What Are the Health Benefits of Morning Workouts?

The absolute best time to work out is always going to be whenever works for you. After all, working out at 9 p.m. beats skipping it every single time because you slept through your alarm clock. But starting your day with a good sweat does have some serious advantages over leaving it for after work. Here are eight benefits of morning workouts that just might convince you to start exercising first thing. (Here are even more benefits of being a morning person, according to science.)

You’ll Consume Less Calories

It’s logical to think that burning 500 calories in the morning could backfire by making you think you have a free pass to make up for the lost calories—and then some. But researchers from Brigham Young University found exercising in the morning can actually make food seem less appealing. For the study, published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, researchers analyzed the brain activity of women as they looked at pictures of food and flowers, which served as the control. Women who’d exercised for 45 minutes in the morning were less fired up about the tasty images than those who skipped the workout. What’s more, the morning exercisers didn’t consume more food than the other group over the course of the day.

Excerpted from shape.com

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