Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Day 23: AM Cardio Torture!



When the alarm went off at 4:50 this morning, for a brief moment I thought, this isn’t going to work, and I almost went back to sleep. It would have been so easy too.  Just reset my alarm and wake up in another 40 minutes.  In the end I couldn’t do it and I got up.  It was hard.

I changed and hit the pavement running in almost complete dark I made my way around the neighborhood.  I think I ran harder in the morning or maybe it was just me running from street light to street light quicker.  Bottom line is this, it sucked and I hated it.  I just want to sleep.  I know that with an attitude like that it will make the next 20 days rough but it’s the truth.  I know you agree with me or else you would be doing AM exercise also.

To help me in my quest I checked a book from the library about morning exercise.  It said, “Never run on an empty stomach,” and recommended eating breakfast before working out.  I can’t do that.  I do have to have breakfast in the morning but I am good for about an hour after I wake up, much longer than that I turn into a beast.  Maybe it’s just me, but running on a full stomach after breakfast seems like a bad idea.  The book even recommended eating more according to how long you plan on working out. 

Conventional wisdom say that you shouldn’t swim after eating because you might cramp up and drown. Doesn’t stand to reason you could do the same running?  Maybe not drowning, but what if you cramp up and fall hit your head and die.  The outcome is the same.  No thanks I will run on my empty stomach. 

Other benefits listed with AM cardio are:

Increased awareness.  The only think I am aware of right now is how tired I am.  I got up before 5, the sun wasn’t even up.

After burn. Your body continues to burn fat at an accelerate rate after your workout.  What this means is that you are really hungry all day long.

Heightened mood.  Morning cardio is supposed to put you in a good mood all day.  I’m not saying it won’t but I don’t know if staying in bed would not have been better for my mood.

To make matters even more confusing do a little research on AM cardio.  There is a lot of conflicting information out there.  My library book says not to on an empty stomach, while I found others that recommend AM cardio for that very reason, exercising on an empty stomach is beneficial.  I think I will make the scale be the judge of that.  Currently I am losing a little more than a pound a week.  If I drop a big number weight wise this week it would make getting up easier in the morning, after all there will be less of me move. 

The best part is 4:50 is not early enough.  Tomorrow I will get up at 4:30. Who is with me?

Daily Recap:
Matt – AM Jog (30 Minutes)
Kelly – AM Speed Walk (1 Hour)

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