Exercise Early if You Want to Improve Your Life

“You have to exercise, or at some point you’ll just break down.”

— Barack Obama

You’re hurting. Not from the soreness of exercise. But deep in your heart. All of the stress is overwhelming you, and you can’t seem to get out of your head.

Everyone around you notices that you’re off, irritated, and not happy with your life.

It’s time to make a change. If you aren’t exercising in the mornings, then any stress you have is building up inside. Things won’t get better without body movement. We have all heard the phrase, “a healthy body equates to a healthy mindset.”

It’s true. Let me share some incredible insights on improving your life with early morning exercise.

Get The Hardest Thing Done First

What’s the hardest thing you have to do for the day? It might look something like this. You check your emails, try to get a jumpstart on a project you’re working on, or show up to work early. But actually, the hardest thing you can do is to work out first thing in the morning. It takes a lot of willpower, and not many people can commit. Ever since I started waking up at 6:30 am every morning to get my workouts in sets the tone for the day, my life drastically changed.

The sense of accomplishment that comes with working out in the morning exceeds anything else. It’s better than drinking a morning coffee, petting my dog, or even checking my notifications. Since it’s early in the morning, no one’s really up or reaching out at that time. So that means you have all that time to yourself, and all of your fitness progress puts you in a perfect place.

If you can commit to early-morning exercise, it holds you accountable to staying physically fit. Since it’s the first thing you do in the morning, you don’t have to worry about saving energy after the workday. A 9–5 job makes it really hard to maintain momentum by the end of the day. Most people want to lay down and relax after a long day of work. I get it, but that’s why mornings are a life-hack as well as a time-hack.

“Once you are doing exercise regularly, the hardest thing is to stop it.”

— Erin Gray

A Heightened State of Mental Health

One of the biggest things that I’ve dealt with in my life is stress and depression. There are times when I feel like giving up everything I’ve worked for, but I don’t because I know I have so much to live for. Fitness in the mornings is my motivation to stay on this earth and achieve great things. A ton of my stress levels and depressive moods decreased ever since I committed fully, and now I’m achieving more than I could have ever imagined. Life is grand. I’m so appreciative of all the blessings.

Start your day working out to become a more ambitious soul who’s excited to live yet another day of life. Passion is hard to come by. Not everyone has it. Not everyone knows where to find it. For me, passion and motivation come from exercising. You get to see your body and the progress you make. The endorphins you release on the run or in the weight room puts you on cloud nine. You don’t ever want to leave. It’s the one place that makes you feel comfortable in your own skin. That’s empowering. And that’s how you can start your day!

A happy body equates to a happy mindset. Give yourself the chance to be the best version of yourself by starting every day with something challenging. It can be a morning walk while listening to your favorite music. Or it could be achieving new personal records in the weight room. When you have goals outside of work or school, you dive into a realm of personal fulfillment. Your fitness goals are yours. Similar to a degree, your fitness is something no one can take away from you. It’ll stick with you until the end. Make it count.

“You are more precious to this entire world than you’ll ever know”—

Lili Rhinehart

Energy Boosts for The Day

Any form of energy boost in life sets you apart from everyone else. For some people, it's coffee. For others, meditation. And for many fitness junkies like me, it’s exercise. If I get my daily dose of running to my favorite music, I’m happy. If I pump out three sets of weights and see the veins in my arms, I’m ecstatic. My body is incredibly energized, and my efficiency for the day is nearly quadrupled. Sure, there are days where I don’t exercise, and that’s when I feel the least like myself. Find what works for you, and everything will get better.

Nothing beats a highly motivated friend or family member reaching out to you. People close to me love to interact and engage with high-spirited people who want to share nothing more than optimism and positivity. When you’re motivated, you get to share it with friends, family, co-workers, and anyone you come across on a typical day. If your day is lightened up from exercise, you’ll be a shining light that brightens up everyone’s day. I reach out to everyone I see because I’m extroverted and greet them even if I don’t know them. It’s a great feeling to acknowledge others because I’m in a good mood. I know it makes their day when a stranger acts like they’ve known them their entire life.

At the end of a long day, it’s time for bed. You have to go to sleep! Get ready for this. Your sleep is literally going to have you on clouds. Thanks to the exercise you accomplished first thing in the morning, you’re going to sleep like a baby. Better yet, you’ll wake up and stretch your arms out and feel like that was the best quality sleep you’ve gotten in a while. It’s an addicting feeling to be a little sore — it lets you know you’re still alive. Never take your sleep for granted. It’s an essential need and will break or make you. You deserve quality sleep. Let morning fitness be your reason you get it.

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.”

— Nido Qubein

Final Thoughts

Life is too short to be stressing and feeling depressed. Although we can’t control everything, we have to try at least to control what we can.

If you feel like you’re living someone else’s life and not happy with where you’re at, commit to morning exercise. It just may be the thing that gets you from point A to point B instead of stagnating for years at a time.

Get the hardest thing done first (exercise)

Allow your mental state to be heightened by morning fitness.

Your energy is boosted for the entire day ending with quality sleep.