Why you should exercise before breakfast

This is something I honestly never thought I would say...

I was always the type of person who preferred to work out in the evenings. I liked to expel the pent up frustrations of the day, and felt like I was also working off all the food that I had consumed during the day.

All that changed when I went on a biathlon training camp in which I was required to get up early and be in the gym for 7am to do an hour’s circuit training before breakfast. At first I was outraged by this… exercising before eating- were these people crazy?!

However, I was pleasantly surprised. I soon got into a routine and exercising in the morning actually felt really good. It woke me up and made me enjoy my breakfast even more than usual and feel like I really deserved it. It also meant that if I didn’t get round to doing any more exercise that day, I knew I had done enough.

Getting up was a struggle, and even during the exercise I wasn’t feeling positive. However, the thought of breakfast kept me going and I felt great afterwards so I decided it was all worth it.

Another benefit is the fact that it is best to eat carbohydrate-rich foods within 15-60 minutes of exercise as this is when the glycogen enzyme is the most active. This means that you can enjoy an enormous bowl of cereal with no guilt or worries.

If you are someone who is skeptical about exercising before breakfast, my advice is to give it a go, especially if you find that you often put off doing exercise during the day because you are too tired or run out of time. Set an alarm, whip out that sports kit and head to the gym.

An hour is all you need and let the thought of breakfast be your motivation!