Early birds, rejoice: Making morning runs part of your routine could benefit your overall health and race training. There’s a growing body of research that shows the health benefits of running in the morning over logging your miles in the afternoon or evening.
Not only does it affect your mindset for the day, but it can also help your discipline and commitment if you’re training for something like the half marathon distance.
We went through the latest research and talked with Karina Ripps, a certified running coach, personal trainer, nutritionist, and founder of Ripps on the Run, to find out how an early morning run can optimize your training.
The Benefits of Being a Morning Runner
1. You’ll be more likely to stick to your training plan.
Ripps says consistency is the name of the game in running. When she sees clients skipping runs in their training plan, she says it’s often because they’re having a hard time fitting it into their busy schedule.
A 2020 study in Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews found that when people did their prescribed exercise routine in the mornings, they were more likely to adhere to the program compared to in the afternoon. Running at the same time every day — and right away, before the workday — can help establish a regular training schedule, making it easier to stick to your fitness goals.
Ripps says she knows from personal experience that unexpected tasks can derail the best intentions of getting a run in later in the day.
Her fix: Move your training runs to be morning workouts to “lower the barrier of entry.” “You might only really have the morning as a guaranteed time to show up for yourself without any distractions or interruptions,” she adds.
2. It improves heart health for women.
A regular running routine works wonders for your cardiovascular system. A 2023 study in The Journal of Sports, Yoga, and Physical Activity found that running consistently — be it distance running, sprinting, trail running, or track workouts — reduced people’s resting heart rate, enhanced oxygen delivery to muscles, and lowered their blood pressure.
And a 2022 study in Exercise Physiology showed that morning workouts, specifically, reduced blood pressure in women. (Interestingly, the opposite was true for men, so if blood pressure is a concern, men might want to try afternoon or evening workouts.)
3. You’ll have a more productive day.
Completing a run in the morning tends to brighten the rest of your day. “With a lot of our athletes, a lot of commentary that we get in their training logs when they do their workouts first thing in the morning, is like ‘I feel like a badass!’ or ‘I already feel like I accomplished something for the day!’” Ripps shares.
This sense of achievement out the gate can boost your confidence and motivate you to be more productive. Ripps says she, personally, sees a huge contrast to her mood when she trades her morning aerobic exercise for the evening: “I just feel a little bit funkier,” she says.
Shifting back to morning, though, “there’s always that feeling of gratification getting it done early for me,” she adds.
4. You may sleep better.
A 2021 study from French researchers found that when obese adults worked out in the morning, they better adhered to their bedtime and had better quality sleep compared to those that worked out in the afternoon.
Now, research shows that physical activity at any time of day will improve your sleep quality. A 2023 study in Cureus found that physical activity helped people who suffer from insomnia, as well as the fact that people who go after it in the morning gained a few more minutes of sleep per night compared to people who worked out later in the day.
5. You’ll be more focused all day.
Running — and the endorphins it produces — has been shown to boost cognitive functions such as memory, attention, and problem-solving. A 2023 study in Scientific Reports found that just 10 minutes of running gets blood flowing to the brain, which has a significant positive impact on your prefrontal cortex— the part of the brain responsible for memory, concentration, and emotional regulation. What’s more, the researchers believe this mental clarity can last anywhere from a few minutes to the whole day.
Running in the morning gives you a reliable window of productivity. And research shows that jogging in the a.m. can help improve memory and executive function in older adults, and improve focus in school-aged children.
According to Ripps, discipline of morning runs can also improve time management skills and overall productivity. Basically, morning runs make you a mental superhero.
6. It prepares you for race day.
Most races start in the morning. If you’re a runner training for a half marathon, you want your training sessions to mimic the conditions on race day as much as possible.
“If you’ve got an athlete who is running in the afternoon or the nighttime all the time to all of a sudden ask them on race day to wake up at 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. to get to the start line at 7:00 a.m. when they’ve never done that before, is gonna be a shock to the system,” Ripps says.
She adds that understanding the conditions in the morning can reduce race-day anxiety (even if you have your half marathon gear checklist covered) and improve performance by making the experience feel more routine.
This can also help you figure out what to eat before your half marathon and how much. That way, your energy stores are dialed and your digestive system (i.e. pre-race poop) is timed to give you the best chance at avoiding a mid-race porta potty stop.
7. It could help you lose weight
If you’re following a running plan to lose weight, morning runs might be the best way for you to hit your goals.
According to a 2019 study in The International Journal of Obesity, morning walkers and runners lose more body fat compared to those who are left to exercise at a random time. The researchers in this study noted that this might be because the morning cardio group was more consistent than what they called the “sporadic” group.
How to Become a Morning Runner
Waking up is hard. And waking up to run? It might feel impossible. But Ripps says even if you are not a morning person, you can make a few tweaks to start crushing sunrise runs:
- Make the transition slowly: Ripps advises picking your two easiest workouts — maybe even strength training or yoga days — and try to wake up early for those before you shift your whole schedule.
- Adjust your clocks in small increments: Your first thought is probably to wake up tomorrow with enough time for a full run. But you’re better served to adjust your wake-up time by 15 to 30 minutes for a few days until you reach your new desired alarm time, Ripps says. (See tip #1 about starting not on a long run day.) That way the adjustment isn’t as much of a shock to your body.
- Go to bed earlier: Often, runners focus on the waking up early part of the equation – not their bedtime routine. “In order to wake up earlier, what are you going to have to do the night before? Go to bed 15 to 30 minutes earlier to ensure you get enough sleep,” Ripps adds.
- Improve your bedtime routine: To make going to bed earlier, easier, Ripps suggests making sure that your sleep environment is conducive to you falling asleep. Her (and science’s) recommendations: Keep your room cool, use blackout shades or an eye mask, swap TV for a book, and try a nightly meditation.
- Maintain a consistent sleep schedule: Once you get to your ideal bed and wake up, it’s important to stick to it almost every day, Ripps says – including weekends. “Aim for 80% perfection, but try to get in bed at least one night on the weekend at the same time that you would during the week.”
- Fuel up first thing: Some people like to run fasted, but Ripps feels strongly that most people will perform better with some calories in their system to fuel the miles. That can be tough at 4 or 5:00 a.m., so she suggests put graham crackers or a carb-heavy protein drink right on your nightstand. “When you hit your alarm, eat those and then have a glass of water or an electrolyte sports-based drink,” she advises. Then by the time you actually get yourself up, get dressed, do a 10-minute pre-run warmup, it’s at least 20 minutes before you head out the door so that food will be ready to be used.
- Stay flexible: There are, of course, nights where you can’t get to bed on time or you sleep terribly. When that happens, it might be worth moving your workout to later in the day to log extra sleep, Ripps points out. Or, adjust your workout to be easier on your body. There’s a balance between being determined and showing up for yourself and listening to what your body needs. “Be patient and super kind to yourself, because consistency is far more important than perfection,” she says. “Over time, when you start small with your goals when it comes to morning workouts, you’ll be able to build upon it.”
