How to Create the Perfect Exercise Set for Exercise

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Exercising should include more than just stretching and a few simple exercises. A life hacker will tell you how to do exercises correctly and what benefits you can get from morning workouts.

There is an opinion that the morning warm-up must necessarily be light, without strength and explosive exercises and cardio loads. It is believed that strenuous exercise right after waking up puts stress on the heart, increases blood pressure, and can cause a heart attack or stroke. In fact, this is quite controversial.

Let's try to figure out if it is possible to include something more serious than push-ups and kicks in the morning exercises.

Choosing the intensity of your morning workout

Blood pressure naturally rises within two hours of waking up. During exercise, especially with serious exertion, the pressure rises even more, which negatively affects the heart - the risk of myocardial infarction increases, especially in people suffering from hypertension.

In addition, cortisol and adrenaline, the stress hormones the body needs to wake up, are elevated in the morning. Exercise increases their number even more, forcing the heart to work faster.

All this is true, but should you be afraid of morning workouts? If you have hypertension or heart problems, are overweight, or have a long history of smoking, it may be worth cutting back on exercises to a joint warm-up and gentle stretching, and reschedule your workout to a later date.

If you are a healthy person without excess weight, you should not be afraid of more intense exercise. Morning exercise will only benefit you.

Benefits of a morning workout

Normalizes blood pressure and sleep

Morning exercise has a positive effect on blood pressure throughout the day and improves sleep quality. This was confirmed by the study. Dr. Scott Collier of Appalachian State University.

Together with assistants, Dr. Collier monitored the blood pressure and sleep quality of study participants - people between 40 and 60 years old, exercising three times a week. One group walked on the treadmill at seven in the morning, the second at one in the afternoon, and the third at seven in the evening.

Participants exercising at 7 a.m. experienced a 10% decrease in blood pressure during the day and a 25% decrease during sleep. They slept better and had more beneficial sleep cycles than those who exercised during the day or evening.

Makes you wake up faster

A short morning workout increases circulation, wakes up the nervous system and provides a powerful flow of oxygen, including to the brain. So no burnt eggs, forgotten things and liters of coffee - after charging, the brain will fully wake up and be ready to go.

Good for the figure

Early exercise is good for your figure as well. If you start exercising right after getting out of bed, you are exercising on an empty stomach. This triggers the release of growth hormone and increases your insulin sensitivity, which allows for better blood sugar regulation and allows the body to store glucose in muscles rather than subcutaneous fat.

By including strength exercises in your exercise, you normalize your metabolism and ensure the normal absorption of substances from food, which is also good for your figure.

Helps Think Better and Feel Happy

A study by the University of Pennsylvania found that exercising positively affects brain function and well-being throughout the day.

During the study, scientists found that people who played sports for a month performed better on memory tests and felt happier and more prosperous than those who had a sedentary lifestyle.

In addition, the mobile participants were also divided into two groups: one was engaged in the morning before testing, and the second was not. As a result, the best results were shown by the participants exercising on the morning of the test day.

It turns out that in order to make the brain work better and stay in high spirits during the day, you need to exercise in the morning.

Charging is definitely useful. But what about the exercises to include? Here are five rules to help you create a good complex.

Good charging rules

Exercise right after waking up

Morning exercises are most effective when done immediately after waking up. Yes, you can go to the bathroom and have a glass of water, but then start exercising.

The first minutes after waking up is the best time to form a new habit. At first, you may have to force yourself, but after a while, exercise will become an invariable part of your morning.

Do joint warm-up

A regular joint warm-up will help warm up your muscles and joints and get them ready for work. Here is a video with a great warm-up option.

In order not to be confused with the number of repetitions, perform 10 times in each direction, for example, 10 head turns, 10 knee rotations. Hold static stretches for 10 seconds.

Add explosive exercises

To speed up your blood and increase your metabolism, include an explosive exercise in your complex.

These can be jump squats, lunges with jumping out and changing legs, explosive push-ups, jumping out with a clap, in which you rotate 90-180 degrees during the jump.

Choose stretching exercises

The National Academy of Sports Medicine recommends starting your morning with dynamic stretching. This will lengthen the muscles and relieve restrictions or pain. Dynamic stretching includes bodyweight exercises: squats with arms behind the head, lunges, push-ups with a twist, and others.

You can perform dynamic exercises with freezing at the extreme point: Spiderman lunges, Bulgarian split squat with a delay at the bottom point, Hindu push-ups with a three-second delay at the top point, side lunges with a delay at the bottom point.

Charging should be short and pleasant

Exercising is what you will do every day, including training days. If you do a full, hard workout in the morning, you simply won't have time to recover until the evening. Therefore, morning exercises should be no longer than 15 minutes, and the exercises should not be too heavy and difficult.

So, we discussed the general rules, and now we will give two complexes for charging: for beginners and people more advanced in fitness.

Two charging examples

A set of exercises for beginners (15 minutes)

1. Joint warm-up (5 minutes).

2. Power section (5 minutes):

• 2 sets of 20 squats with arms behind the head.
• 2 sets of 10 push-ups. If you cannot do push-ups using the classic technique, do the lighter version - push-ups from your knees or with your hands on a hill.
• 2 sets of 20 jumps with feet together / apart with an overhead clap (Jumping Jack).

3. Explosive exercise (1 minute: 30 seconds - exercise, 30 - rest). Try overhead clap jumps with a 90-180 degree twist. Can be replaced by jumping from side to side.

4. Dynamic stretch (4 minutes):

Deep lunges forward with a delay of 5 seconds at the extreme point. In total, you need to make 10 lunges with movement around the room. This exercise simultaneously pumps the quadriceps and glutes and stretches the hamstrings and adductors

Exercise "Cat and Camel" - 10 times (two deflections are counted at one time). This exercise engages the back and abdominal muscles and stretches them one at a time

Side lunges with a delay of 5 seconds at the extreme point. This exercise is also done 10 times

Exits to the bar. Stand upright, put your feet on your knees. From this position, get into the classic plank and hold it for 5 seconds, then return to the starting position and rest for 5 seconds - this is one circle. In total, you need to do 5 laps per minute

A set of exercises for advanced (15 minutes)

1. Joint warm-up (5 minutes).

2. Power section (5 minutes). 10 jumps with your feet together / apart with an overhead clap, 10 squats and 10 push-ups is one circle. It takes about 45-50 seconds, the rest of the minute is rest. Complete 5 laps.

3. Explosive exercises (1 minute: 30 seconds - exercise, 30 - rest). Perform 20 jump squats. Can be replaced with jumping on a hill, explosive push-ups.

4. Dynamic stretch (4 minutes):

10 attacks of Spiderman with a delay at the extreme point for 3-5 seconds. The exercise stretches well the back of the thigh, buttocks and adductors

10 Hindu push-ups with a hold in the extreme position. This exercise works the muscles of the press, back and arms, stretches the muscles of the back, shoulders, chest, abdomen, and back of the thigh

• 10 side lunges with hold in end position.
• Classic plank in one minute. If you want to complicate the exercise, lift one leg for 30 seconds, then switch legs and stand for another 30 seconds.

These are fairly simple sets of exercises that do not require simulators or additional equipment, while allowing you to work out and stretch all muscle groups.

Give it a try and make sure that the morning becomes much more vigorous with exercise.