You often hear that athletes are made in the weight room. You could take that a step further saying they’re made in the kitchen. The first two items though work better when you add sleep to the equation. There are also many health benefits to waking up early to start your day.
Some of us are early birds, and some of us are night owls. We should just live and let live, right? While that is true there are so many proven benefits of waking up early. We should all take them into account if we want to stay healthy and full of energy. This particularly goes for fitness buffs who need to maintain a certain tempo and strength level to finish their routine. Getting up early correlates with many other health benefits, including dietary choices, mental health, sleep quality, and more.
If you are still not feeling convinced, let’s take a look at what science has to say about the issue, and who knows maybe you’ll transform into an early bird by choice by the end of this article.
Benefits of Waking Up Early: You Make Healthier Food Choices
I completely understand the appeal of pressing the snooze button dozens of times to squeeze in some extra sleep, but before you know it, that can take away hours from your morning. This means you will probably skip breakfast and have brunch or lunch instead. However, your body needs to be given a chance to absorb as many healthy nutrients as it can first thing in the morning. In fact, several studies have proven that breakfast kick-starts your metabolism and helps you burn more calories throughout the day.
You Improve Your Mental Health
Talking about health only in terms of physical shape is a huge misconception that needs to change. Being mentally and emotionally stable is the prerequisite for having good overall health. Well, waking up early can help you with that. A study conducted in a London found that morning people are healthier and happier.
Another study suggested that getting up early improves your problem-solving skills and helps you deal with negative thoughts better. All of this leads to less stress, and therefore, minimizes the chances of developing some of the stress-related health problems.
Mornings Are Perfect Time To Exercise
All of us have our own preferred time to get our daily dose of workout, but what if I told you that you will get the most perks out of morning training session? For a start, exercising in the morning lowers the risk of low blood sugar, when compared to afternoon workout.
It also boosts your strength and performance for the rest of your day. Other things that might attract you to break some sweat early one are enhancing your metabolism, helping the cultivating consistency of your workout, improving your physical and mental strength, and provides you with better sleep quality.
Health Benefits Of Waking Up Early: People Who Rise Early Sleep Better
Night owls usually finish their day by binge-watching Netflix, worrying or doing some activity that makes their falling asleep more difficult and their sleep patterns interrupted. Unlike them, most early risers stick to a consistent sleep schedule.
The good news is that you can train your brain to become an early bird. First, you can try to establish a consistent sleeping routine, which will include relaxing pre-bed activities, like taking a warm bath or reading a book. Another useful thing to have is a sleep mask. The evidence we have so far supports the thesis that wearing sleep mask increases the length of the REM cycle and prevents disruption in sleep patterns.
You’ll Be More Likely To Develop Good Habits
A team of researchers observed the link between the time of waking up and substance use. It turned out that early risers are less prone to use drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol. While the research was done on adolescent girls, it is relevant for everyone, because one good habit encourages another one – think of it as a line of dominos where one is leaning onto another. The absence of substance abuse will naturally affect your health in a good way.
You’re More Motivated
Motivation is vital for everything you do, ranging from exercising to your career. An experiment conducted at Harvard University showed that early risers are more proactive than late risers. This affects your success at everything you do, creates positive thinking patterns, and helps you be more confident. Consequently, getting up at the similar time early every morning minimizes stress and negative thoughts which can be harmful to your health.
It Gives You Time To Actually Wake Up
Do you ever get the feeling that you are still sleeping when you arrive at your office? You need hours to be really prepared to do the work you are paid to do and to even talk with your coworkers. This is sleep inertia – a period between sleep and full wakefulness. According to research, it can last up to four hours. During this time many cognitive tasks, such as memory, reaction speed, attention, and alertness, are impaired. So, when you get up earlier, you have enough time to overcome the sleep inertia, and to be at your best when it is needed. Personally, I think this is one of the best health benefits of waking up early.
These are just a few of the health benefits of being an early bird, and I have not even scratched the surface of the other perks which impact your overall life quality, such as having more time, enjoying the first sip of coffee, avoiding heavy commuting on your way to work, and much more. Now you see that it’s worth it to at least try to change your sleeping habits, and enjoy a healthy and happy life to the fullest.
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