I know what you’re thinking when you hear about morning exercise. I must be crazy, right? How in the heck could anyone get up, first thing in the morning, and put themselves through that? But, to be honest, there’s more benefit than you would think. Not just physical either, but cognitive benefits. That’s why today we’re going to talk about a few of the Benefits of Morning Exercise.
The Benefits of Morning Exercise: Overview
Like I said above, there are plenty of very good reasons to get up and workout. Being active in general is always a good thing, for one. When you make a habit out of getting up and moving, your body is always much better off for it. For instance, regular exercise reduces the odds of many chronic illnesses. This includes things like heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Not only that, but I’m a firm believer in the classic, “look good feel good,” mantra. When I was at my heaviest, I’d get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and just feel like crap. That could color the rest of my day, especially if I had to actually go somewhere. My confidence would be shot and I’d end up just leaving the house in big, loose fitting clothing to avoid the judgement that I’d get otherwise. And while I’m not exactly back down where I need to be yet, having a flatter stomach has certainly made getting dressed and heading out the door a much more positive experience.
But the benefits of morning exercise aren’t limited to things like health and fitness of the body. Oh no, it even can help you shake that awful brain fog that comes with age. New studies have shown that exercise in the morning can protect memory and thinking skills.
Morning Exercise and Brain Health
In a study done at the University of British Columbian, researchers have found that regular, intense exercise appears to boost the size of the hippocampus in your brain. That’s the area of your brain that’s involved in verbal memory and learning. REsistance training, balance, and yoga type exercises didn’t have quite the same reuslts.
The benefits that come from exercise to your brain help through both direct and less than direct means. The direct benefits come from it’s ability to reduce things like inflammation, insulin resistance, and the release of growth factors. These are chemicals in your brain that affect the health of your brain cells, the growth of new blood vessels in your brain, and even the survival of them.
The less direct benefits include things like improving your mood and sleep, while reducing stress and anxiety. Problems in these areas quite often lead to to cognitive and mental decline. But you may be asking, how exactly to I reap these benefits of morning exercise? Well, I’m going to tell you.
What Should You Do?
Well, it’s really pretty simple. You should start exercising! The science hasn’t reached a point where we can tell you exactly which variety is best yet. So you should start with something you’re comfortable with that you can stick to over, well, the rest of your life! Almost all of the research done in the studies we’ve seen has looked at people who walked regularly. So this means that other forms of aerobic exercise that get your heart pumping can likely yield similar benefits.
And when it comes down to how much exercise you have to do to reap the benefits of morning exercise, it’s about 120 minutes of moderate intensity cardio. If you can up that to closer to 150 minutes a week, that’s even better. This may be daunting for now, but be sure to stick to it and start at a comfortable level. The only bad workout is the one that doesn’t happen, so as long as you’re starting it’s a good thing.
And if you don’t want to just walk, consider other at least mildly intense activites you can do. This includes things like stair climbing, aerobics, tennis, or even common household activities done with enough vigor to make you sweat. Hell, mop the house fast enough and I’ll bet you’ll get tired eventually! So get out there and reap the benefits of morning exercise for yourself!
