Too Tired for Exercise?

January 29, 2013

Make exercise a priority, not a chore.

Do you ever feel too tired to work out? It’s very tempting to skip exercise to sleep that extra hour in the morning or maybe just sit on the couch and watch your favorite TV show. We can all think of a hundred excuses not to work out. It is proven though that a busy schedule, lack of sleep and poor nutrition can make you feel not up to working out. The good news is that exercise can actually improve your energy and mood. Rather than skipping that daily work out, think of ways you can make it a priority and not a chore.

• Work out in the morning – Getting it done as soon as you wake up means it’s out of the way and you don’t have excuses when stress and fatigue hit at the end of the day. As an added bonus, exercising first thing in the morning can help give you a burst of energy to start your day properly.
• Get your sleep – If you’re too tired to exercise on a daily basis, you may want to examine your schedule more closely. The National Sleep Foundation recommends getting between seven and nine hours of sleep per night. Exercising on a daily basis can even help you fall asleep faster at night.
• Informal workouts – If you find that you missed your morning alarm or that you had a meeting that ran over, try to exercise in other ways. Take the stairs at the office, park at the back of the parking lot or even do a workout video in the comfort of your apartment. Give yourself a break for missing that workout, but also make it a point not to become inactive all day.
• Shorten your workout – When you are exhausted, make yourself a deal. Cut your workout in half. You may find that when that time is up, you actually have the energy and desire to finish your workout. If you don’t, you at least got your heart rate up for the day.

Categorised in: Health & Fitness