Exercise - Boosting Your Natural Energy: Chronic Fatigue

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Exercise

It may sound strange, but in order to get more energy you have to do the very thing you don't feel you have enough energy to do: exercise. Regular exercise helps in several ways. For one thing, it almost guarantees that you will sleep more soundly (see "Get a better night's sleep").

Exercise also increases the body's fuel-making capacity. When you use your muscles, more energy-producing mitochondria form in your muscle cells, and your cells have more energy to burn. Exercise also creates more capillaries, the tiny blood vessels that ferry oxygen to your cells. And by making you breathe deeply and increasing your heart rate, it gets more oxygen circulating. Finally, when you work out, your body releases epinephrine and norepinephrine. In large amounts, these stress hormones cause the energy-draining fight-or-flight response, but in the modest amounts induced by exercise, they make you feel energized.

Swimming boosts energy while protecting your joints.

You don't have to run for miles or work out to the point of exhaustion to get these benefits. Certain people — particularly those with chronic fatigue syndrome, those who are elderly, or those who have long been couch potatoes — should start slowly and build gradually. Some evidence indicates, for example, that aerobic exercise can aggravate symptoms in some people with chronic fatigue syndrome. And older people who have been sedentary all their lives need to start building activity levels slowly to avoid injuries and raising the risk of a heart attack.

Check with your doctor for advice based on your own health history. Assuming he or she gives the go-ahead, start with a slow walk around the block almost every day. Then, as your energy level rises and your muscles become conditioned, gradually spend more time exercising. Increase the length and intensity of your walk to a degree that's challenging, but not overwhelming. As your stamina increases, consider adding other activities, such as biking, swimming, or an exercise class. Resistance exercise, such as weight lifting, is especially beneficial for people in their 60s and older because it builds muscle mass. Weight lifting doesn't have to involve heavy barbells. Lifting 1-pound hand weights, or even cans of soup, can provide resistance exercise.

If you can't do more than take a brisk walk, just do that. Studies have shown that brisk walking (about 3–4 miles an hour) for at least half an hour, five times a week, has nearly the same benefits as more vigorous exercise. People who take such brisk walks have a lower risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, colon cancer, osteoporosis, and possibly other major diseases. Even mental health problems are less frequent in regular walkers. Although it hasn't been studied, many regular walkers believe that even this moderate regular exercise improves their energy levels.

Last updated:	January 23, 2007