We’ve all been there. You tell yourself you’re going to wake up early, make some coffee, workout, and start your day off right. Yet we all struggle with the mental challenge of forcing ourselves out of bed in the morning. Here’s the funny thing though: as soon as we’re out of bed with coffee in hand, we’re immediately glad we did it. No one has ever regretted getting up early to exercise. Not. One Time. The hardest part is getting out of bed. Everything after that feels good.
But it’s not just the satisfaction and smugness of being able to tell people you woke up early to work out, there are real benefits to getting your sweat session out of the way nice and early.
Why You Should Wake Up Early and Workout
1. Morning Exercise Boosts Physical and Mental Energy
Despite the fact that you feel more sluggish than a hungover sloth when you drag yourself out from beneath the covers the truth is that exercise will give you MORE energy throughout your day. Science says morning exercise can improve our focus and mental ability while also boosting the energy available in our body for physical movement too. So whether you’ve got an important work meeting or a long list of errands getting up early and exercising will help you crush whatever challenges lay ahead.
2. Develop Self-Discipline With an Early Start
We know discipline is a scary word but what we really mean is that you keep promises to yourself. When you say to yourself that you’ll get up early and workout and then you don’t, the message you send to yourself is that you’re not worth the effort. On the flip side when you keep that promise to yourself you’re boosting your self-confidence and self-esteem by showing up for yourself.
The first few mornings you try to get up and exercise are going to suck. There we said it. But it will get easier every single day and you may find that your new found self-discipline spills out into other areas of your life, helping you to keep boundaries and reach personal goals.
3. Early Exercise Improves Your Sleep
If you find yourself mindlessly scrolling until the small hours then an early morning workout could be the answer. Morning exercise has been shown to improve the length and quality of sleep, whereas exercising in the evening has been shown to do the opposite.
For us this might just be the most important reason to get an early workout in, as sleeping well can seriously improve your general health and wellness.
4. Get Fit Faster and Keep Consistent with Morning Training
Getting up early and exercising straight away is a great way to demonstrate your commitment to getting fit. You’re literally putting exercise first on your list and mentally this is going to help you to work harder. Because what’s the point of missing out on the extra shut eye if you’re not going to see results? That, along with your newly boosted self-esteem is going to have you crushing goals in no time.
Plus, by carving out that special time just for yourself, when you could be sleeping is a great way to make sure your workouts actually happen. If you put it off until later in the day you’re always going to find a reason (read: excuse) not to workout.
Wake Up and Hit Your Tough Mudder Training Programme
If we’ve got you convinced that early morning sessions are where it’s at then you might be wondering what exercise you’ll be doing. If you’re already signed up for Tough Mudder, then you should try our brand new Official Tough Mudder Event Training Programmes. In just five weeks we’ll get you course-fit and off up some insider tips on how to conquer our most talked about obstacles.
