No Energy to Exercise? | Personal Trainer Applecross

I often get asked the following question:

I don’t have the energy to exercise… Surely starting an exercise program will make me feel even more tired?

That’s partially true because you’re finding that if you have very little energy, the hardest part is to start something that actually demands more energy.

The way around that is to introduce exercise in such a way that it doesn’t deplete the body’s energy reserves too drastically all at one time.

So for example, if you were feeling very tired all the time, the last thing you want to do is go for a five-mile run which will make things a lot worse. You may not feel it at the time but at the end of that five-mile run, you will feel worse for wear and even more tired than when you started.

You may not have the energy to even think about starting an exercise program but the way around it is to introduce yourself to the exercise very, very gradually.

Firstly

I would advise you very strongly to start on a walking program for a week, two weeks, three weeks until you start feeling a little bit more energetic to do something a little bit more demanding.

And even with the walking, I would suggest nothing longer than a 15-minute walk around your block or wherever you walk; more of a stroll really if you haven’t done anything active for a long time.

Just go out for a very gentle stroll and take in the fresh air and that should get the ball rolling towards the exercise program.

This is a very low impact and enjoyable way for people who don’t exercise to get into it again.

The Next Step

If you were to start up with the exercise program just two or three times a week and just gradually increase the number of minutes that you would go out by increments of five minutes.

For example, you start up with a 15-minute walk and then a couple of days later you do 20 minutes and then you do 25 minutes etc until you get up to about 45 minutes.

And then if you’re able to go out and enjoy a medium-paced walk for 45 minutes, I feel that it would be an indication you are ready to start doing something a little bit more taxing, a little bit strenuous and you’re probably ready to be introduced into a sort of gym-like atmosphere where I as an experienced professional trainer would probably get you started on a cardiovascular program to get your heart and lungs functioning properly.

So I would introduce you to more walking but this time on a treadmill and it would be monitored. So rather than going out for a walk around the block which has got no set pace and no set time, the treadmill offers you to walk at a particular pace. So it would give you a place to get started on and then we do some cycling and some rowing and some uphill walking again back on the treadmill.

So that kind of workout now will have a little bit more substance behind getting you fitter and well on your way to feeling less tired. The key to not getting tired from an exercise program is by not overdoing it.

Once you go into that gym type training scenario, do you tailor it for each individual?

Yes. I treat every person individually. There is no blanket program or blanket routine or for want of a better expression, one size does not fit all.

So after a thorough consultation on your lifestyle covering factors such as:

your age
how much you drink
how much you smoke
how much weight you need to lose
the last time you did some exercise or anything active
medical conditions you may have
history of injuries

So I will take all this into account and do like a profile check on you before I give you a tailored program that will suit your needs and also to help you achieve what you haven’t been able to.

Be healthy, fit and happy for the long term…