5 Immediate Steps to Boost Energy
There are many people who suffer from drained energy. Some people have chronic fatigue or other problems that seem to drain any energy you have with ease. Lots of energy building techniques are a timely process – you may have weeks or months go by without seeing a difference.
Thankfully, there are a few ways that you can gain back your energy quickly, for those who just can’t wait to see a change. Everyone’s body is different, so you may have to try multiple things to see what works best for you.
Start or Optimize an Existing Exercise Routine
Having a consistent workout routine is one of the best ways to not only give yourself energy but to make yourself healthier. Exercising may sound tiring and like it would only further drain your energy, but that’s not the case.
Exercising releases endorphins and heightens your heart rate, which are both things that give you more energy. Of course, you may feel tired while you’re in the process of working out, but you will surely feel much better and much more energized afterward.
Just about any exercise, you do will increase your energy by at least a little bit. Any exercise that gets your blood pumping and your heart rate higher will release endorphins and give you energy.
However, some exercises are better than others and will give you higher energy levels, faster. The best types of exercises to do to gain energy include running, walking, going upstairs, jumping rope, HIIT, boxing, Pilates, strength training, rowing, Tai Chi, cycling, and swimming.
Most of these are exercises that spike your heart rate. Cardiovascular exercises are especially good for increasing energy because they’ll make your muscles stronger, giving you more stamina.
They also help you sleep better at night, which is another way to give your body energy. The good thing about most of these exercises is that you don’t only have to do them at the gym.
If you don’t have the money for a membership, or you just prefer working out at home because you don’t like going to the gym every day, you can purchase equipment to do these exercises at home.
You can purchase a yoga mat, dumbbells, a treadmill, a bicycle, and boxing supplies like a punching bag and gloves. If you have some sort of at-home gym or a big space like an empty garage, you could even buy bigger equipment like a rowing machine or a weightlifting bench.
If you decide that working out at home would be the best option for you, but you feel lost and don’t know where to start, you can always go online to find an exercise routine that would benefit you and your needs.
There are apps you can download that give you a personalized workout routine, as well as YouTube videos that show you which exercises you need to do and how to complete them.
Keeping up with a workout routine is one of the healthiest, fastest ways to give yourself energy. You can exercise at home or in the gym, but regardless of where you choose to work out, there are always options to choose from of exercises that will work for you.
Cut Out Bad Habits
Sometimes, it’s hard to identify habits you may have that are draining your energy. You may even keep up with habits that you didn’t even know were draining your energy. Cutting out these bad habits will give you a more energized life.
Let go of products you’re consuming that drain your energy. Caffeine and sugar are the most common ones. Energy drinks and coffee consumption are some of the bad habits you may have.
They both claim the same thing – they’ll give you tons of energy because they’re packed with caffeine. This is temporary and not the best option for long-term energy. While you may feel energized at first, high amounts of caffeine will cause you to crash.
This usually happens 3-4 hours after you drink it. Depending on when you drink it, this could cause you to crash in the middle of your workday. Sugar is the same. It causes you to crash just like caffeine.
Sugar also causes you to become less alert after you consume it. Instead of consuming caffeine and sugar for energy boosts, try healthier alternatives such as water, matcha, and coconut water.
You can also start a healthy eating plan. Eating less sugary foods and more healthy, nutritious foods will give you more energy than sugar or caffeine ever will. Another bad habit you may have is saying yes to everyone and everything.
This habit is a hard one to catch – it’s not as easy to change as something like eating healthier or implementing a workout routine. It takes practice, especially when it’s something you’re so used to doing.
Sometimes you need to focus on yourself before others, especially when you’re struggling with energy loss. If you focus all of your attention on others, you won’t have time to find what you need and what you want.
If you always say yes to what people want from you, then you’re always going to have some sort of task to complete for someone else, whether that be with your coworkers, friends, or family.
On top of that, you’re going to have to try to find time to focus on yourself. However, trying to balance all of those things at once is stressful. Stress drains your energy. Focusing on other peoples’ problems isn’t your job.
You don’t need to please everyone. Let go of the feeling that you always have to be helping someone out, because you don’t. There are 7 billion people in the world – there will be someone else out there who can help whoever needs it.
Clear Internal and External Clutter
Sometimes cutting things out of your life can seem hard to do. These things could be toxic people, a stressful job, or things around your home or in your workspace. You may feel like you don’t have time to clean up your life or you may feel too drained to do so.
However, you may not realize that the clutter could be the thing that’s draining your energy. Constantly letting yourself be in a cluttered state, whether it be physically or mentally, is stressful.
Stress is detrimental to your health and to your energy levels. You need to organize your mind and your space, and let go of things you don’t need anymore. Start by trying to recognize toxic things in your life that you want to let go of.
You may have a toxic relationship with someone, or you might think your job is the problem. Whatever this is, don’t be afraid to cut it out of your life. Sometimes you need to focus on what’s in your best interest, even if it comes at the expense of your job or relationship with someone else.
Let yourself become okay with cutting toxic things out because keeping them will only stress you out and drain your energy. Your life also may be physically cluttered. This one isn’t hard to recognize.
You know if your home or workspace is cluttered, but you may not realize it’s draining your energy. You can combat this by committing to organizing your space. Becoming organized will make you happier and will lessen your stress, giving you more mental, emotional, and physical energy.
Look around your home and your workspace and recognize which rooms or areas are messiest. This will help you when you’re deciding how you’re going to organize the mess.
Throw away unnecessary things, and check yourself to make sure you aren’t just hoarding random stuff and excusing it by saying you “might need it in the future.” You should purchase organization tools to help you.
Get things like shelves and drawers to store your clutter in. These things can be put all-around your house, and there are many options on the market so you can choose whichever sizes and colors work for you.
You can store things in your closet, basement, or attic, but just make sure you keep it organized. Getting rid of “life clutter” is a great way to destress and gain your energy back.
Don’t stop yourself from letting go of things that are stifling you, because you won’t benefit from keeping toxic things or people in your life. Don’t feel shame or guilt for being protective of yourself.
Get a Health Check-Up
Sometimes you may need professional help to gain your energy back. At this point, you may have tried everything and seen no results. If this is the case, you may have an underlying health problem that’s the cause of your energy drain.
Make an appointment with your doctor. Tell him or her about the symptoms you’re experiencing. You may have additional issues other than drained energy which could help them figure out what’s going on.
Talk to them about every solution you’ve tried, and ask them what you should do. You should let them know if you’re on a diet because sometimes being on a super strict diet can hold you back from getting the proper amount of nutrients.
This includes being vegetarian, vegan, or even pescatarian. You may be told that you have a thyroid or adrenal problem as well. Hypothyroidism causes energy loss due to the fact that your body produces fewer thyroid hormones, which your body needs to use in order to produce energy.
Adrenal problems, such as hypoadrenalism, more commonly called Addison’s disease, can also cause low energy because it damages the adrenal glands. Your adrenal glands are important because they produce cortisol and aldosterone, which are both hormones that are crucial to your body producing a sufficient amount of energy.
Cortisol gives your body glucose when you’re in a situation where you have to use fight or flight to respond to a stressful circumstance. Aldosterone is a steroid hormone, and its job is to control the balance of salt and water in your body.
This is important to saving your energy because if you have a high salt diet, your body will need to use up more energy in order to generate urea. You can also ask for a blood test, too.
A blood test will tell you if you’re low on any nutrients your body needs, like iron. Low iron is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies and is often the reason many adults suffer from energy drain.
After you know whether or not you have any nutrient deficiencies, your doctor may urge you to get some vitamin supplements. Going to the doctor and getting an opinion on the reason you’re suffering from low energy will benefit you because you’ll be able to have a professional help you figure out a solution to your problem.
This will also help diagnose you if you have some sort of disease that you were unaware of that’s causing the energy loss so that you can begin treatment right away and find a solution to the issue.
Find an Energy Boosting Outlet
Finding a hobby is a great way to boost your energy. Doing something you find fun will improve your mood and decrease your stress immediately. There are many options to choose from when it comes to different hobbies, and there’s definitely one for you.
First, you have to carve out some free time to try to discover something you love. You can’t really commit to trying new things if you’re constantly swarmed with work and personal commitments.
Use the weekend to try out different things, and if you’d like, you can also use some of your vacation days to get some more time to figure things out. You may already have a hobby that you love, but never get to participate in because you’re always busy with work or other things.
In this case, try narrowing your schedule down a bit. Don’t say yes to every single outing with friends or family. Use the weekend, or some vacation time, to immerse yourself in your hobby to relieve stress.
Sometimes, finding a hobby is difficult and it can be hard to think of them. Think of things you used to love doing – maybe you were in a club for high school or you used to have a hobby that you’ve forgotten about.
Some common hobbies you may like can include gardening, painting, photography, knitting, playing a musical instrument, sports, reading, sewing, cooking, building, coloring, pottery, makeup, shopping, writing, and many more.
There are tons of lists online to give you ideas. You can buy supplies to try things out, or you can join clubs and classes to try different hobbies. There are many clubs that focus on one specific hobby, so you can join one to try it out if you’d rather not purchase multiple different materials and waste money on things you weren’t too fond of.
You might also be interested in a hobby that you’ve never tried before – one that you’d need lessons or practice in so that you can become good enough to spend your time doing it.
It could be painting, pottery, sports, etc. Join classes that target your specific needs in order to improve your skills. Being at least decent at the hobby you’d like to do will save you from any frustration that would come if you jumped into it without knowing what you were doing.
Doing something fun that you like will reduce stress. When your stress levels are reduced, your energy levels will increase. Stress can prevent you from sleeping by causing insomnia, and sleeping enough is a huge part of feeling energized.
When you’re highly stressed, your muscles often become tense. This causes your body to use up more energy because you’re using your muscles, draining your energy quickly.
Partaking in your favorite hobby will benefit you because it will improve your happiness, decrease your stress levels, and overall help you live a better, more fulfilling life. Try many different hobbies to see what you truly have an interest in.
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