See Eva Longoria Power through an early morning upper body workout

See Eva Longoria Power through an early morning upper body workout

Eva Longoria's recent Instagram post might convince you to try an early morning workout. The actress shared clips from a sunrise upper body sweat session and they are really motivating. (Related: How to Wake Up Early for a Morning Workout, According to Women Who Do It at 4 a.m.)

“Nothing beats an early workout!!” Longoria wrote in a text displayed above her video. It's 6:01 a.m., according to the timestamp on a clip from a tennis court surrounded by trees as the early morning sun slowly begins to turn the foggy sky orange. “Rise and grind 💪,” the Desperate Housewives alum wrote in the caption of the post.

In a series of videos posted by Bad Bunny and Raux Alejandro for "Party," Longoria does upper-body exercises in a gym wearing an all-black outfit. First, she rows low on the cable, maintaining a crouched position in her lower body as she pulls the cable bar toward her hips, keeping her elbows close to her sides and core braced, explains L.A.-based certified trainer Julia Brown, who has worked with Longoria for three years and was there for the early morning workout. The low cable rows are great for the lower back and lats (also known as latissimus dorsi), she says.

Next, in Longoria's Instagram video, the actress goes into a kneeling lunge position on a mat for half-kneeling face pulls. To perform this move, she pulls the cable rope toward her face while separating it with an overhand grip, Brown explains. It's a good exercise for the shoulders and upper back, and "the half-kneeling position lets you use your core for support and stabilization," says Brown. “[Longoria is] constantly on the move and flying a lot, so we do this to improve posture,” she adds.

Finally, the video ends with more low rows of cables. This time, Longoria is doing an eccentric movement, meaning she's emphasizing the part of the exercise that stretches her muscles rather than contracting them (although the video here is sped up, so you'll have to look closely to see the difference). "For eccentrics, pull the bar toward your hips and slowly release it for about four counts. This is intended to help strengthen the lower back," says Brown.

While there are benefits to working out no matter the time of day, Longoria's recent Instagram post certainly makes a case for early risers (have you seen how idyllic that sunrise looks?!). In fact, according to Brown, the 47-year-old regularly works out first thing in the morning. “Never later than 8 a.m.,” says their trainer, adding that they usually train together five days a week. “We divide the days into specific muscle groups or the whole body, focusing on a specific muscle group,” she says. And no matter what the training focus is, Longoria shows up. “She never misses a day,” Brown says.

If you need more proof that getting your sweat on first thing in the morning is worth the early wake-up call, consider what experts have to say. Exercising in the morning can help you maintain your routine, concentrate more throughout the day, and lose more weight (according to a study published in the International Journal of Obesity and others), Shape previously reported.

Drinking alcohol is also less likely to harm a morning workout than an evening workout, since consuming alcohol immediately after a workout (which you might be tempted to do after a later visit to the gym) makes it harder for your body to recover. Plus, exercising too close to bedtime can make it harder to fall asleep because exercise causes hormones like adrenaline and cortisol to give you energy, experts told Shape. (Related: I Traded Evening Workouts for Early Morning Routines and I'm Never Looking Back)

If you're feeling Longoria inspired and want to reap the benefits of early morning workouts, maybe it's time to set your alarm back a few hours. Not sure how to get started? Check out this 30-day guide to becoming a morning exerciser.