Lack of energy has always been a problem as people age, and we often hear a friend or even ourselves sigh once in a while “I’m tired of being tired”. The amount of energy that a person has is probably the best predictor of success and is highly-sought more than anything else. It’s a no brainer: the more energy we have, the more we are able to extend quality time and enjoy life, attract people, finish projects before deadline, spend quality time with family and friends, and so much more!
There seems to be no excuse now that we can Google virtually anything and search for the solutions right at our fingertips. The solutions are endless: ranging from herbs, trendy exercises, health supplements, yoga, and other types of meditation. However, the most essential components are basically simple and are accessible to anyone as long as the desire to take action is there!
Fundamentally, your level of energy is regulated by three physical and one mental component.
Fitness is a generic term that encompasses three dimensions namely: physical, psychological, and spiritual. The last is hard to quantify but there has been an attempt by reductionist science to explain the spiritual dimension through quantum physics. But we won’t be going that far in this article. We will only talk about what we can fully grasp, and that is physical and psychological fitness.
1.) Cardiovascular fitness. You can’t go wrong if you follow the standard set by health fitness professionals of 20 minutes, three times a day of cardiovascular workout. This is enough to keep you afloat and stay in the game. Once you get the hang of it, you may increase the intensity to strengthen your heart muscles. How much increase depends on how much you can take, so take it slow and listen to your body. You don’t have to do anything fancy: walking is sufficient enough. In fact, it’s the best cardio workout, that is, if you stay within the “aerobic zone”. The aerobic zone is the zone where you will have to exert a lot of effort singing but still can audibly talk!
2.) Body-mass index. Unnecessary weight is like a ton of boulder strapped behind your back. It consumes your energy like a wet blanket. You may hear advices from people on how to lose weight properly, but you have to remember the most important thing: you have to be mindful of the amount of calories consumed relative to the calories burned and should be able to fine-tune the ratio accordingly.
Generally speaking, discipline is necessary to achieve weight loss success. Remember, losing weight is a two-headed snake: a carefully-structured diet without exercise could cause your metabolism to slow down to a crawl, nullifying your efforts. On the other hand, exercise alone without a well-planned diet, well, a McDonald’s quarter pounder has 108 calories and this mean you have to run at least 30 minutes to get rid of that calories in your body after consuming it!
3.) Flexibility. Sometimes taken for granted in our quest to improve our energy levels, flexibility is our body’s ability to deal with tension. A body that is stiff as a rock is like a car with its hand brakes on. Just imagine how much gas you are wasting with that kind of car! That is what happens to your energy if the body is not flexible enough to handle tension. The aim of most stretching activities is not much of making your muscles, tendons, or ligaments, flexible; but rather making you conscious of communicating with your body so you would learn how to properly breathe whenever tensed.
4.) Strength. When we speak of strength here, we refer to will power. You may have the biggest muscles in the world by genetic makeup, but if you can’t resist a quarter pounder burger dripping with oily fats then you know what’s going to happen in the long term. On a physiological level, it’s going to be much easier to make use and dictate your body how much percentage of your muscle fibers you are going to utilize for a specific task, that is, if you have mastered how to leverage your mental strength to your advantage. There are many ways to develop physical strength namely Hindu push-ups and Hindi squats. Always consult with a professional trainer when planning to engage in strength and weight training.
So there you go. We have discussed the four major components in doubling, or even tripling, your energy levels. But do you know that there is one hidden component, perhaps the most important one, that modern medical science seldom talks about? Interested to know more about it? You may watch the video by clicking HERE.
