Exercise In The Morning!

If I had to pick a single factor that I thought was most important in a successful exercise or weight loss program, it would be to exercise first thing in the morning... every morning! Some mornings, you may just be able to fit in a 10 minute walk, but it's important to try to do something every morning.

So why mornings?...

1. Over 90% of people who exercise *consistently*, exercise in the morning. If you want to exercise consistently, odds are in your favor if you exercise first thing in the morning.

2. When you exercise early in the morning, it "jump starts" your metabolism and keeps it elevated for hours, sometimes up to 24 hours! That means you're burning more calories all day long just because you exercised in the morning!

3. When you exercise in the morning you'll be *energized* for the day! Personally, I feel dramatically different on days when I have and haven't exercised in the morning.

4. Many people find that morning exercise "regulates" their appetite for the day...that they aren't as hungry and that they make better food choices. Several people have told me that it puts them in a "healthy mindset".

5. If you exercise at about the same time every morning... and ideally wake-up at about the same time on a regular basis, your body's endocrine system and circadian rhythms adjust to that, and physiologically, some wonderful things happen; A couple of hours *before* you awaken, your body begins to prepare for waking and exercise because it "knows" it's about to happen...why? because it "knows" you do the same thing just about everyday. You benefit from that in several ways...

a) It's MUCH easier to wake-up. When you wake-up at different times everyday, it confuses your body and thus it's never really "prepared" to awaken.

b) Your metabolism and all the hormones involved in activity and exercise begin to elevate while you're sleeping. Thus, you feel more alert, energized, and ready to exercise when you do wake-up.

c) Hormones prepare your body for exercise by regulating blood pressure, heart rate, blood flow to muscles, etc.

6. For many people, that appointed time every morning becomes something they look forward to. It's time they've set aside to do something good for themselves...to take care of their body and mind. Many find that it's a great time to think clearly, pray, plan their day, or just relax mentally.

7. Research has demonstrated that exercise increases mental acuity... on average it lasts four to ten hours after exercise! No sense in wasting that while you're sleeping. :)

8. Exercise first thing in the morning is really the only way to assure that something else won't crowd exercise out of your schedule. When your days get hectic, exercise usually takes a backseat!

9. If finding time to exercise is difficult, anyone can get up 30 to 60 minutes earlier to exercise (if it's a priority in your life). If necessary, you can go to sleep a little earlier. Also, research has demonstrated that people who exercise on a regular basis have a higher quality of sleep and thus require less sleep! :)

10. You'll feel GREAT! DO IT! :)

Pedometers

Your car's odometer tells you at a glance how far you've driven. A pedometer works in the same way -- except it tells you how far you've walked. A recent study followed two groups of people over a two-year period. The first group was composed of average non-exercising people who were issued pedometers. The other group participated in aerobics classes regularly, but didn't use a pedometer. The results might surprise you.

The first group lost weight, lowered their blood pressure, and showed better overall fitness. They displayed the same health benefits as the exercising group. It seems that because they were aware of their pedometers, participants in the first group made conscious efforts to increase the amount they were walking. Of course, the more steps each day they took, the more fit they became.

Most of us walk only about 2,000 to 3,000 steps during a normal day. A good goal is 10,000 steps a day - five or six miles. (For optimum health, you can try for 18,000 steps, but I'm not there yet.) You can find pedometers at sport stores and stores that sell health supplies. You can also shop online -- which is where I bought mine. The pedometer is tiny, and you'll hardly know it's there. You'll find that you want to break at least 5,000 steps each day, and more if possible. This gadget works!

Getting Motivated

If you're having trouble getting motivated to exercise, follow this very simple strategy: Just tell yourself you're only going to do ten minutes of whatever exercise it is. If it's walking, just say "I'm only going to go around the block. That's all." Or if it's dancing, set a clock for exactly ten minutes and just dance around like crazy for ten minutes. The trick of this strategy is that you almost always do more than ten minutes. Once you get up and start moving, you'll find you want to go longer or farther. The trick is just to get started. And the very next day, you'll have to tell yourself the same thing. And some days you will only do ten minutes. But that's ten minutes you spent doing something good for your health! So don't beat yourself up over needing to "find the time" to exercise. Just do ten minutes of something and that will lead to a love of exercising and the ability to do much more.