That fat burns more quickly in the morning

The best time of the day to do your cardio exercise be it jogging, walking, cycling, swimming or any aerobic activity is any time you choose as long as you sustain it continuously for at least 40 minutes to an hour.

But if you want to reap maximum benefits out of it, the most ideal time is early in the morning when you wake up before you take your breakfast. Here are some reasons why this is good:-

Morning exercise gives you that feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction as you kick start your day. It releases endorphins which are the feel good hormones that make you feel less stressed, highly motivated, keep your mood in check and your circulation in tact which eventually makes you feel positive as you carry on with your day’s activities.

Being a physically challenging activity, it also prepares you psychologically to handle the rest of the day’s programme both mentally and physically. The habit of working out in the morning will also boost your metabolism and you will feel fantastic all day long.

The problem with working out later in the day especially evenings is that there is always that feeling of guilt and incompleteness if you skip your workout routine due to work pressures, getting tired from a long day’s work or even sometime putting it off to have evening chats with friends over a cup of coffee or booze.

In one way or the other, there is always an excuse to skip training. That is why most people try to compensate the lost time or days to exercise by over training next time they decide to do so. This is wrong. Why not schedule for morning programmes.

In the morning, the level of glycogen which is (stored carbohydrate) and your body’s main energy source plus blood sugar are usually low due to the rest period. This happens when you sleep in between your last meal at night and next meal in the morning.

We call it ‘fast’ period. By the time you wake up, this source of energy (glycogen) is usually depleted making it an ideal environment for you to burn fat instead of carbohydrates. You see when this primary source of energy falls short; your body is forced to tap from a secondary supply which is your body fat to provide energy and this is extensively used during exercise making you burn fat more.

A nice intense morning workout can increase your metabolism for a couple of hours keeping it elevated even after the workout is over. Not only do you burn fat during your workout session but also continue to burn fat at high speed after your workout session is over because your body will still be active throughout the rest of the day.

This is called the “after burn effect” and more advantageous over working out later in the evening. Evening workouts can only help you reap benefits during the workout session but stop immediately you go to sleep because your metabolic reaction slows down as your body relaxes during sleep.