Do you feel that you’re training exceptionally hard, only to see minimal return on your work and time investment? Is your body fat not melting off as fast as you’d like (or at all?)? Having trouble gaining muscle? Are you “just not feeling right?”
Is it possible that the problem is that your body is simply too tired to give you the results you want (even if you’re not consciously aware of it) . . . and that you’re actually digging yourself into a deeper hole with the approach you’re taking to succeed?
In the fast-paced world we live in, it’s altogether too common to be so revved up in the mind and body that we don’t recognize that the body is constantly communicating with us. In fact, our lives can be so manic that the feelings the body tries to convey 
end up completely masked . . . and ignored.
One of the most overlooked physical qualities is fatigue — a symptom that it’s critically important to be aware of, particularly if we’re expecting the body to deliver us the results that we want as quickly as possible!
So . . . what’s the source of your fatigue? And what can you do to help you get the results you want? Read on! 
What’s the source of your fatigue?
Aside from obvious answers like, “I’m tired because I’ve gone to bed after 2am for the last 5 nights” or “I’m recovering from a long week of work,” consider the idea that your body is tired from the hard work it’s doing to naturally cleanse and balance itself. (This holds particularly true if you’re trying to “detoxify” your body with an effective nutrition program.) Withdrawal from toxins is hard work!
As your body works to regain homeostasis (homeostasis = balance = health), you may note a feeling of increased fatigue. In actuality, this fatigue may have been around for a long time, but was masked by your overactive sympathetic nervous system (Fight or flight on a daily basis, anyone?). If this is the case with you — that your body has been under a state of “masked fatigue” for an extended period of time — imagine what your body has been saying to you as you’ve embarked on killer workouts (on top of a killer days)! From a physiological standpoint, it may have been ready to throw in the towel before each training session.
(Overly) fatigued body . . . just trying to manage basic everyday function . . . getting blasted by traditional workouts.
The training protocol might be ideal in theory, but if the body isn’t up to the task (whether you’re conscious of it or not), is it any wonder that your body isn’t giving you the results that you’re expecting?
If your body is working hard to bring you back to a state of balanced health, it’s dedicating a SIGNIFICANT amount of it’s energy to rebuilding you . . . and doesn’t have any reserve energy to do much else, including burning fat! As such, it’s very important to make sure you’re supporting the process of rebuilding health by:
- Doing exercise that emphasizes REJUVENTATING you. (Such as? Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Yoga, or any ‘workout’ (including those with weights!) where the emphasis is more on mobility, movement quality and breathing than it is on exerting yourself. If you do more intense exercise, keep the duration short, with equal/more emphasis placed on rest and recovery in between bouts of exertion.)
- Eating nutrient-rich food, drinking lots of pure water.
- Getting high quality, sufficient sleep.
- Doing the things you love.
- Doing all you can to reduce/remove all that burdens you mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically.
Do all of this, and you break the vicious downward spiral of fatigue that’s so common, generating increased reserve energy — energy that can be used to effectively and efficiently transform your body; energy that will increase your body’s capacity to handle stress and avoid illness & injury; energy that will help you to achieve what you WANT in life.
Make sense?
Christopher, great, great article (and great revamped website!). I relate personally to much of what you describe above. Regaining our ability to really listen to what our bodies are telling us, which sometimes means trading out some of our well-intentioned yang thoughts and behaviors for a little more yin, can lead to greater results.
Thank you Kim! I love your take on the post! Combine what you’re referring to with the actual physiology and a very complete ‘story’ comes together — telling us what needs to be done in order to achieve what we’re looking for. I appreciate your feedback!
Great article!! I love the fact that it is short, concise, and packed full of information. Not only do you have what is wrong but a solution(s). In our go go go man made society we need to be more aware of what our bodies are telling us and more willing to help our bodies cope so that we can enjoy our time here.
A really important concept well addressed Christoper! I have a physical quick test for you to try. It reinforces this notion that so many of us have some “backlog” of fatigue. Just lie supine (on your back) on a firm surface (padded, please), knees bent, feet flat on the ground. Turn your palms up toward the ceiling, arms loose at your sides. Squeeze your shoulders together (not up but toward each other), then relax. Press your neck toward the ground trying to flatten it, then relax. Now hold that position for 2-3 minutes. Most people will feel a bit of dissonance in this position as the soft tissue settles. We spend all of our alert, awake hours facing gravity in the opposite direction to this one. Once that initial “settling” is done, most people will notice a sense of sleepiness or fatigue. This is a true chemical release they are experiencing (endorphins, prostacyclins, histamine). One I believe you might be seriously interested in exploring. Let me know if you experienced the same. Thanks for the read!
I’ll give this a try Stacey! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and for contributing to this site!