If you’re a student, work part or full-time and have relationships outside of classmates and colleagues (which you do), your energy level is probably consistently low. Coffee/energy drinks and power naps may help but if you’re yawning too many times throughout the day or—God forbid—falling asleep in embarrassing settings, your body is telling you it needs more activity.
That’s right, more activity.
Being a student means sticking to a strict schedule and if you’re working, there’s a schedule for that too. It’s very easy to underestimate how much energy your body needs to keep up with the demands, so you may feel fatigued throughout the day. That’s where a good fitness plan comes in.
In 2008, the University of Georgia researched how exercise can affect fatigue with 36 participants. Part of the experiment was to prescribe 20 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise three times a week to one group and low-intensity to the second. The first group reported a 49-percent drop in fatigue and the second, an incredible 65-percent drop.
You can test this theory yourself after having a large meal or as soon as you wake up in the morning. After a short walk, some stretching and/or other low-intensity exercises, you’ll notice your energy increases and you start to feel better. This is the same concept when it comes to living a busy lifestyle; to beat the fatigue, you have to increase your heart rate.
Your exercise regime doesn’t have to be very intense to reap the benefits. Paired with a balanced diet, a 20-minute walk per day, yoga every other day or visiting the gym twice a week will do the job. Eventually, those yawns will decrease, your energy levels and overall health will improve and—because, why not? —you may gain some muscle.
You’ll also find that you sleep better because your body will produce more melatonin, a sleep-aid hormone, to accommodate the physical activity.
Above all, you have to make taking care of your body a priority. Read How to Eat to Live books I and II by the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and learn the value of a healthy relationship between diet and exercise.
You owe it to yourself to eat right and find a fitness plan that you enjoy. Your life is too busy for fatigue to get in the way.
