Why Work Out in the Morning? There are plenty of benefits to physical activity first thing in the morning.

"Early morning workouts revs up your metabolism, jump start your energy level and accelerate your ability to burn up calories," said an exercise physiologist.

"Early morning workouts give you a chance to put the world on hold for an hour and think about the upcoming events and activities of the day, or think about whatever you want," said Murray. "Exercise also gets the endorphins flowing, so when you finish you are relaxed and in a good form to start the rest of your day."

Other Sports experts also agree the benefits of early morning exercise far outweigh the extra risks you may face.

"In our cardiac rehabilitation programs, experts don't see any increased risk from morning exercise," reported Gordon Blackburn, program director of cardiac rehabilitation. "Just be sure if you have heart disease that you first talk over any early morning exercise plans with your doctor."

There are plenty of practical reasons for choosing early morning workouts.

"If I make myself get up early in the morning and get into the fitness center or hit the road by as early as 4.30 a.m. to get my workout done, I don't have to worry about how I'm going to find the time during the rest of the day to exercise," said Mr Hopkins, a long-time runner and veteran of 65 marathons and accomplished distance runner.

"More and more people are finding the benefit of exercising before starting work and that’s no bad thing - they can’t all be wrong. I’ve been early morning training from nearly 35 years on and off when it is as regular as clock-work im in the best shape in mind and in body and that starts the day off on a positive note before I head into work. I really think the psychological and physiological benefits outweigh minuses," Said Billy Murray a four time four weight world kickboxing champion.

Billy Murray sees to it that the doors of the ProKick Gym open before 5:45 a.m. and supervises the members and wannabe fighters to start at 6 am sharp.

Part II of this article will come later.