Make morning workouts work for you
First light is now at 6am, so let it be the catalyst for getting fit, flexible and toned ready for the first beach days. If you want to get into a great fitness routine and maximise your workouts’ benefits, then consider switching to morning Pilates, yoga and barre classes. Here are some tips to workout with us, first thing in the morning:
- Book your classes in advance. Current Health department recommendations are 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate intensity physical activity per week. So book your 3-5 classes for the week to meet this health target and align your actions with your intentions.
2. Switch off your screens and go to bed early. The blue light from your devices before you go to sleep can reduce your alertness the following day. In order to get sufficient sleep (which is a subjective measure), practice good sleep hygiene, so you wake up feeling rested.
3. Get organised the night before. Pack your bag, make your lunch and be ready. Reduce the morning dread and the hurdles you need to overcome to get to work.
4. Double alarm your wake up time. It can be hard to change routines but if you know that you’re more likely to have a healthier, balanced lifestyle working out first thing in the morning, then take steps to make it happen. If one alarm is not enough, pop on two. You’ll thank yourself for it later.
5. Invite a friend to workout. Don’t let your friend down, if you’ve booked a class together than you have to show up. That plank flow or abs set is going to feel a lot more fun when you smile or laugh through it together.
So perhaps you’ve tried working out in the morning and need a little more convincing. Let us share with you why we love morning workouts:
1. Workout before you find excuses not to. Everyone is susceptible to procrastination, long to-do lists and feeling tired at the end of the day. By booking in your morning workouts, you empower yourself to put your fitness first and remove this uncertainty.
2. Feel good for the rest of the day. Attending your Pilates, Yoga or barre class releases endorphins which uplifts your day. We are all children at heart and beginning with some play or me-time can give you more impetus to work hard and give to others.
3. Increase your metabolism. When you attend classes, your metabolism increases and as a bonus, some research suggests you continue to burn fat for several hours after your class.
4. Switch on your muscles and continue to work them throughout the day. How good does it feel to feel your butt muscles as you walk up the stairs? Perhaps you notice your core as you sit at your desk. Your Pilates, yoga or barre class switches on your intrinsic muscles and it also improve your mind, body connection so you have better body awareness throughout the day.
5. Improve your posture. Typing, texting and sitting at a desk all day leads to a hunched over position that can lead to head, neck and shoulder issues. Sometimes this can manifest as headaches or even migraines. However, if you’ve flowed through your yoga class or extended your spine in Pilates then you’ve already stretched tight muscles and strengthened the opposing muscle groups, for a little more balance.
6. Better mindset and more focus. You may be surprised how much more you get done when you feel alert and aware, having woken up your body and challenged your mind. Learn to enjoy the variations where your instructor gets you to cross the midline, invites you to transition into a pose unexpectedly or challenges you to use coordination for a movement sequence. It sure does beat doing the same thing day in and day out.
7. Cultivate resilience. When you begin the day with breath centred movement you switch on your parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). Add a little challenge to your morning (hello arm balances in yoga) and as you maintain a steady breath, take that same approach into the rest of your day. This will help you deal gracefully with any speed bumps that present themselves.
To help motivate you to make the most of your mornings, we have a great intro offer which is $99 for 6 classes over 2 weeks. We recommend booking all 6 classes and mixing up your classes so you can discover what works best for you. If you have any queries, email us: hello@54.79.230.246.
