The weather is getting crisper, and the leaves are starting to fall. And you probably want to get outside and have fun with your children and grandchildren. Whether it’s raking leaves, going apple picking, or playing a game of touch football, you’ll need all the energy you can muster. Here are five fixes when fatigue strikes.
1. Take a walk
Walking can do much more than just prevent heart disease. Research at California State University found the more people walked every day, the more energetic they felt. And the better their overall mood, happiness, and self-esteem.1 Not too shabby! Start with a 10-minute walk before breakfast, then add five minutes or so every week.
If you’re feeling rundown during the day, five minutes of any aerobic activity should help. It forces you to take deep breaths, getting more oxygen to the brain, and helps to push the blood through your body. Try a few jumping jacks or knee lifts.
2. Snag a better snack
Your first instinct may be to reach for some high-sugar, high-carb food like chips or a candy bar. And while they will give you a quick energy boost, in the long-run they’ll do exactly the opposite of what you want them to. Foods with refined sugars will make your blood glucose spike quickly, then crash quickly, making you feel like you need a nap.
A better choice is a healthy mix of carbs, protein and fat to give you sustained energy. Try an apple with a smear of almond butter, some carrots with hummus, or trail mix made with nuts and berries. Make sure you have something in your system every three to four hours to keep blood sugar from dropping.
3. Put on some weights
That’s not a typo — as you get older, you lose muscle mass every year. After age 30, you begin to lose as much as three percent to five percent per decade. This means you’re not as strong, so doing everything takes more out of you than it used to. And you’re more at risk for injury. A university study in Switzerland involving over 900 participants found that people with lower muscle mass have a greater likelihood of having a fracture from a fall, regardless of their bone density.2
However, the loss of muscle mass isn’t completely inevitable. You can help reverse the decline by doing resistance training. Map out a training program with 8 to 10 exercises that target all the major muscle groups. Do two sets of 10 to 12 reps, slowly and with proper form. If you’ve never worked out with weights before, get the thumbs up from your doctor and set up a personal training session or two with a professional trainer to make sure you’re doing things safely and properly. See how quickly you wake up!
4. Laugh a little
Laughter increases your heart rate, which moves more oxygenated blood throughout your body. The more oxygen you have, the more energy you have. Laughter also feels good physically and can counteract the negative thinking that might be killing your energy. Listen to some Abbott and Costello any time you’re feeling sluggish.
5. Make sure you’re getting enough B
B vitamins are the biochemical sparkplugs that keep all cells in your body — from head to toe — working at peak performance. So make sure you’re energized every day with ENDUR-B® Complex SR. This balanced, high-potency formula provides all 8 essential B vitamins with a serious advantage: sustained release delivery. Thanks to our proprietary vegetable-based wax matrix, each tablet delivers a slow and steady release of these energizing vitamins over a five- to seven- hour period for optimal absorption and tissue retention.*
About Endurance Products Company
Endurance Products Company has been a trusted source of quality dietary supplements since 1978. Our sustained-release and extended-release tablets feature a unique vegetable wax matrix that releases nutrients in a slow, steady manner over a period of hours for optimal nutrient absorption and retention.
References
1. Thayer RE, Biakanja B, O’Hanian P, et al. Amount of daily walking predicts energy, mood, personality, and health. Paper presented at: Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association; 2005; Washington DC.
2. Hars M, Biver E, Chevalley T, et al. Low lean mass predicts incident fractures independently from FRAX: a prospective cohort study of recent retirees. J Bone Miner Res. 2016;31(11):2048-2056. PMID: 27253633.
* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
