Dragging Butt in the Morning? (It May be Worth the Drag)

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Getting up early in the morning some days can be pretty rough (I was never a morning person)… today was one of those days. Hit the snooze button too many times, really had to push myself to get up as my whole body was feeling heavy and actually quite lazy.

Once I came downstairs and had a look at what workout was on the menu for today, I actually groaned. It was MMA power sculpt which is a really hard one and my least favorite of them all. Eugh!

I was close to saying “to heck with it, I will do it later”, when I realized that “later” likely won’t happen. Life gets busy in the day and time slips away! I took a deep breath and just made myself do it! It was grueling and difficult for me today. I got tired faster than usual and was sweating a LOT! Was very happy when it was over and felt a sense of real accomplishment that I was able to make myself do something I really didn’t want to do…because it was good for me.

I had to remind myself this morning, of the reasons that I started doing early morning workouts in the first place! The benefits of early morning workouts are incredible!  Even if you are not a morning person, keep an open mind, because I felt it was impossible for me to become an early riser at one time, but once I felt the difference, I was hooked!!

The Benefits of Morning Exercise are so worth the drag…here is why…

ROAST THAT METABOLISM for the whole day!

By getting up and doing a workout first thing in the morning, the metabolism gets kicked up and makes you burn more calories and use the food you eat to replenish body and for energy instead of storing it as fat!

NO INTERRUPTIONS!

By getting up early in the morning before anyone else in the house is awake, it prevents the potential for interruptions and allows you to be more consistent with your workout schedule.  When I used to do evening workouts, there was always something in “life” interfering with my schedule causing workouts to go way too late or being missed entirely!

IMPROVE NATURAL ENERGY

By getting up and doing an early morning workout, it jacks up our energy to start our day!  Morning exercise improves focus and mental abilities the whole day!  By working out in the morning, my mind is totally ready to take on whatever tasks are lined up for the day!  Exercise has proven to give even more mental alertness and prolonged energy than caffeine!

SELF DISCIPLINE

I talked about self-discipline the other day and just like building on any other habit, success in achieving new habits totally build up your self-discipline “muscle”  AHA!!  Implementing a morning workout routine will help to increase self-discipline in many other areas of your life too then!

SLEEP BENEFITS

Morning workouts have been shown to improve sleep quality.   By working out in the morning, our bodies will have the healthy tiredness that we are supposed to have at the right time (bedtime!).  Evening exercise can potentially have the opposite effect because of adrenaline release during exercise and may interfere with sleep quality.  Another AHA for me since my sleep used to be much worse with evening workouts!

BE SUCCESSFUL

By developing a healthy habit such as morning exercise that increases metabolism, allows you to be consistent with your workout plan, improves energy and focus through the day for other life activities, builds your self-discipline ‘muscle’ and improves your sleep….you can only IMAGINE how much easier it will be to reach your fitness and health goals!!   By making yourself (yes, dragging your butt) get up in the mornings, and making the sacrifice to do so…makes it more likely that you will stick to a healthier eating plan through the day as well.   ….Rather than eating too many calories and having the mindset of … “oh, i will just burn this food off later” (as in…with an evening workout…that may not happen)

HATE MORNINGS?

I used to hate mornings too!  I had to really make a solid decision for change and use self-discipline and determination to keep it moving forward.  I used a few rules for myself to help me to implement this new habit. 1. I put the alarm far away so that I would have to get up to turn it off; 2. I make myself get up right away before my mind can stop me  3.  I would set my workout clothes the night before to be prepared to get moving; 4. I have 500 mL water as soon as I get up, then have a pre-workout energizer shot and GO  5.  Found an exercise program that I enjoy so that it is not a ‘chore’ and is only 30-45 minutes. 6.  Remind myself of all the benefits that I get from morning workouts on a regular basis

OK…so if you are not currently a morning exerciser, then I challenge you to consider it.   Have a look at the benefits above and seriously ask yourself if you would like to have those benefits in your life?   Is it worth dragging your BUTT out of bed each and every morning?  Give it a try and pre-schedule some home workouts in for a full week, then decide if it is worth the drag.  I believe you will be amazed and will do it again…and again…and again…

To learn about 7 ways to increase your self-discipline, be sure to enter your name and email for a free download.  Having strong self-discipline can totally change your life in many ways!