Fort Lauderdale, FL (EZINE) February 23, 2012
How to Gain More ENERGY Without Killing Yourself With an Energy Depleting Workout!
I can't tell you how many times a day I hear from my clients, friends, families, and colleagues, "How do I get more energy?" It seems to be the million dollar question - "I want more energy!" More often than not in our society people rely on artificial means to get the energy they crave but, what they get from these artificial substances such as "5hr energy" drinks, can leave a lasting and detrimental health effect in the long-term.
We have become a society of the "quick fix" by either popping a pill or taking an energy drink which really doesn't address the real problem but instead puts a bandaide on it. If you are lacking energy when you wake up in the morning after sleeping a full 8 hours, you may want to try and figure out what the underlying problem is and not just take another energy drink with you to the office to get you through part of your morning until you crash or take in the next stimulant.
We live in very stressful times with longer commutes, a rocky economy, longer work days, information overload, not to mention our food source is getting worse with all the pesticides and ill treatment of animals so we are also taxing our bodies with ingesting low quality foods which is our fuel source - our energy. If put diesel fuel into your car that only took unleaded what would happen to your car? We all know that our cars would break down yet we continue to put the wrong "fuel" into our bodies and although our bodies are much more resilient, it will eventually breakdown like your car would. If we continue to tax our bodies with all of these daily stresses such as, ingesting the improper "fuel," exercising too much or hard for what is appropriate, like a car with the wrong "fuel" in it, our bodies will become old even at 30!
Exercising can give you energy or it can take it away depending on what you do and what your stress levels are. If you are feeling so stressed out and have no desire to workout at all much less get out of bed in the morning, your level of vitality is most likely pretty low. In this case, it is probably not a good idea to go out and run 5 miles or do a crazy bootcamp class which only leads to adrenal fatigue and thyroid problems. Most people are so stressed out due to day to day events that they are running on high adrenaline or cortisol (stress hormones) and then think they need to go and kill themselves at the gym but, when you workout in that manner what you end up doing is releasing more stress hormones! This in turn wears you out further by aging you (think of the wrinkles!), fatiguing your adrenal, storing midsection fat, mental acuity decreases, and of course causing low energy!
Now, I realize that most people think that exercise is the cure all for gaining more energy and yes, it can be. I know what I said in the above paragraph about exercise depleting energy and that is correct too. There is not a one size fits all and so for some running 3 mile intervals in the morning may be fine because they are getting great "fuel" for their body, sleeping enough so that the body is able to rest and repair at night and have learned how to keep their stress levels relatively low. For others though and, that seems to be most people in our country at the moment, more of a TLC approach is needed. There are energizing exercises such as breathing techniques that can be very helpful. Most people have an inverted breathing pattern which stems from stress. They are breathing upwards rather than expanding the diaphragm. Below is a simple technique for you to practice that will help with your daily stress and energy problem if you keep at it and stop killing yourself with the wrong kind of exercise for YOU. Exercise doesn't have to hurt.
1. Stand with your hands hanging down by your side completely relaxed.
2. Put one of your hands onto your lower abdominal. Where your belly button is.
3. Breath into your hand and be sure that your belly expands as you breath in, allowing your diaphragm room to drop down and pull air into the bottom of your lungs.
4. Breath in through your nose and out through your nose or mouth.
Try to clear your mind while doing this and don't let your mind wander, if it does count your breaths. Being silent and doing nothing for up to half an hour per day is good for the mind, body and spirit. It will improve your mental clarity, athletic ability, make your skin look more youthful, and furthermore it will improve your ENERGY!
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