know just how much work you poured into you morning workout. On the flip side, if you workout at night, I always used to say, “I’ll just work this off later,” and while that was true (sometimes, that is), I was missing out on a lot of benefits by maintaining my diet and structure.
Pro #5: everything else. If you go to the gym in the morning, you likely don’t have to wait for any equipment. Also, the crowd is awesome in the morning because they are more consistent and it’s a smaller crowd that you’ll start to recognize right away. You’ll make friends very easily and quickly. I’ve met some very cool people in the morning. You’ll also just be proud of yourself for the simple sake of waking up early (for you night owls out there, you know what I’m talking about).
So there you have it…I can’t tout the benefits of working out in the mornings enough. If you’re out there reading this and still not convince, just do it for one week, please. You won’t regret it.
As always, reach out if you have any questions.
Shane
