Does your morning exercise routine involve working your arms by smacking the snooze button for the third time? (No shame ― every so often you got to do what you got to do!)
It may feel as if exercising at the beginning of the day is an impossible feat when you’re so tired. However, you don’t need to spring out of bed and begin running a marathon in order to feel energised. Even a tiny little bit of physical activity will go a long way when it comes down to getting you going for the day.
Moving your body when you first wake up assists your circulation and also stimulates your lymphatic system. Exercise helps fluid move through your body and reduce inflammation. As a result, you feel more energised.
Why You Could Be Waking Up Tired
Sleep Inertia
Chances are good that if you wake up groggy you could be suffering from sleep inertia, which is a typical part of the waking process. Your brain frequently doesn’t instantly wake up after sleeping. It transitions gradually to a wakeful state. During this transition period, you could feel groggy or disoriented. If you aren’t careful, you will be able to easily fall back asleep.
Sleep inertia slows down your motor – as well as cognitive – skills, which is why it sometimes feels impossible to do anything correctly after you wake up. Sleep inertia may last anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour, though it usually improves inside 15 to 60 minutes.
Blue Light Exposure
Blue light is any artificial lighting which emits blue wavelengths, which aren’t automatically a bad thing. During daylight hours, they are able to boost alertness as well as mood. However, this isn’t the vibe that you’re going for when you’re heading off to bed.
Energy-efficient lighting – as well as electronic screens – have increased our exposure to blue light, particularly after sundown.
Blue light, more than other kinds of light, suppresses the secretion of melatonin which is a hormone that assists with regulating your body’s circadian rhythm, which is your sleep-wake cycle. This makes it far more challenging for you to get good-quality sleep, which can leave you feeling tired the next morning.
Exercises To Help With Tiredness
Downward Dog
Start your morning with a downward dog in order to get your blood flowing as well as increase alertness.
One of the motivations for you not wanting to drag yourself out of bed is as your body is very stiff from sleeping all night. This yoga asana is a fantastic way to kickstart blood flow and wake up.
- Beginning on your hands and knees, stack your shoulders over your wrists and then spread your palms out quite wide.
- Pressing through the palms of your hands, tuck your toes and then lift your knees, facing your hips up towards the ceiling as you press down through your heels.
In order to make this stretch more active, you are able to pedal out the feet while you press into the floor actively or bend and straighten both legs. Maintain the pose for 15 seconds and then repeat for between three and four rounds.
Hamstring Flossing
This dynamic stretch assists with loosening up your hamstrings and your lower back more efficiently as opposed to doing a static stretch, which could cause muscle spasms if your body isn’t properly warmed up.
To do this move:
- Begin by lying on your back, on the floor, with your knees bent and feet flat.
- Gently grab behind one of your thighs and straighten and bend the knee repeatedly (just make sure not to overextend your knee).
- This back-and-forth flossing motion will give your hamstring a stretch-and-release sensation.
- Perform 10 reps on each of your sides for two to three rounds.
Wake-Up Bounce
Don’t underestimate the cardio and energy power of a little dancing.
This is our go-to morning move which really wakes us up. Choose a song which is roughly three to five minutes and spend the duration of the song bouncing through the balls of your feet. You’ll start to increase blood flow ― not to mention sneak in a quick calf workout ― and may find that after the song ends your mood has improved, too.”
Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy
If you are keen to become a master at exercise then you need to do our Personal Training Diploma. Follow this link for more information
