9 Pros and Cons for Morning Workouts
Is your workout time working against you? In this episode of Embrace Your Real, I will uncover how your body's natural rhythms could be impacting your fitness gains. Whether you're a crack-of-dawn enthusiast or someone squeezing in a late-night session, we’re here to break down how timing could be the missing piece in your fitness puzzle. Early morning workouts come with perks like enhanced fat burning, better insulin sensitivity, and the benefit of syncing with your natural hormone surge. But, let's be real—mornings aren’t for everyone!
For those who feel more alive later in the day, we'll explore how understanding your chronotype could help you optimize your workouts. If you’ve tried and struggled to make mornings your go-to workout time, we’ve got you covered with practical tips to ease into a routine, all while keeping it simple and stress-free.
We also discuss:
(00:00) Optimal Exercise Timing for Results
(02:11) Pros and Cons of Morning Workouts
(04:31) Benefits of Morning Workouts
(06:12) Effectiveness of Fasted Workouts
(16:19) Finding Your Ideal Workout Time
(17:09) Optimal Exercise Performance Timing
and more!
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Transcript:
[00:00:00] Hey there, beautiful human. You're listening to Embrace Your Real with Me, Julie Ledbetter. A podcast where I empower you to just be you with each episode and issue a dose of real talk and actionable advice for. [00:00:12]
[00:00:12] Building your confidence, honoring your body and. [00:00:15]
[00:00:15] Unconditionally. [00:00:15]
[00:00:16] Loving your authentic self. [00:00:17]
[00:00:18] Stay tuned. If you're ready to embrace your real, let's get hands, girl. [00:00:21]
[00:00:27] Hello and welcome back to another episode on the Embrace Row podcast. We all know that regular exercise is one of the most powerful tools that we have for building the body that we want. We also know, especially if you tune into this podcast regularly, I talk about this all the time, but honoring your body with movement regularly will make you feel better. In fact, studies have shown that exercise does not just impact our physical health, but also our mental and emotional well-being. It helps to improve sleep quality, it boosts our confidence and overall just helps us live a stronger, healthier life. And this sounds great, right? But the number one thing that I hear when people are not consistent, as they just say, I just don't know when the best time is to workout. I haven't figured that out. And that is truly what is hindering so many of us from seeing the results that we want. And so that's why in today's episode I want to share kind of the pros and cons into when is the best time for exercise for optimal results, because you have to recognize that our bodies are deeply influenced by so many things that contribute to us either thriving or struggling throughout a workout, whether that's in the morning or the evening. And really, by understanding those different factors, you can understand more and under and really understand what your body likes best. And then you are able to make an informed decision and understand, okay, based on, you know, the pros and cons of morning workouts and the pros and cons of evening workouts, I'm going to choose X because I believe this will help me stay more consistent with my workouts. So whether you are an early bird, your night owl, your body's natural rhythms could make, you know, one time of day better for you to exercise versus the other, right? So it could be better for you to work out in the morning or better for you to work out in the evening. In today's episode, this is going to kind of be a two part series. But in today's episode, we're going to first explore the pros and cons of morning workouts. And then next week, be sure to come by and listen to next week's episode because I'm going to be sharing the pros and cons of evening workouts. Before we dive in, though, I want to share this review. It comes from Sony 1996 iPod. I think that's just the name of her iPod that has the podcast app on it. But she gave a five star review and said, How do I love this podcast? Let me count the ways this amazing podcast really checks all the boxes. It is just long enough for not too long and packed with positivity and actionable advice that anyone can implement right away. I'm in a different phase of life than Julie, but I get so much out of this podcast from nutrition, exercise and mental health tips to her consistent message to nourish yourself and honor your body with movement works for every stage of life because Julie shares ways to rethink fitness and nutrition. So it works for you wherever you are at, wherever you are in your fitness journey or any other questions you have. Julie has a podcast for that. my gosh, I'm so grateful. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to send in this review. This honestly means so much to me because I never want this podcast to just be, you know, someone who's in their 30s who just became a mom. Like, that's my season of life right now. But I really hope and pray that I'm able to talk to a girl who's in high school or a girl who's in college, or someone in their early or late 20s that are just trying to figure out their life, their career path, or whether you are kind of in the same boat as me. You have, you know, a couple of kids, you're in your early to mid 30s or maybe you're in your 40s or 50s or 60s, wherever you are. I hope that these podcast episodes give you some sort of actionable advice, whether that is education, empowerment, encouragement. That is always my hope and prayer with these podcast. So thank you so much, Sony, for taking time out of your day to send in this review. If you guys could scooch over to Apple Podcasts and leave a rating interview, that would mean the absolute world to me and our team just kind of know how this podcast in general, or maybe there's a specific episode that you listen to that you're like, Man, I just resonate so much with that. I would love to hear it and our team would love to know. So you could switch over to Apple Podcasts, tap in, embrace your free, embrace your real first, make sure you subscribe so that you never miss an episode. And then you can scroll all the way down and leave a rating interview. Okay, so let's get back to the original question. Is there truly a best time of day to work out or is it all kind of what works for you? I hope that this episode will answer that question for you. So training in the morning is not just about crossing exercise off your to do list early in the day. There's actually some unique physiological and psychological effects that make morning workout stand out. So with that being said, I kind of want to dive a little bit deeper into the mechanics behind morning workouts and break them down into specific pros and cons so that you can decide whether they're best fit for your body and your lifestyle. So some of the pros of morning workouts, pro number one is that you can potentially, potentially and that is in caps OC potentially burn more fat. So when you exercise in the morning, especially before eating, your body doesn't really have a lot of stored energy from food. Since you've been fasting all night while sleeping, you're like a. Glycogen levels, which are stored stored carbs in your body that they use for energy. Those are lower, which means that when you're working out, your body has to look for a different fuel source and it often turns to fat stores. So by burning fat for energy, morning workouts can help you reduce body fat over time, which can be really helpful if that's part of your fitness goals. Plus, this can even make your body more efficient at using fat as fuel overall. But just a reminder, when I say lose body fat, I don't necessarily mean losing weight, ideally losing body fat and gaining muscle to change your body composition. So at the end of the day, that's what a lot of you guys tuning in to this episode and to this podcast in general are after changing your body composition, that's what's going to give you that nicer, leaner toned look. But there's an important disclaimer that I want to share this like this does not mean that working out in the evening won't be effective at burning fat. This just means there is potentially the ability to burn slightly more when in a fasted state. And again, when I say fasted state, I don't mean like 16 hours, like intermittent fasting. I mean like waking up in the morning and getting your workout in before breakfast. And in fact, anywhere between 3 to 12 hours before exercise puts you in a fasted state for workouts. But again, I don't want you to say, well, just because I could potentially burn a little bit more fat, I want to do this in the morning fasted because I will share with you some some cons to that as well. So again, take everything. And I'm saying with a grain of salt based on your season of life, where you're at and what your goals are like. For example, I'm in a season of life right now where my number one priority is breastfeeding, so it's not realistic for me to wake up and be in a fasted state long enough before my workout, just simply because I need to make sure that I'm prioritizing enough calories because I am feeding Blake, you know, 6 to 7 times a day. And I want to make sure that I'm adequate, you know, milk supply. So again, this is going to vary depending on what season of life you're in. And also just kind of hearing this out to the end, pro number two, your body is better at handling sugar. So when you work out in the morning, your body becomes more sensitive to insulin, which is the hormone responsible for helping your body process sugar, which is just glucose from the foods that you eat. And no, I don't mean sugary foods. I mean all the carbohydrates that you get that gets broken down into sugar, which is also known as glucose in your body. So heightened cravings and appetite and energy crashes, those are often tied to blood sugar crashes. This is where, you know, when you eat something and your blood sugar goes way up, so your body tries to compensate to bring those levels back to baseline, but instead it drops way below baseline, making you think that you're hungry or that you think that you need a certain food. But in reality, your blood sugar levels are very low, which just translate to a lower energy level. So when you work out in the morning and you have a better insulin sensitivity, this just means that your body's able to better manage your blood sugar more efficiently. And this also means that you won't have your cravings control you typically, you won't be unnecessarily hungry, and you'll have a much steadier energy level throughout the day, which sounds nice. And all of that is true. If you gave yourself a nice balanced meal after your workout with enough carbohydrates, enough fat and enough protein to refuel you afterwards. If you don't refuel afterwards, then you're just setting yourself up for cravings, Heightened appetite and energy crashes throughout the day. Number three is that you get a natural hormone boost. So your body operates on a natural cycle when it comes to hormone levels and both cortisol and testosterone peak in the morning. So cortisol gets a bad rap because we often associate it with stress. And when stress levels are high, we can get chronically heightened cortisol levels and that's what can trigger weight gain cravings and a whole plethora of unwanted symptoms. But not all. Cortisol is actually bad when we have too much cortisol. Yes, it becomes a problem. But cortisol itself is not bad. So cortisol is actually super important for helping your body release energy and mobilize fat. What does that mean? Well, basically, cortisol is a hormone in your body that naturally produces and especially produces in the morning. And it plays a key role in giving you energy. But more specifically, cortisol actually helps to break down stored energy in your body like fats and carbohydrates and turn them into fuel that you can use. This is this process is called mobilizing fat. And it just basically means that cortisol helps your body access the energy that it's stored, especially like when you're being active during a workout. So rather than just a stress hormone, cortisol can actually be a key player in making sure that your body has the energy that it needs to function properly when you're physically active. So again, to simply put what I just talked about, if all of that was like jumbled to you. Cortisol helps. Your body unlocks stored energy, a.k.a. using fat for fuel. And then we also have testosterone that I mentioned that peaks in the morning as well. So testosterone, on the other hand, plays a big, big, big role in muscle building and repair for both men and women. We typically hear about it with men like we typically associate testosterone with men, but it's actually a really important hormone for women as well. And testosterone naturally peaks in the morning as well. So by exercising in the morning, you're essentially timing your workout with these hormonal peaks, which can enhance your fat, burning your muscle recovery and just your overall performance, a.k.a. lifting heavier, beating your peers. Essentially, when you look at your body from this standpoint, it's kind of like primed to make the most out of your workout during this time. Pro number four is you'll get a sharper brain. So let me kind of talk through this. So it's not just your muscles that benefit from a morning workout your brain does as well. Physical activity increases blood flow to the brain, which can actually improve cognitive function. This includes productivity, focus, creativity, problem solving, and much more. In fact, studies have shown that people who exercise in the morning tend to perform better on tasks that require focus and problem solving throughout the day. So if you have a busy day ahead, starting with a workout can actually help you think more clearly and be more productive and get more done. Because let's be real. It never feels like there is enough time in the day. Plus, it is a great way to boost your mood and get those feel good endorphins flowing as you enter into your day. Pro number five you just get it done, which makes it easier to stay consistent. Let's be honest, life is full of distractions and let's be honest again. Saying life of life is full of distractions. Honestly, is just a complete understatement. Like whether it's work, it's family, it's meeting, it's errands, it's whatever it is, it can pile up, and before you know it, you've run out of time to squeeze in a workout that day. Which does that sound familiar to anybody? By exercising first thing in the morning, you are making sure that your workout happens before anything else can get in the way. And this really does make it much easier to stick consistent to a routine because you're not leaving exercise to chance. You've already done it, so you can check it off your list. Feel good about getting that when in early and you also feel like you end up with more time in your day because you're not trying to squeeze it in later on. I also say that the work ethic that you have in terms of getting your workout done that carries throughout the rest of your day. So if you are working hard, you're really trying to push yourself in your workouts that will likely carry on through the rest of the tasks that you have throughout the remainder of your day, whether that's just, you know, being at home with your kids or maybe that's at work or maybe that is doing something with your spouse, whatever it is that work ethic that you initially had in your workout first thing in the morning that will likely carry throughout the rest of your day making you feel so much more productive. I hope that those pros were super clear and easy to follow. Each of these benefits can really set you up for success, both in your fitness goals and overall how you feel throughout your day. But not everything is rainbows and butterflies. There are some cons that you need to consider before you decide to be, you know, working out in the morning if you aren't already. Number one is that you can be super stiff in the morning, so your core body temperature is lower in the morning, which actually can make you feel stiff. And this means that you might need a more extensive warm up to prepare your muscles and joints. And if you skip this step, you could increase your risk of strains and injuries, which is not what we want. So if you are inside the Julia app, I do have warm ups for every single workout, whether it's the 60 minute or the 30 minute, sometimes that warm up is adequate for people. It's typically around 2 to 4 minutes depending on which workout you're doing. However, some people require a little bit more warmup. So that could just be, you know, hopping on the treadmill or if you have a walking pad, which I just want to note that there is so many good deals going on on Amazon. So I will link my walking pad below. And that's a great thing to have at home, especially as we head into the cooler months. If going outside for a quick walk is not an option for you. So but some people require a little bit longer warmup. But if you are inside the Julia community and you do follow my gym only workouts, rest assured that doing that warm up is going to be effective in helping to loosen up those muscles so that you are not increasing the risk of strains or injuries throughout your workout. Number two, if you are sleep deprived, waking up early in the morning to exercise could just be counterproductive. Regular morning movement, even when sleep deprived offers some awesome benefits likely to source. However, this does not compensate for negative effects of being sleep deprived. Here's why. Because sleep is essential for your body to recover and function properly when you don't get enough of it. Several things can go wrong and I mean several. First things first, you'll get a weakened immune system so your body relies on sleep to keep your immune. And system strong. And if you're constantly sleep deprived, your ability to fight off illness weakens, especially as we head into the cooler months, which is also the heightened, you know, months for flus and colds and things like that. But without proper rest, your brain struggles to focus, remember things and make decisions. And this can really affect your performance throughout the day and also affect your performance during your workout. Plus, remember that sleep plays a huge role in keeping your hormones balanced and when you are not well-rested. Hormones that regulate your weight, your hunger, your stress, and even muscle recovery, those can get out of whack, which makes it harder for your body to fully recover and function normally, which also thus subsequently makes it harder to build the body that you want. So yes, while a morning workout could give you a temporary boost, just remember that it doesn't fix the bigger health issue that comes from being sleep deprived, especially if you're already exhausted. Skipping that early morning workout in favor of a little bit more sleep might actually be the healthier and more effective choice for building the body that you want. And again, this is dependent on your season of life. Right now I'm currently in the newborn life and I will prioritize sleep over a morning workout every single time simply because I know that I feel so much better. If I can at very minimum get seven hours of sleep at night. 7 to 8 hours is obviously best. And I just know that I'm going to be so much more productive throughout the day. However, once this season is over and, you know, I know that sleep is a little bit more sure throughout the night, then I will rethink and reassess and say, okay, is it is it beneficial for me to add in first thing morning workouts, yes or no? So again, just with your season of life, really think this through. Number three is that you might have limited strength in the morning. So yes, you might be stronger in the afternoon rather than the morning. There's actually lots of evidence to prove that strength and performance really does peak in the afternoon. There are a few key times during the day when exercise performance is generally at its best. The first is about 30 minutes after waking up, which lines up with the natural rise in cortisol that occurs when you wake up, like we already discussed. But it doesn't mean that you are the strongest at this point. The last key time for performance is late afternoon, about 11 hours after waking up when your body temperature usually reaches its highest point. So if you feel stronger and more energized in the afternoon, it's likely due to these factors. But again, it's ultimately up to which window of, you know, workouts you prefer. Whether that is in the morning, it could even be in the afternoon like lunchtime or in the evening. Number four, you're simply not a morning person. Some people are just not naturally morning people. And this could be for a variety of reasons, but one of them actually could be because of your genes, which is actually called chronotype, which basically tells you if you're more of a morning person, a night owl or somewhere in between. But it's not all about genetics. Things like light and your lifestyle can affect it too. For instance, someone who is naturally a morning person might become a night owl because of their job or social life, but they'll usually go back to their morning routine if they can. Night owls oftentimes have a harder time adjusting to early schedules, which can sometimes make it look like they have trouble sleeping. Right. They might struggle to fall asleep early and not feel well-rested when they wake up early. If you are someone who's more of a night owl, that can for sure make it harder for you obviously to work out in the morning. And this is just because your body is just naturally wants to stay up late and waking up early for a workout can feel like a huge struggle. You might feel groggy, you might not feel fully energized because your body isn't used to being active at that time. It's not that you don't want to work out, it's just that your natural rhythm at this time doesn't line up with morning exercise. Now I will add, do not confuse bad nighttime habits with being a night owl and use it as an excuse to not do morning workouts. Right. Developing healthy nighttime habits like quit scrolling at least 20 to 30 minutes before you go to sleep or watching TV. You know, an hour and a half in in bed before you try to sleep or eating a big meal like really close to bedtime as your body really does have a harder time falling asleep. Also, you know, fluorescent lighting, the lighting does really matter. And all of those things can really help make falling asleep harder. Whether that is like I just mentioned, your nighttime habits of scrolling, of being in specific lighting of eating a bigger meal, alcohol itself, that can make it more difficult for you to fall asleep faster. And so just remembering that having a healthy nighttime routine is going to be key in order for you to try to give morning workouts and this morning routine a shot. But again, if you truly are just a night owl and you just you have never thrived in the morning, you don't drive in the morning, then that's okay. I'm going to be talking about evening workouts next week, so stay tuned there. But those are the cons that I could think of when it comes to morning workouts. If you feel like morning workouts are something that you want to start doing because the pros really outweigh the cons. I do have an entire podcast episode that really gives you tips specific to becoming a morning workout person, and that episode is 339. How to Become a Morning Person in Your Workouts. I will go ahead and link that in the show notes, but I really think that that's going to be super beneficial for you if you want to dive deep into that topic. But I'll quickly go over probably the most important tip for making workout way easier in the morning. If working out in the morning is one of the hardest things that you've ever done, you tried it and you're like, This is so freaking hard. I want to encourage you by this. One of the keys to success in being becoming a morning workout person is really having an easily accessible and straightforward workout plan. By simplifying your workout plan, you really do remove unnecessary complexities and make it significantly easier to show up and get things done. Really by having that easy to follow workout routine that's going to save you from the mental burden of trying to figure out what exercises to do, how many sets, how many wraps, what equipment to use. Your brain probably isn't ready to handle all of those things first thing in the morning. So by entering into your workout session with a clear plan in mind, this will allow you to focus your energy and effort on the actual physical activity rather than the decision making. Right. And this is why so many women inside women with Julie Community love it so much because it really does take the guesswork and make it super simple and straightforward to show up and get it done. Like genuinely, all you have to do is open the app, click the day of the week, and your entire workout is written for you, program for you. There's video demonstrations of each exercise. There's alternate exercises. If you need a no bench or an easier hour bodyweight or whatever it is, I give you the amount of sets, the amount of reps to do, and that way you genuinely have everything at your fingertips. Like it literally couldn't be more simple. So if you want to learn more about that, I do have a program, like I mentioned, Moment with Julie. There's five dumbbell only workouts that release every single Saturday at 12 p.m. out in standard time. I will link that in the show notes, but the website is sale Sally that moment with julie.com and I promise that you will not get bored that is the whole point of my weekly workout program is I always keep it interesting for you and make it exciting for you to show up to your morning workouts. So again I say Ali dammit. Julie.com. And don't forget to check out episode 339 How to Become a Morning Person with Your Workouts. I will go ahead and link that in the show notes. But before we wrap up today's episode, let me quickly do a recap of the pros and the cons of morning workouts. Pro number one is that you could potentially with potentially being capped. All right. Potentially burn more fat pro number two, your body becomes better at handling sugar Pro. Number three, you get a natural hormone boost, Pro number four, you'll get a sharper brain pro number five. You just get it done, which makes it easier to stay consistent. And then the cons that I talked about, number one, you could be super stiff in the morning and more prone to injury. You might just need a longer warm up con. Number two, if you are sleep deprived, waking up early in the morning to exercise could be counterproductive. Number three, you might have limited strength in the morning. Con number four, you may simply just not be a morning person. And trying to push it is, again, counterproductive and not something that is going to stick long term. So there you have it. Those are the pros and cons of working out in the morning. Like I mentioned earlier, I am going to be doing an episode that will release next week on the pros and cons of evening afternoon workouts. So be sure to tune in for that. And if there's one thing that you get from this week's episode and next week's episode, once you finish listening to that, is that there really isn't an ideal time to work out. There's only an ideal time for you to work out during this specific period in your life because this is going to likely change from season to season. And so I want you maybe you have previously been in an afternoon evening workout person, but your season of life right now, you just find that you are skipping your workouts more than you're actually doing them. You might want to try to be a morning workout person or vice versa. Maybe you've been a morning workout person for years and years and years and you are just dreading it. You're not having fun and you feel like you have just overall more energy in the afternoon evening. Try switching it up like it is going to be from person to person dependent on your season of life and what is ideal for you right now. So hear me out here the pros and cons of each, and then you can make your more informed decision. But that is all that I have for today's episode. I hope that you found this helpful. I love you so much and I'll take your next one. [00:25:01]
[00:25:09] All right, sister. That's all I got for you today. But I have two things. [00:25:13]
[00:25:13] That I need you to. [00:25:14]
[00:25:14] Do. First thing, if you're not already following me on the gram. [00:25:17]
[00:25:17] Be sure to do so, Julie. A lot better. Yes, it's with an A in the middle for that. [00:25:21]
[00:25:22] Daily Post workout. Real talk. Healthy tips and tricks and honest. [00:25:25]
[00:25:26] Accountability to keep your mind and heart in. [00:25:28]
[00:25:28] Check. The second thing be sure to subscribe to Apple Podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world. [00:25:38]
[00:25:38] And I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful. [00:25:41]
[00:25:41] Women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it. [00:25:41][0.0]