Low energy levels

[calfzilla]

Ok it seems like my energy levels are always low.  Wasn't sure where to post this, so I put it here to avoid the you have AIDS comments.  Anyway, my diet is crap and I don't sleep well, so I assume that is a big part of it.  But does anybody have any tips or advices on how to increase ones energy without the use of stimulants?  Lets see what we can come up with and hopefully help each other out. 

[JasonH]

You've kind of answered your own question there - you need to improve your diet, especially concentrate on eating more complex carbs and staying away from simple sugars because they cause your energy levels to peak and then trough in drastic fashion. Get the recommended 8 hours of sleep at night and you'll be feeling much better. Increase water intake too - drink at least two litres a day as a hydrated body and brain improves concentration considerably.

Good luck!

[IrishMuscle84]

Simply start eating better and most importantly start getting on a sleep schedule.Try not to have too much caffeine/stimulants throughout the day.

[Obvious Gimmick]

yeah, what they said. eat better, avoid the stuff you know you should avoid. you'll be fine

however, could be a sign of depression and/or low test levels too. 

[IrishMuscle84]

yeah, what they said. eat better, avoid the stuff you know you should avoid. you'll be fine

however, could be a sign of depression and/or low test levels too. 

In my opinion, lows test levels cause depression too.

[calfzilla]

Thanks for your advices guys.  Today I ate breakfast which is rare (just an orange though), took a fish oil capsule, and drank more water and I felt a little better.  Also avoided drinking any soda, which is my only vice.  Also I have been dealing with depression, but I don't believe in anti-depressant drugs.  I'll keep you guys posted on how this goes. 

[ronbrgundy]

I'm just going to throw this out there, i'm not saying its good advice its probably bad advice let me start there.  

I eat a medium sized meal before the gym about an hour before when its all said and done including commute and all.  My gym is 30 minutes away.  I stop by Circle K and get a small coffee.  I fill 1/4 of it with milk.  Some people don't do well with milk.  Milk helps me digest everything better even nasty stuff like coffee or liquor.  I pour 1 shot of espresso in (they have them in little half and half style packets now).  I put a couple of ice cubes in so I can chug it down.  No sugar.  I get to the gym I take a dump to free up some waist line cause of all that stuff I just put in me.  I get into my stretches. I enter the gym and the caffeine is kicking in i'm ready to go plus protein and good stuff is rushing through my body from whatever I ate.  Then I start lifting trying to pick exercises that won't have me moving my torso too much sloshing around the digesting material, saving those for the end half of the session.  My biggest concern is that the caffeine raises the heart rate, which is dangerous when combined with lifting.  I've only been doing this a month and hope to quit soon for the heart reason.  Now that said when my hands touch the weights i'm ready to rock n roll.  Its not for everyone but its working for me right now and its rare/never that I have one of those "I feel sluggish" days.  

On depression, I had severe depression for a couple of years.  It got really bad to where it effected almost every aspect of my life.  Lifting and cardio help me a ton personally.  I go on this website answers.yahoo.com sometimes and help people with my own advice in the Psychology or Mental Health sections of the site.  The site has helped me in two ways.  First I have asked lots of questions so I could get answers to some of life's problems.  Second I have helped other people plenty of times on there and seen that my life is really good even on my worst day.  A couple of my "best answers" just to give examples

Helped a young man with feelings of depression
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArvZ1XbE.qCZF0FsuFC9xo3ty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20091126132959AA1YBcL&show=7#profile-info-c5wOE0g3aa

Helped teen girl
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AldD754melMwt3AyKCJ4SO7ty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20091203161716AAhWpbX&show=7#profile-info-51736e494ebf305ca5b1cba0d35f09e8aa

[nolotil]

Ok it seems like my energy levels are always low.  Wasn't sure where to post this, so I put it here to avoid the you have AIDS comments.  Anyway, my diet is crap and I don't sleep well, so I assume that is a big part of it.  But does anybody have any tips or advices on how to increase ones energy without the use of stimulants?  Lets see what we can come up with and hopefully help each other out. 

sleep more and improve your diet

[kelly7898]

I'm just going to throw this out there, i'm not saying its good advice its probably bad advice let me start there.  

I eat a medium sized meal before the gym about an hour before when its all said and done including commute and all.  My gym is 30 minutes away.  I stop by Circle K and get a small coffee.  I fill 1/4 of it with milk.  Some people don't do well with milk.  Milk helps me digest everything better even nasty stuff like coffee or liquor.  I pour 1 shot of espresso in (they have them in little half and half style packets now).  I put a couple of ice cubes in so I can chug it down.  No sugar.  I get to the gym I take a dump to free up some waist line cause of all that stuff I just put in me.  I get into my stretches. I enter the gym and the caffeine is kicking in i'm ready to go plus protein and good stuff is rushing through my body from whatever I ate.  Then I start lifting trying to pick exercises that won't have me moving my torso too much sloshing around the digesting material, saving those for the end half of the session.  My biggest concern is that the caffeine raises the heart rate, which is dangerous when combined with lifting.  I've only been doing this a month and hope to quit soon for the heart reason.  Now that said when my hands touch the weights i'm ready to rock n roll.  Its not for everyone but its working for me right now and its rare/never that I have one of those "I feel sluggish" days.  

On depression, I had severe depression for a couple of years.  It got really bad to where it effected almost every aspect of my life.  Lifting and cardio help me a ton personally.  I go on this website answers.yahoo.com sometimes and help people with my own advice in the Psychology or Mental Health sections of the site.  The site has helped me in two ways.  First I have asked lots of questions so I could get answers to some of life's problems.  Second I have helped other people plenty of times on there and seen that my life is really good even on my worst day.  A couple of my "best answers" just to give examples

Helped a young man with feelings of depression
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=ArvZ1XbE.qCZF0FsuFC9xo3ty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20091126132959AA1YBcL&show=7#profile-info-c5wOE0g3aa

Helped teen girl
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AldD754melMwt3AyKCJ4SO7ty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20091203161716AAhWpbX&show=7#profile-info-51736e494ebf305ca5b1cba0d35f09e8aa

Thank you so much for your post.
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[Montague]

Some good info. on increasing energy levels:

http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?topic=222103.msg3105455#msg3105455

[David M]

eat more fruits and veggies.  get more sunshine.  take your vitamins.

[g101]

I'm presently suffering with low energy, depression, always tired etc..

Not going to be going to the gym at all because im probably burned out from it and need a break
all stimulants (was using ECA) will be stopped
minimum 9 hour a day sleep will start mostly 12-1am to 9-10am
no smoking or junk food
water will be my only fluid intake and LOTS of it

going to do this for 4 weeks just started week 1

gonna stay strong and keep with this and by the end of it ill be back to normal hopefully   

[flinstones1]

I'm presently suffering with low energy, depression, always tired etc..

Not going to be going to the gym at all because im probably burned out from it and need a break
all stimulants (was using ECA) will be stopped
minimum 9 hour a day sleep will start mostly 12-1am to 9-10am
no smoking or junk food
water will be my only fluid intake and LOTS of it

going to do this for 4 weeks just started week 1

gonna stay strong and keep with this and by the end of it ill be back to normal hopefully   

g are you on anything right  now? Maybe high estrogen levels?
So far if I dont run test without an AI I feel extremely tired as well....

[g101]

I'm presently suffering with low energy, depression, always tired etc..

Not going to be going to the gym at all because im probably burned out from it and need a break
all stimulants (was using ECA) will be stopped
minimum 9 hour a day sleep will start mostly 12-1am to 9-10am
no smoking or junk food
water will be my only fluid intake and LOTS of it

going to do this for 4 weeks just started week 1

gonna stay strong and keep with this and by the end of it ill be back to normal hopefully   

update:

I don't know what the hell happend but I feel normal and my confidence is now boosted to where it used to be and am happy with myself again

i had taken a break for 3 weeks at the gym now im back 5 days a week
eca was taken at 2 doses twice per day
havent smoked or eaten junk food and my only fluid intake was water
sleep has been minumum 7-8 hours per night

[lift 456]

more cardio, minimal stimulants.  more greens.  less naps and tv.

[Fatpanda]

update:

I don't know what the hell happend but I feel normal and my confidence is now boosted to where it used to be and am happy with myself again

i had taken a break for 3 weeks at the gym now im back 5 days a week
eca was taken at 2 doses twice per day
havent smoked or eaten junk food and my only fluid intake was water
sleep has been minumum 7-8 hours per night

seriously man i think it was the eca.

i feel the same way when i'm on the stuff, i get really depressed, moody, really tired, eyes really heavy and stinging, yet i can't sleep sometimes.

within 2 days of coming off, i was happy again, energy still takes a while to come back ( probably due to adrenal fatigue).

[mar10s]

When I took out the simple sugars in my diet and drank more water...I couldn't believe the difference.  I went from having 4 or so cups of coffee throughout the day to only having 1 in the morning.
It's really amazing how much better you'll feel once you cut out processed foods and simple sugars.  Set a goal to do it for 1 week and see how you feel.

[flinstones1]

When I took out the simple sugars in my diet and drank more water...I couldn't believe the difference.  I went from having 4 or so cups of coffee throughout the day to only having 1 in the morning.
It's really amazing how much better you'll feel once you cut out processed foods and simple sugars.  Set a goal to do it for 1 week and see how you feel.

agreed eat like shit and youll feel like shit.

[cswol]

look up this product.........liquid maca......it will help too

[thomasglickman]

Balanced diet and enough sleep can surely boost your energy level.

[shane90]

 My biggest concern is that the caffeine raises the heart rate, which is dangerous when combined with lifting.  I've only been doing this a month and hope to quit soon for the heart reason.  Now that said when my hands touch the weights i'm ready to rock n roll.  Its not for everyone but its working for me right now and its rare/never that I have one of those "I feel sluggish" days. 

[shane90]

 My biggest concern is that the caffeine raises the heart rate, which is dangerous when combined with lifting.  I've only been doing this a month and hope to quit soon for the heart reason.  Now that said when my hands touch the weights i'm ready to rock n roll.  Its not for everyone but its working for me right now and its rare/never that I have one of those "I feel sluggish" days.  
hgh

[CC973]

When I took out the simple sugars in my diet and drank more water...I couldn't believe the difference.  I went from having 4 or so cups of coffee throughout the day to only having 1 in the morning.
It's really amazing how much better you'll feel once you cut out processed foods and simple sugars.  Set a goal to do it for 1 week and see how you feel.

x2

[Evo]

Ok it seems like my energy levels are always low.  Wasn't sure where to post this, so I put it here to avoid the you have AIDS comments.  Anyway, my diet is crap and I don't sleep well, so I assume that is a big part of it.  But does anybody have any tips or advices on how to increase ones energy without the use of stimulants?  Lets see what we can come up with and hopefully help each other out. 

I would take time off training, however long it takes to get the following sorted:

Obviously diet is important as everyone has said, so is sleep.  Get these two on point and you will be sorted.

Other things: keep hydrated, I upped my fluid intake recently and it made a huge difference.  Try some vitamin B complex, I used to take this when I experience something similar to yourself.  Eat some bananas, they contain an amino acid that is great for dwindling energy levels often induced by SAD.