Welcome back to this week’s edition of 2-Minute Tuesdays where we are talking about one exercise topic for two minutes and giving you three reasons why you should follow our advice. Now this week, we are talking to those of you who are early birds. You wake up in the morning and are ready to work out. What things do you need to keep in mind if you are a morning workout person?
1) Hydrate Before Your Workout
Our first tip is that, when you exercise in the morning, you have to be mindful that you haven’t had anything to drink for the past six to eight hours. So, as you start to exercise, make sure you are getting water in before your workout and you are taking plenty of water to your workout. You want to make sure that you stay hydrated as you begin your day with a nice workout.
Action Step: Right when you wake up in the morning, drink one to four cups of water before heading out for your workout. Also, make sure to have your water bottle prepped the night before so you don’t forget to bring it with you.
Related: The Gold Standard Of Exercise
2) Start Slowly
Tip number two – start slowly. If you are working out in the morning, you have just awoken from six to eight hours of not moving. When you get up, don’t go running sprints right away. If you are going to do a more intense workout, make sure to allot the necessary time to allow your body to get warmed up and get moving. Ease into your workout by gradually building up the intensity as you go along.
Action Step: Plan on taking a few more minutes at the beginning of your workout than you otherwise might to get warmed up and get moving. You are asking your body to go from a completely rested state to a much more stressful state, so make sure to ease into it.
Related: 3 Exercise Myths That Are Holding You Back
3) Change Your Workout Based On Your Sleep
Tip number three – when you wake up, take a scan throughout your body and analyze how you are feeling in the morning. A lot of times, you may have laid down in your bed for eight hours, but you may not have had the most restful sleep. Make sure you are creating your workouts depending on how your body is feeling and functioning and how much rest you’ve had.
Action Step: The app Sleep Cycle can be a fantastic tool to help monitor the quality of your sleep. If your sleep quality was low, consider having a less intense workout that day.