In today’s episode, I explore 3 alternatives you can opt for when your body is feeling tired. It really is important to get movement in your body every day. But you still have to listen to what your body is telling you and sometimes taking it easy is the best thing to do. If you’ve been wondering if you should push through a workout when you’re tired, then this episode is for you. Tune in and find out about alternatives you can do when your body is tired.
Welcome to The Treasured Wellness Podcast where we talk about all things health, and where nothing is off limits, you will uncover what may be holding you back so that you can break those chains. Get to the root cause and walk into freedom with confidence the way God intended for you to live. Hi, I’m Michelle McCoy, functional health coach and holistic lifestyle advocate, ladies, together, we are going to dig deep into real life so that you are educated and equipped to create the whole health you desire without the overwhelm. Now more than ever is the time for breakthrough action and restoration. It’s time to get intentional and reclaim your health. If you’re ready for mind, body and soul clarity, then let’s get to it.
Hey, hey, happy Tuesday. Welcome back to the show and if you are new to the show, I am so grateful that you chose my little podcast to listen to today. Welcome and thanks for being here. Today I am going to tackle maybe some possible confusion about exercising when tired, exhausted, drained. You know that deal. You know how you feel when you just don’t have it in you? Or maybe you haven’t gotten enough sleep? And we’re going to talk about that today? Should you still do your workout? So settle back, grab your lemon water or your green tea and let’s get started. Okay, should I work out when I am so tired? So many of us think that we do need to push through right? What is that old expression, no pain, no gain? Maybe it’s not so old, maybe we’re still thinking about using it. Maybe we still read about it but is that really beneficial? Right, we’re going to talk specifically about fatigue, and working out benefits and drawbacks, you know, working out while you’re so fatigued so really, in my opinion, there’s only one real benefit to working out when you are exhausted. And that is that emotionally, you feel like you are taking steps forward, right? Like you’re like I am still doing it.
I’m committed, I committed to going to CrossFit every morning at 5am. And so I am doing it. And that makes you feel really good because you committed and you followed through on that commitment. And that’s important. However, that’s really the only great benefit you get from exercising when you are so exhausted because let’s talk about some drawbacks. Let’s talk about some of the negatives. Well, essentially, it’s depletion, it’s putting additional stress on your nervous system. And it’s depleting you even more your body kicks into gear to get that exercise done and get that routine done but then your body has to recover from that so if you have adrenal fatigue, or chronic fatigue, or just overall exhaustion, it is putting more any burden on your system. It’s not really giving you a great benefit other than like I said before, emotionally because you are proud of yourself for committing and you feel good that you did that.
So the time spent in a workout, it’s really going to be multiplied in your body trying to recover from the workout. So let me give you an example, you may have heard me talk in other episodes about how I battled adrenal fatigue off and on for the last five or six years or so? Well, most recently, when I went through my really horrible flare where I was really quite honestly worried and concerned because I had thought I had pushed my adrenals to the max, where they were no longer supporting me so before I knew that I was at that point, I was of the mindset where I wanted to keep up with my workouts, but I had tailored them. So I was walking, I was doing some yoga, I was doing some hiit workouts from time to time, I really was trying to get a variety of different movements in and when the weather wasn’t so great. Sometimes I was doing that hit workout inside or that walking video or just something inside.
So I was really dedicated to that and I did try to only do 20 or 30 minutes but the problem was I could physically feel my body trying to recover from that. I would drag myself to do it. And I was very disappointed. I went about it but a lot of times it was really hard for me to just get through it. And this is with me staying hydrated me making sure I was getting enough protein, like it was really a normally it would have been a good situation for me to do a workout and only a 20 or 30 minute workout but because my adrenals were so taxed already, that extra push of adrenaline and cortisol, it just exhausted me even further. And oftentimes, I just wanted to when I was finished stretching to stay on the yoga mat and just take a nap, I was so worn out.
And so I realized that this was doing more harm than good to me. And so I switched from these hiit workouts in these walking videos, to just doing yoga. And then if the weather was nice, and I had it in me, I would do a walk on another day but I try not to do both in the same day because even though yoga in our mind, yoga is not very strenuous, but it actually can be right. If you are a yoga lover, you know how strenuous yoga can be, I mean, you are shaking, you are sweating. You are your heart is racing, like it can be very strenuous. And I had to scale back with the intensity of the yoga that I was doing during that time. And truthfully, when I was at my height of adrenal fatigue, where Addison’s was an actual concern, which is where your adrenals stop working on their own, I had realized that I had to stop all exercise. And that was really, really hard for me because mentally I loved my movement. I loved walking, I loved being outside in nature, I loved doing my yoga, stretching, I just loved it. Now I’m not a runner, I’m not a crossfitter. I’ve never enjoyed those really intense workouts, but I just loved what I loved, I loved the movement that I chose for me.
So realizing that I could no longer do that, that really hurt. I mean, it was rough. And I went through a time where I literally went through a few months where I didn’t even go for a walk or if I did, I went down to the end of the road and back because it was too much. I had pushed myself to the point where my body was like, nope, not happening not happening today. So really, that’s another reason why I love yoga so much, because you can just plop on the mat, you can do a few stretches that feel really good for your body, it’s helping you to not feel stiff, it’s helping you to breathe, and just do all of these wonderful things that are good for your body, head to toe but instead of taxing your adrenals it’s actually supporting your adrenals if you’re just doing the gentle restorative yoga. Okay, so I want to share three options that nourish your body when you are super fatigued. So essentially, it’s okay to not work out, it’s okay to not have healthy movement, when you are absolutely depleted, you know your body best. And sometimes you just need to do these three options. Instead, give yourself a couple of days, and see how you feel and then pick it back up at a slower pace. So three options that will nourish your body when you are super fatigued.
Number one, take a nap, take a power nap rest, your body needs rest. We moms keep pushing, pushing, pushing. And we need to really get over that because it does not serve us. And then we can’t serve our family the way we want to or maybe the way we have to because we have nothing left. There is nothing in the bucket, we cannot pour from an empty cup. We cannot pour from an empty bucket. There’s just no way if we have nothing in there, then there’s nothing coming out. So rest. And this was hard for me. It really was hard for me but once I allowed myself to mentally get past that and realize that this was what my body needed, then it was wonderful. It was really wonderful just to give myself permission to lay on the couch and just close my eyes for 20 minutes and not have the distractions, not have the worries of my to do list bothering me but it takes practice. You’re going to have to practice this.
You’re going to have to keep your phone away from you. And close your eyes and just rest and this might be in your car Your lunch break, this might be, you might be able to lay on the couch, or you might be able to go into your bed. But you just need to rest your body for a few minutes, close your eyes, and just rest. And then number two, gentle stretching like I mentioned earlier, gentle stretching is really good for your body, it’s so good for your nervous system. And it’s restorative. So it’s not putting a lot of pressure on your muscles, and you’re not trying to get into these really strong poses, you are just gently stretching and moving your body. And the number three deep breathing exercises and meditation, those two things will really help to nourish your body when you are super fatigued. So taking that time to do my 555 method, inhale for the count of five, hold for the count of five and exhale fully through your mouth for the count of five, that is going to help to lower your stress response, it’s going to help to calm that nervous system.
And you really want to do a round of three, at least, to really start to get the benefits of that. And then of course, meditation, meditation, keeping your eyes closed, focusing on a word or a verse, and just trying to keep your mind empty of anything other than that word or that verse, and just really give your body time to be still, what do all of those three things have in common? Well, your eyes are closed, and you’re in a restful and peaceful state of mind. So that is so calming to the nervous system, and it will bring balance to the body. I mean, even in the New Testament, Jesus went away to rest over and over and over again, it is important for us to get away and be still and get quiet and close our eyes and just be still to rest. Our body needs that we need to be refreshed. So, okay, obviously I’m talking about if you are incredibly fatigued, adrenal fatigue, chronic fatigue, completely depleted, worn out, you have nothing in you to give.
But if you are tired, just because maybe you didn’t sleep well, well, okay, then a hiit workout or a power walk. I mean, that can really be invigorating, right? So that’s okay, you have to know the difference, you have to know do you physically feel completely wiped out like you are walking through quicksand, and you just can’t do anything else, but you feel like you should. So first we have to get past that mental block, that we should be moving our body. And once you can do that, then it’s going to be so much easier for you to give yourself permission to rest. And to maybe use that time that you would for your workout to do one of these three options, power nap, gentle stretching, or meditation and deep breathing but here’s the thing, repeated time lost in sleep that really will affect your coordination over time. So it’s vital to figure out why Why aren’t you sleeping well. You want to create that calming bedtime routine. Create a space in your bedroom that is conducive to sleep, rest and relaxation. You want it to be just that wonderful, restorative peaceful place. Okay, now, I also want to give you three practical things to do to help improve your energy.
So number one, stay hydrated. Listen, if you are dehydrated, you’re going to be tired, plain and simple. If you are dehydrated, it gets to a point where you are dehydrated on a cellular level. And that really affects your brain and affects your balance your cognition, your energy, I mean it just affects the whole body affects your digestive system and affects everything. So you want to stay hydrated. And the number two you want to eat protein at every meal. Don’t skip breakfast. And if you’re not a breakfast eater, just see something small, just have a hard boiled egg, or a chicken sausage or something small. A protein shake. It doesn’t have to be a lot. If it takes you an hour to finish that protein shake. That’s fine, but you don’t want to skip breakfast, especially if you are fatigued and you’ve been essentially fasting all night when you’re sleeping.
You need to start your morning, breaking that fast and getting some much needed protein to help your body out and the number three, work on getting to bed 30 minutes earlier and practice the deep breathing and the meditation Before falling asleep, so make it a practice to get in your room, that calming bedtime routine going, maybe you’ve got some essential oils going and maybe you’re going to rub some lotion on your feet and give yourself a little foot massage, maybe you’re going to do some reading. But then once the lights go out, practice deep breathing and meditation before falling asleep. Okay, guys, so if you don’t have my foggy and fatigue blueprint yet, that is going to be so great for you to have three days of tangible action steps to increase your energy in a natural way. So click the link below to make sure you get that and there’s recipes in there. And these recipes are amazing.
They’re great for snacks and are great for helping to give you that much needed natural source of energy. So I want to be sure that you know that you can get it completely free. And look, I just want to make sure that you understand that you can give yourself permission, Mama, you do not have to keep on pushing through. It’s actually going to make you feel worse in the long run. If not immediately it’s going to be that snowball effect where you’re going to feel worse and worse instead of better and better. And then it gets frustrating, right? Because you’re like, I’m working out I’m doing all the things why am I still so exhausted? What’s going on?
Well, this is why because your body is just depleted. You need to go back to those three options that will nourish your body and start thinking how can I nourish my body instead of pushing my body. So you want to rest, you want to do some gentle stretching and some deep breathing and meditation. And then practically stay hydrated. Eat protein at every meal, don’t skip breakfast, and get to bed 30 minutes earlier to practice deep breathing and meditation before you fall asleep. Okay, so commit this week to showing yourself some love. showing yourself some grace and giving yourself permission to not push yourself. You do not have to keep pushing through.
Let me pray over you. Father God I pray Your blessings over each woman listening and that she would feel your love and your smile over her today. I pray that You would speak a specific verse into her heart that would bless her and comfort her and I pray that she would be receptive and that she would feel your heavenly hug. In Jesus name. Amen. All right, that’s what I’ve got for you today. Don’t forget to grab that free, foggy and fatigued resource and start regaining your energy naturally. Alright, I will see you next week, beautiful.
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