Exercise in the morning may well be a good thing, but only if it is done right.
You want to start your day with a dopamine warmup and end it with a dopamine cooldown.
You want to start with regulation and end with regulation, and ideally you want to regulate over the course of the day with short walks and other calming activities.
If you start your day with HIIT then you will be cranking that dvar way up and will have a commensurate crash. You might feel great in the moment but it will make you tired and cranky and irritable as the day goes on. Over time the effects will stack; your mind inclines toward what you feed it.
If you start with zone 2 exercise or a walk you will not have this issue. You will begin with stable dvar and hold higher tonic dopamine levels as the day progresses.
When you encounter a stressful situation you are less like to explode if you began your day with meditation instead of computer games, and you will recover faster.
You can still play those games or do the HIIT; it’s all about timing. You do them later in the day once you’ve warmed up.
But not too late: these activities will also spike your dvar and you will want to regulate after them and before bed. A simple bath and walk will do. Or some knitting or meditation.
It really doesn’t matter what activity you choose but it is essential to start your day slowly and end with a cooldown.
The alternative is insomnia and night sweats, and a raising of the chronic dvar which will eventually take your life in one way or another.
No machine is made to run at full capacity all the time.
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