Best Exercises in the Morning

Do you roll out of bed reluctantly when your alarm goes off? Or do you toss and turn fighting the inevitable start of the day?

Do you feel as though you need coffee to get up and going for the long day that awaits you, or do you wake up with a vigor for life?

Working out in the AM is Better than Coffee!

Studies show that working out in the morning can boost your metabolism, increase alertness, and enhance your mood. Impressive to say the least.

But what’s the best way to get started? And what types of exercises are best for your AM routine? This and more will be covered below.

Create a Plan

Proper planning is critical to getting off on the right foot so to speak. After all, if you’re normally a bit groggy in the morning, that’s the last moment you want to spend trying to figure out what’s on the exercise agenda that morning.

Creating a plan is the first step toward implementing a successful morning workout routine. In the following section we’ve listed some of the best exercises to do after you roll out of bed.

Choose a few, build a routine, and watch the incredible effects on your mood and metabolism unfold!

Cardio – but not just any cardio

Many top fitness trainers recommend starting your workout routine with high-intensity cardio. These types of exercises immediately get your blood flowing to your muscles and force your brain to wake up.

A few great options for airborne cardio include:

Burpees

Jump straight into the air. When you land, squat down, then move to a pushup position and do one pushup. Jump from your pushup position to a squatting position again, then launch yourself straight into the air once more.

Jumping Jacks

You likely did these as a kid, but for a variation on the classic favorite, try alternating between a squat and an airborne splits position. You can also try rotating jumping jacks, where you turn to face a new wall with each jump (just don’t get too dizzy).

Split Jumps

These start in a lunge, then explode to an air-front-split. You can do a set of reps on each side, or alternate sides, depending on your workout style.

Morning Run

Following the theme of “cardio workouts to get you going in the morning,” a quick run on the treadmill can boost your alertness without much mental work. Simply set a goal speed and time limit, then roll out of bed and power up the machine each morning.

While you can also choose to run outdoors, inclement weather could interfere with your morning routine. We recommend always having a backup plan for any outdoor exercises. You don’t want to get derailed by rain or cold temperatures, even if you generally enjoy being outside.

If you don’t have much room in your bedroom for a treadmill, the Life Fitness F3 Folding Treadmill is a great solution. Not only does it fold, but it also saves your workout information – so you won’t need to reset your speed, incline, and time each morning. You can check it out at Fitness Expo Stores.

Stretch Away Stiffness & Loosen Up

Tossing and turning in bed all night can leave you stiff and tense in the mornings. After a brief warm-up workout, stretch out your muscles carefully.

Some great morning stretches include:

• The butterfly: Sit with feet together and knees nearing the floor to stretch your inner thigh
• The calf stretch: Lunge with a straight back leg to open up your calf muscles
• Neck rolls: Rotate your head in circles to loosen your neck
• Cross-body arm stretches: Pull your arm across your body until you feel a stretch in your shoulder

If you’d like help maintaining correct form while you stretch, at Fitness Expo Stores, we’re proud to offer the Precor 240i Stretch Trainer alongside our other Metairie fitness and exercise equipment. This machine will help you stretch properly and carefully, increasing your range of motion and combating morning stiffness.

Weight Combos

Most of us don’t have much time in the mornings – it’s a blur of coffee, breakfast (maybe), a clean work outfit, and rushing out the door. If you want to keep your morning workout short and sweet, add a few weights to your favorite exercises.

Here are a few ways you can increase the intensity of your favorite moves without increasing the time spent on your workout:

Use strap-on arm and leg weights

These light-to-moderate weights attach to your arms and legs to increase the amount of work required to do your favorite exercises. These are appropriate even for cardio work like burpees and jumping jacks, and will help tone your arms, shoulders, calves, and thighs.

Work out with a medicine ball or dumbbell

Whether you’re doing split jumps or simple crunches, holding a single weight will level-up your workout. The position that you use for holding the weight can determine which muscles you tone: hold it with elbows to the side for a triceps workout, or elbows down for a bicep fat burn.

If you don’t have weights yet, come see us at Fitness Expo for Metairie home fitness exercise equipment that can increase the efficiency of your morning workout.

Continuous Movement Exercises

One of the difficult parts of working out in the morning is fighting morning sluggishness. Consequently, workout routines that move continuously are easier to complete than ones that involve lying on the floor or persevering in a certain position for an extended period.

Some workouts that promote continuous movement include:

Bicycle crunches

While this workout does require laying on the floor, because you never truly return to a resting position, it’s not nearly as tempting to take a quick nap.

High Knees

When your focus is on raising your knees to hip height, you don’t focus as much on how badly you want to stop working out. Even if you don’t put 100% into this movement, you likely won’t completely stop moving; you’ll just run with your knees a bit lower.

Squat jumps

Because these are high-intensity, start with just a few and build up. Squat jumps provide a continuous flow from squat to jump to squat-landing, so there isn’t much chance to pause and think about quitting.

Get your morning started right

Working out in the mornings won’t just prioritize your personal fitness; it’s scientifically proven to cheer up your mood and increase your energy. You’ll find your morning exercise makes 8 a.m. meetings cheerier, deadlines less threatening, and afternoon “slumps” less brutal.

The benefits of a good morning workout far outweigh the pain of burpees at 6 am. If you have a plan, a set of good exercises, and quality workout equipment, you’ll be ready to crush any obstacle in your way – from the time you roll out of bed.