Why Morning Exercise Sets You Up for Success

I am by nature a night owl. My biological rhythm tends to make me more alert later in the day and into the night. If it aligned with my goals, I would prefer to sleep until 10:00 am each day.

Estimates vary but roughly 20% of the population fits that description, while roughly 10%, termed Larks, are naturally early morning risers(1). Everyone else tends to be at their best if they rise around 8:00 am.

Unfortunately, most people start their workday between 8:00–9:00 am. That means 70% of us have to do something to adjust to a schedule that doesn’t align with our biological rhythm. In most cases, that means caffeine. But sometimes even that isn’t enough. That was the problem I faced when I was the CEO at a software company called Compendium.

One of the great things about a leadership role is that you have some control over your schedule. Whenever possible I would try to schedule important calls for later in the morning or afternoon when I knew I would be at or closer to my best. But I couldn’t always do that. It wasn’t uncommon for me to be on 8:00 or 9:00 am calls with clients, prospects, journalists, or investors. On those days, heavy caffeine intake was the rule for me. That helped a bit, but not a lot.

I needed a way to be closer to my afternoon best at 8:00 am.

Exercise and the Brain

The average person knows that exercise is good for them, but they don’t often know why beyond vague notions related to weight control. Even fewer people understand how exercise can contribute to success at work, home, and in school. For our purposes, that’s the interesting topic.

We’ll start with the simple stuff first. When you elevate your heart rate through exercise, it increases blood flow throughout the body. Your blood among other things carries oxygen and glucose. Oxygen and glucose are fundamental fuel components for most of the chemical reactions in our body. The brain uses glucose for fuel and accounts for about 20% of our daily glucose consumption, which is impressive given that the brain makes up only about 2% of our bodyweight.

Increased blood flow increases oxygen delivery, which is one of the reasons you feel clear headed after exercise(2). The increased blood flow also brings with it an increase in the delivery of glucose. Short story, exercise increases the delivery of key nutrients to the brain. But that isn’t the interesting part, because when you finish exercising the increased blood flow will start to decline as your heart rate returns to its baseline. The fascinating and awesome thing is what happens after you exercise.

Exercise and Executive Function

Executive Function is a term used by psychologists and some neuroscientists to describe our ability to engage in goal-directed behavior(3). It can be thought of as the collection of processes in your brain that act as “CEO” of your brain. Specifically, it covers our ability to manage and control the following things (technical terms in parentheses):

• Sustained attention (Selective Attention)
• Moving from one task to the next (Task Switching)
• Managing our impulses (Inhibitory Control)
• Holding information in our mind that we need to solve problems or complete tasks (Working Memory)
• Planning and execution
• Adaptation to new information or unfamiliar situations

Take a second to reread that list. I’ll wait.

Executive function is a big deal. When it functions well (no pun intended) you’re better able to make choices that align with your goals, focus on what’s important to you, hold your tongue when your significant other says something that upsets you, learn new information, and solve problems. That’s an awesome list.

When you exercise your brain both elevates and balances the levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin(4). All three are highly involved in executive function because of their action as regulators of important signaling processes in the brain. Dopamine is involved in learning, attention, and our reward system, which helps us associate goal-oriented behavior with satisfaction. Norepinephrine influences attention, perception, motivation, and arousal (the technical term for being alert and able to respond). Serotonin influences mood, impulsivity, anger, and aggressiveness with research pointing to it as a regulator of mental activity that gets out of balance. That means serotonin can help prevent something like depression from spiraling out-of-control.

The key is that physical exercise elevates and balances the levels of the neurotransmitters associated with executive function. Many of the drugs psychiatrists prescribe work by addressing neurotransmitter levels that are either high or low. Zoloft, for instance, increases synaptic levels of serotonin, while Adderall increases levels of dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine (adrenaline). The brain is a highly interdependent system and when neurotransmitter levels are out-of-balance cognitive function can be impaired and mood disorders can occur. In fact, many of the side effects from drugs prescribed by psychiatrists occur because in the process of elevating or suppressing a specific neurotransmitter the overall balance in the brain isn’t quite where it needs to be. That last sentence shouldn’t be read as a suggestion not to take psychiatric medications. For most people, the benefits outweigh the side effects.

“I tell people that going for a run is like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin because, like the drugs, exercise elevates the neurotransmitters.” Dr. John J. Ratey

By both elevating and balancing the levels of neurotransmitters associated with executive function, exercise gives you the opportunity to be more productive and successful. Multiple research studies looking at both the young and old show increased cognitive function following exercise(5). Innovative school systems like Naperville, Illinois are now offering physical education before the school day starts to help students perform better in the classroom because students that exercise before school perform better in school.

Exercise also increases the production of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)(6). The human brain has over 85 billion neurons, which along with glia are the cells that compose the brain. Neurons receive information from the environment, communicate changes to other neurons through electrical and chemical signals and control the body’s responses to the environment(7). Neurons are the “thinking” portion of the brain.

BDNF improves the function of neurons, encourages the growth of neurons, and protects existing neurons from cell death. So when you exercise you’re not just taking care of your body, you’re also taking care of your brain. Exercise is particularly good at halting or reversing age-related mental decline in elderly people.

Exercise Guidelines

I’m fortunate in that I learned to enjoy exercise at an early age. For most of my life, I’ve played soccer, run, or lifted weights in the afternoon or evening. I avoided early morning exercise because I had trouble waking up before 8:00 am. Had I known what I know now, I would have had a much easier time in early morning classes and meetings. For the last three years, I’ve tried to start every workday with exercise and on the days that I don’t I’m not as alert and focused in the morning.

The good news is that you don’t have to exercise for very long to improve executive function and brain development. The scientific literature varies, but most studies found improvement after only 20–30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise three-to-five times per week. Moderate intensity is typically defined as 70% of your maximum heart rate. For some people that can be achieved by walking or hiking at a quicker pace and for others that may require running. Before you start an exercise program, you should talk with your doctor to determine what is best for you.

Footnotes:

1. Marash, Claire S. “Is There Really Such A Thing As A ‘Morning Person’?” World Science Festival. 9 Sept. 2014. Web: 6 Dec. 2015.

2. Rhodes, Justin. “Why Do I Think Better After I Exercise?” Scientific American. 6 June 2013. Web. 5 Dec. 2015

3. Banich, Marie T. “Executive Function: The Search for an Integrated Account.” Current Directions in Psychological Science. 18.2 (2009): 89–94. Web. 6 Dec. 2105

4. Ratey, John J. and Eric Hagerman. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise And The Brain. 2008. New York: Little Brown, 2013. Print.

5. Davis, Tomporowski, Boyle, Waller, Miller, Naglieri, and Gregoski. “Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Overweight Children’s Cognitive Functioning: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 78.5 (2007) Web. 7 Dec. 2015

Guiney, Hayley and Liana Machado. “Benefits of Regular Aerobic Exercise for Executive Functioning in Healthy Populations.” Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 20.1 (2013) Web. 7 Dec. 2015

6. Cotman, Carl W. and Nicole C. Berchtold “Exercise: A Behavioral Intervention to Enhance Brain Health and Plasticity.” Trends in Neurosciences 25.6 (2002) 295–301 Web. 7 Dec. 2015

7. Bear, Mark and Barry Connors and Matthew Paradiso Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain 4thed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer, 2015. Print.