[Stephen]

Hi Everyone

I would like to to hear your thoughts on the potential dangers of early morning workouts. When I exercise it has always been running, to the exclusion of most other methods of sporting activity.

However I am concerned that there are dangers involved in exercising very early in the morning.

(caveat -- Please dont get me wrong. I am fully aware that exercising in the morning is infinitely superior than not excercising at all and if that is the only option the so be it. However the point of this post is to weigh up the dangers if any, of exercising very early in the morning as opposed to later on.)

Ok. Here is my thinking. When we sleep (and most of us do at night) our motorways and byways of blood vessels behave differently from when we are awake. They go into 'slow down' mode. When we wake up things start to get sloshed about in there and sped around by a faster pumping heart which seems all well and good. However by forcing ourselves to pump our hearts at a very fast rate when our bodies are still in 'slow mode' internally, begs me to ask a few questions. I do so because of the huge amount of early morning heart attacks: yes, admittedly the unfit and unhealthy make up the stats for the most part in this case, but I am sure a few scalps have been taken from those who perceived themselves to be sensible when it comes to looking after our bodies.

The questions which I ask myself are:

#If exercising is more dangerous to the cardiovascular system very early in the morning then shouldnt we postpone it (if we can) till later in the day?

#When I awaken, my body doesnt 'feel' like being put through the mill: so why dont I just listen to it and exercise later on when I have lossened up a bit?

#Have we been socially programmed to think that those exercising at 5am (like Rocky) in the dark is somehow tougher and better for us?

#Are we more prone to injury of muscle at such early hours due to tight and contracted muscles which have not had a few hours to loosen off?

I have very low cholesterol being a vegan and I am normal weight. I am knocking on the door of my 40th birthday. I dont consider myself in any 'at risk' group, but shouldnt I be at the very least cautious in my exercising methodology?