What do you folks do for low energy/fatigue? I exercise moderately about three times a week, but perhaps it is not enough. Quite often I will wake up tired, (even though I have not gone to bed later). My blood work is OK, and my health in general is good, so there is no physical problem. I am considering a more intensive exercise routine, gradually working up to exercising several hours a day. May I ask you folks how much you are exercising per day and has it increased your energy levels? Do you have any tips to increase energy, in other words, reducing fatigue? Do any of you folks ever wake up tired? I don’t drink alcohol and I don’t smoke cigarettes now. I did smoke cigarettes regularly at one point when I was younger. In addition, I am not overweight. I do take vitamins, but I haven’t noticed any difference in energy from them. I am not elderly, but am under a lot of the normal stresses of everyday living, including relationship problems. Would like to hear your comments.
When I was in grad school in my 20’s, I lived close to campus; I typically had to ride my bike less than a mile to arrive at the lab. I started each morning at the lab with a huge mug of coffee (huge = 32 ounces).
At one point I moved to a new apartment that resulted in a seven-mile bicycle commute. Paradoxically, this much longer commute resulted in zero need for coffee once I arrived at the lab. I rode pretty fast, maybe 20 MPH, so my trip time (and workout time) was on the order of twenty minutes, but this was happening five days a week, and it was somewhere close to my aerobic threshold.
You might consider working out more often or more strenuously. It may or may not work for you, but it worked well for me.
The more I do, the more I feel like doing. This has always been true for me.
What I’ve found is that if I’m already in shape and I’m exercising just to maintain, it gives me a bit of extra pep especially if you work out in the morning.
However, if I’m either getting back into shape after letting myself go for a few months, or if I’m pushing myself really hard to the point of ending workouts in exhaustion and am sore the morning after, it totally neutralizes that energy boost.
In my experience, intensive exercise to the tune of several hours a day substantially DECREASES energy levels.
Edit: What do you mean by moderate exercise? Because depending on how moderate we’re talking, increasing the exercise may be beneficial. For example, if you’re talking about a ten minute walk over your lunch hour, then increasing the amount of time you walk, or increasing the pace so that you’re jogging, may be beneficial.
Second edit: Oh and increasing the frequency to more than three times a week will almost definitely be beneficial.
I’ve lost about 26 pounds this year through diet and running. While this improved my thought clarity, my energy didn’t really boost until I in turn began really pushing myself in my workouts. No lie…I feel like I’m 23 again (and I’m 30 right now). Bouncing up the stairs, staying out late at a party last night and up early in the moring, and a general constant desire to MOVE are all signs for me.
For me the answer is no. I am a competitive tennis player and the more I play/work out, the more tired I am. I am basically always tired and could sleep at any time.
I think the problem might be these stresses. What are they and how are you working to resolve them? Maybe you should be thinking about changing jobs, ending relationship…
I’ve lost a fair amount of weight and gotten stronger in the past year via regular workouts and diet. Free floating beginning “energy” has not increased so much as endurance and strength increases. In practical terms this means you can do stuff longer and easier than when you were fatter and out of shape. It also improves your attitude toward doing stuff.
So no, it’s not like a big “surge of energy”, but you don’t crap out nearly as quick when doing things you may enjoy.
If you’re waking up tired, you’re probably not getting enough rest. That could either mean not enough hours of sleep, or not enough uninterrupted sleep. I’d rule out sleep apnea before upping your exercise.
In my case energy seems to come more from a mental state. I am 65 yrs old, sleep at most 4 hours a day and seem to go from morning till night on some kind of nervous energy. I take alot of computer breaks but inbetween I am outside working on one thing or another. I smoke cigerettes, never work out, am slightly overweight but I still have plenty of energy. Sex drive has barely slowed down even though I can see a difference in frequency. I feel passionate about most everything I do and seem to feed off of that.