Morning workouts could be more beneficial than you think.

Evidence shows that morning work-outs deliver a premium of benefits. A morning workout jump-starts our metabolism and sees a more effective calorie burn.

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Morning workouts can inject some serious energy into your day.

Bondi Beauty spoke to  Jason T Smith, Physiotherapist, and founder of Back In Motion Health Group about the benefits of morning workouts.

A morning work-out improves mental clarity and can regulate your appetite throughout the day. So, you may be groaning at the thought of rolling out of bed as the sun rises but the rewards of a morning workout are tangible in the energy and endorphins you’ll feel throughout the day.

HIIT – High Intensity Interval Training

HIIT is perfect if you’re busy. It’s a workout that alternates between intense bursts of activity and fixed periods of less-intense activity such as sprinting combined with squats.

The attraction of HIIT is that it combines anaerobic and aerobic exercise allowing for a larger amount of calories to be burned.

Ideally, you want a circuit of 15-30 minutes. Programs can be tailored to degrees of difficulty. If your session is with a personal trainer, equipment such as a heavy ropes, medicine balls, skipping ropes and weights may be used for added challenges.

Alternatively, if you don’t have a personal trainer you can engage in a circuit involving a mix of sprints, planks, jumping lunges, squats, sit ups, skipping, high knees and fast feet to get your heart rate up.

Designing a 15 minute tailored regime with your physiotherapist personal trainer can be more effective than sweating it out on the treadmill for an hour. Feel the burst of energy in the comfort of your living room or in the local park. Additionally, there are many smartphone apps that can be downloaded to provide you with that extra motivation and direction between instructed training sessions.

Shake-It Up

Whole Body Vibration Therapy (WBVT) is a quick, sweat-free workout using a vibration plate at the gym or at a physiotherapy practice. WBVT is scientifically-developed to strengthen core muscles and bones, increase flexibility, improve balance, reduce stress, build lean muscle mass and improve sports performance.

Celebrities including Madonna, Elle McPherson and Courteney Cox are testimony to the benefits of WBVT.

Utilising the vibrating plate you can practice various exercises such as squats, leg lifts and pushups. The vibration challenges your core and stability giving you a more intense workout than if you were completing these exercises on stable ground. In10-15 minutes you can achieve your pre-work workout.

WBVT may also alleviate low back pain, neck pain, joint injuries or poor balance and aid stretching. It also increases circulation which will help increase blood flow as well as flush out toxins  leaving you not only feeling better but looking better.

Crunch that Core

Physio balls are the ultimate, convenient fitness tool. A fun (and proven) way to improve your posture and stimulate your core, a physio ball can be used at home for 20 minutes before you head out the door.

Sitting on a ball may not sound like ground-breaking exercise but incorporating stretches and exercises really gets to the core of it. Try using the ball for ball bridges, ball rotations, back extensions, wall squats and planks.

Try doing 8 repetitions of each for 20 counts with 10 second breaks in between. For a tailored experience, your physiotherapist can show you how to use the ball at home or even at work to specifically benefit your body.

Peddle me Fit.

If possible, swap your mode of transport to work from a bus, train or car to a bicycle. Cycling provides a low impact, aerobic exercise with the opportunity to be anaerobic if hills or sprints are incorporated.

The motion of cycling gets your legs moving and heart racing without pounding your joints like running does. Cycling targets all muscles of your body and has been shown to be good for your waistline, heart, your mental health and coordination.

Riding to and from work means you’ll add incidental exercise into your jam-packed day, and the bonus is that you’ll limit any pre-9am stress from driving, being stuck in traffic or taking different modes of transport. Pack a towel to work as this exercise is likely to break a sweat.

What time of day do you workout?

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Renae Leith-Manos

Editor and Founder of Bondi Beauty

Renae Leith-Manos loves fitness, new beauty products, long chats and long flights. She is at her best when traveling the world writing about luxury hotels and Michelin Star restaurants (www.renaesworld.com.au). She has had a colourful media career as a journalist inmagazines and newspapers, in Australia and Asia. She spends her time writing, cooking, consulting to new businesses, running and working out.

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