Many people share in videos, blog articles and newsletters that exercise and workouts give them more energy. But that doesn't have to be true for everyone – I wondered for a long time why it didn't work for me until I understood this fact.
It's true that exercising increases your energy reserves in the long run. For some people, exercising even makes them feel more alert and awake immediately afterwards.
However, the latter does not apply to everyone. I feel tired after exercise and my willpower is weakened because I used it up during exercise.
For a long time, I thought that I was doing something wrong and that's why I didn't feel more energetic. In truth, my body is different. That's why I go running in the evening and only do a seven-minute workout in the morning. It helps me fall asleep better and I don't feel bad when I relax after my run.
Nevertheless, exercise has an impact on my energy and performance, which I want to target with my workout plan.
- After my morning workout, I feel more awake because my body has overcome sleepiness, but hasn't been overly taxed yet.
- After running, I'm not as stressed as before because I can switch off my head and change into a different mindset.
- In the long term, my energy reserves increase through exercising.
It is important for everyone to think about how they can use physical exercise in the best way for themselves and their mind. Some people feel more alert through exercise, while others can relax better because of it.
Everyone is different, so it could be that exercise has another effect on you personally!
To find out what exercise does to your energy and stress levels you need to experiment a little.
- Follow your training schedule for at least one week and write down how exercise affects your performance, fatigue, stress levels and energy reserves.
- For at least one week, change your exercise schedule and exercise in the morning. Observe the effects as you did in the first step.
- For at least one week, change your training schedule and exercise in the evening. Observe the effects as you did in the first step.
- Compare your observations and search for correlations. Does exercise lower your stress level? Can you overcome an energy low through exercise?
- Adjust your exercise schedule based on your observations. For example, you might schedule time to exercise after a particularly stressful appointment or exercise at times of day when you are most mentally tired.
Actually, it is logical that sport has different effects on each person. Nevertheless, it took me a long time to realize this fact.
But this realization is only the first step! You can greatly improve your life and your mood through exercise at the right time. What potential could an individual training plan unleash in you?