How can I stay fit when I have very little energy?
If you love being active and your goal is to get healthy and fit, but you find that you just have too little energy to workout due to a chronic illness like Chronic Fatigue, Adrenal Fatigue or you are just overly exhausted from a crazy schedule and stressful lifestyle, I am sure you have wondered this question at some point in your life. Just like you I have asked this question as well, and like you I have tried everything to find a way to stay fit and healthy while battling fatigue. It can really be a challenge because if you overdo exercise or activity in any way, you crash, if you don’t do the right exercises in the right way, you crash, and if you do too little exercise, you just can’t reach your fitness goals.
Well today I want to share with you a few of my tried and tested tips that have actually been working for me long term, even during crashes. So I hope you find these helpful and that you enjoy what you read. 😀
1. Avoid thinking that your exercise for the day has to be done all at one time or in one lump. Exercise is cumulative, and moving for shorter amounts of time throughout your day has been proven to be better for health than doing it all at one time. Here is an example of how to do this when your energy is low:
Start with just 2 minutes of movement, like walking in place or doing a few bodyweight toning exercises. Rest for the next hour or so until you get a little more energy and then repeat this again, except this time try to do 3-4 minutes if you are feeling ok, and then rest. Continue with this cycle throughout your day as long as your not feeling more tired after each short set of exercises. At the end of the day tally up how many minutes you moved and you might be very surprised and happy with the results 👍🏻. You will avoid crashing, while at the same time stay on your fitness plan… I just love this one!
2. Change your mindset about exercising. Try to focus on just trying to move your body more often and avoid worrying about the amount of time your are doing it, or the amount of calories you’re burning, or even about getting more fit. The most important factor is to change our mindset about why we exercise because this helps us change our habits, and our habits are what ultimately will make the biggest changes in our health and fitness level for the long term. Before you know it your body will be more healthy and fit without you even noticing that it’s happening. It’s that easy!
3. Try not to compare what you can do now with what you used to do, or with what others with more energy can do. It definitely can be very humbling to recognize your new limitations with energy when you think about what you used to do physically or when you see what others like yourself can still do without having any repercussions afterwards. It can make you want to push through the exhaustion just so you can feel like a small resemblance of your old self, or so that you can finally attain the toned fit body you have always dreamed of having. This is totally normal because we should be full of life and energy, not dragging through the day like a sloth 🦥. But when we constantly do this, we are only setting ourselves up for constant frustration and failure. Accepting that your new normal for now is, “tired with limited energy,” helps you overcome this frustration and helps you set more attainable goals for your body that you can actually reach. Try to remind yourself that your body can still do amazing things, but that you just need to do them at a different pace than other people. This is the key to reaching your fitness goals without crashing over and over again because of always trying to force your body to do exercise that it's just not prepared to do right now.
4. Remember that exercise is medicine but only if it is used in the right way. Many are told that they just have to power through exercise even when they are extremely exhausted because it will help them get better, but I feel this statement is completely misunderstood. While it is true that we all need to exercise to feel better, if we practice exercise in the wrong way for our particular body needs then we won’t get better and we will continue to be sick and tired. To illustrate, if you went to the doctor for treatment for depression, but he prescribes a treatment for cancer, would you expect to get better? NO! That would be completely ridiculous because the treatment is not for our particular condition. Well, the same is true for exercise. We all need exercise to feel and look better but only the correct type and amount for our particular condition can help. If we do the wrong amount or the wrong type we will only continue to be fatigued, or even get worse. So how should you exercise with chronic fatigue or other energy issues? Here is what I am currently trying to do:
Start by going very slow when you exercise and never push too hard, especially on good days when you find you have more energy because this will make you crash later.
Be consistent even if you can only exercise 2 minutes a day and be consistent. (Unless you have a day you just can’t get out of bed at all, then don’t exercise)
Include little toning exercises or marches in place when doing your normal everyday tasks. You’re already up and moving so why not include some other movements as well?
Stop moving whenever your body is telling you that it’s getting tired. You need to listen to your body more than ever in order to eventually recover, so honor what it is telling you.
On better days try to challenge yourself with a little bit harder exercises but don't push it. If you start to feel that it’s too much, stop and go back to what you normally do. But by adding in more difficult moves from time to time you will eventually increase your strength and your body composition.
Find a time of day to exercise when you have the most energy. In my particular case, I used to always try to exercise in the morning so that I could "get my day started right” and so that I didn’t have to worry about it later on in the day, but eventually, after many crashes, I realized that it was only doing my body more harm than good because generally the mornings are when I feel the absolute worst. Anyone else? I even tried exercising for only 5 minutes in the mornings, but it would leave me feeling so exhausted for the rest of the day. So now I go slow most of the day, rest, and near the end of the day, when I start to feel better, I get my exercise in. Sometimes it’s still only 5 minutes, but most of the time I can do longer sessions.
These tips have really been helping me with my Chronic Fatigue issues caused from Adrenal Fatigue. I am not going to lie, it is still one of my biggest challenges to fit in exercising on difficult days, and to not overdo it on the good days, but over time it has gotten much easier because now I no longer view exercise as such an overwhelming task. It is true, I used to push myself on good days too much, and try to do harder, more intense workouts because I thought I needed it, but that always just left me crashing and then I couldn’t exercise for quite a while, which just slowed down my progress. It was a vicious cycle. 😫 It sounds crazy but now I only exercise to my own workout routines because they honestly make me feel better and I love doing them and I can stick with them. I am finally at a place where I know what works for my body, and even though I will probably never have 6 pack abs while dealing with this condition, haha, I do feel more fit and strong than I ever have because I am actually honoring what my body really needs. I am consistently moving more throughout my days and resting when my body needs it. You too can feel stronger and healthier but it takes time and patience. So hang in there! You’re amazing and even though you’re sick or have very limited energy, your body is amazing and it can still do amazing things. One day at a time… I’m so happy you’re reading this and I hope you have a wonderful pain free, energetic day.
-Suzanne
Owner and Creator of Cocolime Fitness