Bonus#7HowtoUseMovementtoIncreaseYourEnergy

Module3ExerciseAndMovement–SummaryDocument

THESCIENCEOFUSINGEXERCISEANDMOVEMENTTOENHANCEYOURENERGYLEVELS

The 3 Main Ways That Movement Impacts Energy Levels:

1. Direct and immediate effects on physiological arousal’ 2. Effects on entraining circadian rhythm 3. Adaptations your body makes to the exercise which make it more efficient in producing energy

MOVEMENTFROMANANCESTRALPERSPECTIVE

Most of us do not realize it because we were not around to see it, but our ancestors lived a very active life that entailed minimal amounts of sitting, tons of daily walking (most studies indicate between 4-11 miles per day on average).

This was the norm for our species for hundreds of thousands and millions of years.

Today, we live in a totally new kind of world, and new kind of lifestyle where we do minimal amounts of standing, minimal amounts of walking, and many of us spend 12-15 hours a day sitting on our butts.

We are guinea pigs in a totally new experiment that has never before been conducted in human history, and we are just starting to see the outcomes of this:

• Shortened lifespan • Increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer • Negatively impacts genes related to cardiovascular health • Disrupts normal appetite regulation and predisposes to fat gain • Insulin resistance • Fatigue • Metabolism slowdown

Our ancestors, physical activity, and circadian rhythm: Before electricity, activity was intimately tied to sunlight.

Aside from simply being more physically active, there is one more critical point to note about this physical activity of our ancestors: Virtually all of this physical activity coincided with the hours of daylight.

Why is this so important? Much like for virtually all of the millions of years our species was evolving it received light entirely during the hours of daylight (since there was no electricity), virtually all of our ancestors physical activity coincided with the hours of daylight.

As diurnal animals, our biology is programmed to be physically active during the hours of light, and to go into rest mode during the hours of darkness.

The more we mess with that natural programming—not just by say, doing a late night workout at the gym, but more importantly, being inactive and sitting still during a large portion of daylight hours—the more we disrupt circadian rhythm.

This is happening in much the same way that too little light during the day and too much at night disrupts us—too little physical activity, and too much resting/non-movement also blunts circadian rhythm amplitude and slowly erodes our physical energy and vitality.

This is the reason why James Levine, MD—perhaps the world’s foremost expert on the effects sitting and not moving—notes in the quote at the beginning of this section the irony of the situation where we sit and rest most of the day, but feel drained and lacking energy chronically.

Physical activity/movement essentially reinforces the light signal from the environment to tell the body when it’s daytime.

When you are a less active during the day, the amplitude of the signal is decreased, and thus so too is the amplitude of one’s circadian rhythm.

This is likely just one of many different ways that physical movement impacts our mood and energy levels, as you’ll see in the research we’re about to explore.

HOWEXERCISEAFFECTSSLEEPOverall, the research indicates that exercise does affect melatonin release (postponing it) when done in the evening or nighttime prior to melatonin release.

• Do not do intense exercise within 3-4 hours of bedtime.

The evidence indicates that exercise improves:

• Sleep quality • Sleep latency—the time it takes to fall asleep • Sleep efficiency (people who exercise daily wake up feeling more energetic).

MOVEMENTANDITSEFFECTSONMOOD,ALERTNESS,PSYCHOLOGICALHEALTH,ANDENERGYLEVELS

In addition to impacting circadian rhythm health and sleep quality, there is also evidence that physical movement plays an important role in general arousal, alertness, mood, and energy levels.

While the mechanisms of action are not entirely known, exercise has effects on a wide range of energy-promoting and mood-enhancing neurotransmitters such as orexin, dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin that likely mediate these effects.

One of the key mediators of the relationship between movement and energy is the neurotransmitter orexin, which is a major key to everything when it comes to maximizing alertness, mood, and energy levels.

Orexin is that get-up-and-go signal in the brain that gets you feeling alert, motivated, full of energy, and ready to take on the day. It is the major signal that controls whether you want to sit still or get up and move!

The research indicates that this is likely a two way street—a healthy circadian rhythm will promote strong orexin signals at the right times, which promote increased alertness, mood, energy levels and a drive to be physically active; at the same time, being physically active promotes arousal and increased energy (via orexin and other mechanisms).

It is a cycle. Likewise, it is also possible for it to be a vicious cycle where poor circadian rhythm habits decreases the drive towards physical activity, and decreased physical activity (more sedentary behavior) further blunts the amplitude of circadian rhythm. Ultimately this leads to chronically dulled alertness, mood, and energy levels.

Part of what mediates this effect is that buildup of H+ ions, CO2 and lactate from exercise will promote excitability of the orexin system.

Also works to promote wakefulness outside of the orexin system.

EXERCISEANDENERGYLEVELS

While it has long been recommended to do exercise for general health and even common for people to have a vague sense of “exercise makes you more energetic,” up until very recently, the scientific evidence on exercise’s effects on fatigue/energy levels had never been reviewed quantitatively.

Puetz, Dishman, and O’Connor analyzed 70 randomized controlled trials that enrolled a total of 6,807 subjects.

Here is what they found: “More than 90 percent of the studies showed the same thing: Sedentary people who completed a regular exercise program reported improved fatigue compared to groups that did not exercise. It is a very consistent effect.”

The study found that the effect of exercise on energy levels was even stronger than the treatment of fatigued people with drugs (the main one being modafinil, a drug with strong alertness enhancing effects used to treat narcolepsy).

The researchers found that nearly every group studied – from cancer patients to those diabetes and heart disease to obese persons to normal healthy adults – saw profound improvements in energy levels from exercise.

The researchers acknowledge that on the surface, this effect seems to be counterintuitive—since we would normally think that by expending large amounts of energy, it would drain us of energy—but the results prove that exercise generally improves energy levels.

The research looking into the effects of movement on measures of fatigue/energy also shows profound effects from movement.

A review of the epidemiological evidence on the subject titled “Physical activity and feelings of energy and fatigue: epidemiological evidence” found: “There was agreement among the studies suggesting a strong, consistent, temporally appropriate dose-response relationship between physical activity and feelings of energy and fatigue.”

One of the best epidemiological studies is “Cross-sectional relationship of reported fatigue to obesity, diet, and physical activity: results from the third national health and nutrition examination survey.”

This study divided groups into people based on whether they reported feeling "energetic," "fresh," "average," "tired," and "exhausted."

Even after controlling for variables like age, sex, ethnicity and preceding night’s sleep, the researchers found that “There was a U-shaped association across the categories of fatigue for physical activity, body mass index, and waist circumference, with the healthiest lifestyle factors being associated with reporting feeling ‘fresh.’

Relative to the fresh group, average, tired and exhausted participants were 1.6, 1.9, and 3.8 times more likely to report insufficient physical activity, all statistically different from the fresh group.

In adults aged 20 to 59 years in the United States, self-reported fatigue is associated with higher body mass index, higher waist circumference, and a reduced likelihood of getting recommended levels of physical activity.”

WHATTYPEOFEXERCISEISBESTFORIMPROVINGMOODANDENERGYLEVELS?

As far as the type of exercise you are likely to reap the most benefits from in terms of improvements in mood and energy levels, the type and intensity of exercise does matter! This leads us to one more critical point that the research has found

The meta-analysis mentioned above that found large “reductions in anxiety and depression after single sessions of exercise” also discovered something that’s especially important: “The most improvements are caused by rhythmic, aerobic exercises, using of large muscle groups (jogging, swimming, cycling, walking), of moderate and low intensity.

They should be conducted for 15 to 30 minutes and performed a minimum of three times a week in programs of 10-weeks or longer.”

The review of the literature titled Exercise and mental health that exercise can dramatically improve anxiety and mood for several hours post-exercise. They noted that these effects “appear to be limited to aerobic forms of exercise.”

Another study found that walking is a powerful predictor of energy levels.

The amount of walking each day predicted a wide variety of positive psychological conditions.

Specifically, the correlations between number of steps and self-ratings indicated that when our participants walked more they rated their diet as more nutritious. They also rated more highly their health, energy, overall mood, happiness, and self-esteem, in that order.

Walking more each day is related to a wide variety of mood and personality variables.

The more people walk each day, the more energetic they feel and the better their mood.

Although intuitively it would seem that walking more reduces energy, the opposite is true. More walking is associated with more energy. In addition to more energy and better mood, self-esteem and happiness increase when people walk more.

Also, walking more appears to result in better nutrition. Why this occurs is unclear, but it may be related to the energy connection (Thayer, 1996).

It is apparent that energy is an important variable as demonstrated by increased sleep being associated with more walking.

It should be noted that this correlational study does not establish cause and effect, but our previous experimental study (Thayer et al. 2004) did show that walking more each day caused increased energy.

According to Thayer, however, there is something that prevents individuals from taking advantage of this “walk and feel-better” phenomenon, and it is a fact he mentioned in his last book Calm Energy.

“We’re really experiencing an epidemic of stress and depression during these current times. A huge portion of the population is experiencing these effects for a variety of reasons, and the more depressed they are, the less they want to exercise.

It is important to get the word out and make people realize that if they get up and walk or exercise, they will feel better.”

Exercise intensity also matters here. The University of Georgia study mentioned above found “The effects for symptoms of fatigue were moderated by exercise intensity, and the more favorable outcome was realized with low-intensity exercise.” In terms of energy improvements, lower intensity exercise fares better.

What specifically are they referring to? Their results showed that while both groups had a 20% increase in energy levels relative to the non-exercising group, the moderate-intensity group reported a 49% decrease in feelings of fatigue, while the low-intensity group actually had a whopping 65% decrease in fatigue!

For Energy Levels, Cardio is Superior to HIIT and Weights

SUMMARY:WHATTYPEOFEXERCISEISBESTFORIMPROVINGMOODANDENERGYLEVELS?

Overall, the evidence indicates that exercise profoundly decreases fatigue, depression and anxiety, and improves mood, increases arousal, alertness, and energy levels.

For boosting energy levels immediately:

When it comes to the type of exercise, it appears that short, non-exhaustive bouts of rhythmic low- to moderate intensity (“aerobic”) exercise, such as walking, jogging, swimming or cycling, are the most powerful in terms of effects on mood and energy levels.

More on HIIT and SIT later… they are inferior in terms of short-term transient effects, but perhaps not in the long-term…

Many Types of Exercise—All Have Benefits. But For Energy and Mood, Endurance Exercise is Superior

EXERCISEISADOUBLE-EDGEDSWORD.FINDYOURGOLDILOCK’SZONE

Intense exercise can be a double-edged sword. If you do too much too frequently, you can end up in overtraining and nervous system burnout, which will do the opposite of make you energetic—it will cause you to be fatigued, depressed, and exhausted much of the time.

“https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2192422Excessive physical activity may lead to overtraining and generate psychological symptoms that mimic depression.”

“Exercise may also result in detrimental changes in mental health. Some individuals can become overly dependent on physical activity and exercise to an excessive degree. This abuse of exercise can result in disturbances in mood and worsened physical health. In the case of athletes the intense training, or overtraining, necessary for endurance sports consistently results in increased mood disturbance.”

THEDOSEMAKESTHEMEDICINE(ORPOISON)

Like most good medicines, the dose needs to be in the right range—too little and you don’t get much of an effect, and too much and it may be counterproductive.

Both too little and too much exercise can be problematic

What is the right dose of exercise?

On average, over 1 hour of intense exercise per day risks overtraining.

This does not include low-intensity cardio or walking or gentle exercise. On top of the vigorous exercise, one can also do moderate to large amounts of low-intensity movement.

Key point: your individual tolerance to exercise will vary based on your current health, cellular vitality and fitness levels.

Those with poorer health and poorer fitness levels will suffer fatigue and other symptoms at much lower levels of exercise.

And another key point: That does not mean you should avoid exercise. It means you need to do small amounts of it and systematically build up your body’s fitness.

If you’re a hard exerciser and you start to feel rundown, listen to your body or pay the price!

Do not be the person who is a beast in the gym and a sloth outside of it because you are doing so much high-intensity exhaustive exercise!

Do not be a NEAT compensator, where you work out hard in the gym and then sit around for most of the rest of the day.

THEKEYLINKBETWEENEXERCISEANDFATIGUE:INFLAMMATION

Evolutionarily, this makes a ton of sense for inflammation/muscle soreness to be linked to energy levels (i.e. the desire to get up and move our bodies)—after an intense bout of physical activity that damaged your muscles and made you sore, your body lowers your energy and compels you to rest to give your body the change to recover.

There is actually a physiological basis for why this can occur: Inflammation.

If you are doing tons of high intensity exercise to the point where your muscles are sore and inflamed much of the time, consider that inflammation can be a potent suppressor of orexin, which in turn is the major player in wakefulness and a major player in determining energy level.

Are you an exercise addict who complains of fatigue? Then this section is for you!

The goal is to be energetic throughout the day, not solely to be capable incredible feats of physical fitness.

PUTTINGTHISINFOINCONTEXT:THISISFORTHOSEPRONETOOVEREXERCISING!

Keep in mind that this message has a particular context—those who are inclined to extremely large amounts of exercise.

I am not telling sedentary people to be careful with exercising too much. Most people living in the modern Western world have the problem of being too inactive, not too active. So be aware of whether this section applies to you or not.

WHENTOWORKOUT:SUMMARY

Ultimately, research into the times of day where we perform best, research in circadian fluctuations in testosterone/cortisol ratios (and responses to exercise), gene expression responses to exercise, as well as body temperature and variations that occur during the day, and observational evidence from elite athletes, the absolute best time to exercise appears to be afternoon/early evening (roughly 2:30 to 7pm).

Ideally, you want to do it before sunset.

Exercising in the afternoon/early evening is likely to result in the greatest benefits, the least stress, and most likely, the most profound increases in health, vitality, circadian rhythm entrainment, and energy levels.

If you are unable to workout at this time, working out in the morning or night is fine. The key here is to entrain the new circadian pattern by consistently working out at that time.

MOVEMENT—ITDOESNOTJUSTGIVEYOUENERGY,ITISALSOTHERESULTOF

ANENERGETICBODY!When our cells are being provided with abundant energy, and we are living and eating in a way that is conducive to our cellular metabolism allowing our cells to produce energy in abundance, we feel a desire to move!

The point is that it is possible to have both a vicious negative cycle here, as well as a positive upward spiral.

The negative cycle exists when low energy (say from a diet) leads to poor mood, and that poor mood in turn decreases the drive to move, which reinforces the poor mood and low energy.

The positive upward spiral exists when we have good energy levels leading to a good mood, which leads to further drive to move, which further reinforces both the good mood and high energy levels.

It is also important to recognize that as long as we live/exist in a state of experiencing predominately negative emotional states, it makes it exceedingly difficult to enter a state where we feel energetic and vital.

If you are depressed and anxious much of the time, take note of this, because in order to start feeling energetic, you may have to do more than address the nutrition, or circadian rhythm, or movement angles of improving your energy levels—you may also have to address the psychological angle.

When we find ourselves entrenched in the negative cycle, we need to be conscious of that and actively take steps to start the upward spiral.

PROLONGEDSITTINGERASESTHEMETABOLICBENEFITSOFEXERCISE.

Prolonged sitting also destroyed mitochondrial health:

Mitochondria are the energy generators in your cells. If you kill them off, your energy levels will tank.

SIT,STAND,ORMOVE?THATISTHEQUESTION.

One of the most powerful strategies in existence that you can take to improve your metabolic health, your body composition, and your energy levels is to minimize sitting during the day and move your body as constantly as possible.

Notice I did not say just “work out” or “do more exercise.”

The act of sitting less and standing and moving more is far more important than worrying about doing workouts.

Simple ultra-low intensity movement throughout the day can be way more powerful than even doing three or four intense hour-long workouts at the gym each week—way more powerful.

The proper way to understand movement is not as some trivial supplementary sort of thing that you can do to enhance your health or lose some fat. The right way to understand movement is to grasp that movement is as essential to healthy cell function as oxygen, water, and food.

Depriving your body of movement by sitting in a chair all day is the equivalent of starving your body of oxygen, water, and nutrients.

CHARACTERISTICSOFAHUNTER-GATHERERFITNESSPROGRAM They did large amounts of walking every day. Our ancestors typically walked between 4 to 10 miles daily. After a very hard day of physical activity, they typically followed it by an easier day. They made sure to include ample time for rest and recuperation after hard work. They moved around on dirt or grass, not asphalt and cement. A few times a week, they did occasional bursts of very high intensity movements like sprinting, and these bursts were followed by adequate rest and recovery before another burst of exertion. They lifted, carried, dragged, pushed, chopped, and pulled heavy objects like stones or blocks of wood, regularly. They did all their exercise outdoors in the natural world. They often did physical activity in a social context in small bands of individuals out hunting or foraging. With the exception of only the very young and the extremely old, everyone did lots of physical activity, every day, for their entire lives.

VICTORIANERAENERGYEXPENDITURE

As another more recent example in human history, during the Victorian era, it was typical for men to burn over 5,000 calories a day and women to burn over 3,000 calories a day, by virtue of being engaged in physically active jobs/tasks each day.

The obvious implication from this is that these people spent most of their days standing up, walking, tending to the fields and the flocks, and otherwise moving their bodies—not sitting at a desk all day!

THEMOVEMENTDEFICIENCYFIX:STANDUPANDMOVE!As to how you want to accomplish this, there are a few different options: The absolute most powerful option is this: Get a treadmill desk and spend your day working at your computer while walking very slowly. Shifting to a treadmill desk requires a big change in habit, but not a big change in effort. It requires no real effort, and it actually feels rather good! Your posture improves, your energy level improves, and your productivity improves—all while you are radically increasing your metabolic health and putting your physiology in a state where fat loss becomes very easy. Some people also use a portable mini stair stepper and do very gentle stepping while working at a standing desk, but for others, this may have too much up and down motion. Less ideal, but still a good alternative is to get a standing desk. You can buy, make, or modify your current desk into a standing desk. Then spend your days standing 50-80% of the day, and never sitting for more than 45 minutes at a time without taking a break to stand up and move around. The GeekDesk is electronically adjustable, so you can alternate between standing and sitting. Alternatively, you can get a cycling desk, or get a cheap portable under-desk cycle, and sit down at your cycling desk and pedal throughout the day as you work. The least effective alternative (but still way better than sitting all day) is to sit as you would normally during the day, but set a timer to go off every 40-60 minutes throughout the day, and when it goes off, get up and move for 30-60 seconds—play on a wobble board, or balance on a balance disk, or use a little portable stair stepper, or balance on your hands and knees on a stability ball, for 30-60 seconds. Then go back to work. Just interrupting the sitting for a minute or two with very gentle movement can have profound health benefits. Though you will not get some of the more profound metabolic benefits of working while on a treadmill desk or even the standing desk. Again, by far the best choice here is a treadmill desk, which can either be bought in full (see my recommended products page on my website), or you can make your own setup using your regular desk and buying a cheap treadmill. The pre-made whole setup is rather expensive, so many people may wish to make their own setup using their existing desk. Make sure you are moving your body the majority of the day.

Just one last time for emphasis: Sitting all day is a great way to completely sabotage all your fat loss efforts through nutrition and exercise, wreck your metabolic health, and erode away your energy levels. Stand up and move!

When the sun is up, our bodies are meant to be standing and moving. If you want optimal cellular health, a fast metabolism, and a lean body, make sure you stand up and move throughout the day. We’ve said it before, but we really want to drill this into your heads because so many people don’t know this:

Standing and moving throughout the day is not just a nice supplementary strategy to get some extra calorie burning in—it’s a requirement for normal healthy cellular, metabolic, and circadian function.

It is as vital to cellular and metabolic health as food, water, and oxygen. For those of you who spend hours sitting every day, making this shift can be life-transforming.

WRAPPINGUP:IFYOUARELACKINGENERGY,GETMOVING!If you think that exercise would just make you more tired, there's good news:

Exercise actually gives you more energy! Almost all the studies that have looked at this question have found the same thing: Sedentary people who start exercising feel much greater energy levels (and less fatigue) those who stay sedentary.

Do not wait til you have the energy to do the exercise. Do the exercise, and you’ll get the energy!

MOVEMENT+BREATHINGMAYBETHEMOSTENERGIZINGFORMOFEXERCISE

As we saw previously low- to moderate-intensity rhythmic exercise like walking and cycling may be the most beneficial in terms of improving mood and energy levels.

There is however one more type of movement that has some excellent scientific literature showing profound effects on energy levels:

YOGAANDQIGONG

While we do not have much in the way of randomized controlled trials comparing various exercise modalities in terms of their effects of energy/vitality/wellbeing, it appears that yoga (and likely any movement practice that incorporates conscious breathing and an internal focus, such as Tai Chi and Qigong) has the capacity to profound improve energy levels.

It is not clear whether this type of activity has clear benefits above and beyond (or through a different physiological mechanism) than other more traditional forms of exercise, but there are certainly many anecdotes that suggest that is the case.

It may be worthwhile to include movement with breathwork and internal focus (either as yoga, tai chi, or qigong) as a primary or supplemental form of exercise to one’s other more traditional physical activities.

POSTPRANDIALSOMNOLENCE—A.K.A.FOODCOMA/POST-MEALFATIGUE

Combining significant amounts of carbohydrate and fat together causes a transient state of insulin resistance.

Contrary to popular belief, adding fat to a carbohydrate containing meal does not blunt the rise in blood sugar + insulin—it increases it. Carbs and fat together in the same meal will tend to promote a large blood sugar spike, and thus, more inhibition of orexin. Meals that are either on the low carb, high fat spectrum or on the high carb, low fat end of the spectrum tend be better in terms of post-meal energy levels. (Compared to one another, HCLF is superior). You do not want to have lots of fat and carbs in the same meal if your goal is optimal energy. Whole foods with minimal added sugars and fats, ample protein and fiber, and eating in accordance with circadian rhythm (all covered in the nutrition module)

To further minimize the rise in blood glucose after eating, post-meal walking is extremely effective.

Research reveals that an easy walk after a meal can do wonders for our blood sugar curve. And that’s not all. Very mild activity appears to work as well as a more intensive workout. Just getting up and walking is enough to prevent a rise in blood sugar considerably—as much as medicines for diabetics designed to curb high blood sugar levels.

PLYOMETRICSFORENERGY

This one has never been scientifically tested, but our research and experimentation has led us to the conclusion that plyometrics can be incredibly effective at boosting energy levels (more than any other type of exercise). We have seen amazing results.

Beware: They are the most activating to the nervous system and the most fatigueing to the nervous system. So be wary of the double-edged sword of exercise—it is even more amplified with plyometrics.

Do them in short sets of just 3-5 reps. Do a total amount of reps (for the entire total of all plyometric exercises) of no more than 15-20 reps. 2-3 exercises. The total time of this micro workout should be about 3-5 minutes.

THEMOSTIMPORTANTEXERCISESTRATEGYTOBOOSTYOURENERGY:DONOT“EXERCISE”—PLAY!

Surprise! Having Fun Boosts Your Energy!

A study found having fun or play was able to increase orexin, while the same level of exercise wasn’t able to.

The study concluded that motor and cardiovascular changes are not sufficient to elevate orexin, so they hypothesize that the emotional aspects of yard play account for the observed increase in orexin. I.e. The play aspect is key!

Play and novelty are critical to excitement, arousal, and energy levels. Same ol’ stuff = dull arousal/energy

CRITICALFACTORFOREXERCISINGTOINCREASEENERGY:MITOCHONDRIALBIOGENESIS One of the key mechanisms by which exercise has the ability to increase energy levels is mitochondrial biogenesis—the creation of new mitochondria. Why? Mitochondria are our cellular energy generators.

In the video, I went throug the studies looking at how different types of exercise can affect mitochondrial biogenesis. Here is the summary...

SUMMINGUP:EXERCISEANDMITOCHONDRIALBIOGENESIS

CONCLUSIONS Untrained subjects Continuous and interval exercise have a similar effect on PGC-1α, and other genes regulating mitochondrial biogenesis, if the duration and work done are the same. Concurrent resistance and endurance exercise dramatically enhances the signaling pathway of mitochondrial biogenesis (over endurance exercise alone). Trained subjects Sprint interval training is a powerful inducer of PGC-1α, and other genes regulating mitochondrial biogenesis. Likely needs to be done fasted. Added bonus: Leptin mimetic, which may have powerful implications for increased energy levels and fat loss. Note: Does not actually need to be “sprinting”—sprint efforts on a cycle also work. Eight weeks of concurrent strength and endurance training does not enhance mitochondrial content (CS-activity) or performance Exercise with low muscle glycogen enhances the expression of PGC-1α, and other genes regulating mitochondrial biogenesis General finding Intracellular glycogen levels during/after exercise might play a pivotal role for the magnitude of the exercise induced increase in mitochondrial biogenesis regardless of exercise mode

EXERCISE/MOVEMENTFORENERGY:SUMMARY

Low intensity rhythmic aerobic exercise is most useful for improvements in mood and energy level—transiently. Combining movement with breath and mindfulness may be even more effective. (Yoga, Qigong, walking with breathing exercises, etc.) Post-meal walks to keep energy levels up after eating. Managing inflammation and recovery after bouts of intense exercise is critical to avoid the double-edged sword of exercise. Avoid doing too much intense exercise if you’re struggling with your energy levels. Train at the optimal time of day to amplify energy levels and hormonal responses to exercise:

• Afternoon or early evening is optimal for intense exercise. • If you cannot, then train consistently at the same time of day. • Morning after waking is a good time for introducing gentle movement combined with breathing

exercises. • Do a micro-workout of plyometrics (no more than 15-20 TOTAL reps) sometime in the earlier

part of the day. (Before or after breakfast or lunch). Strategies to boost mitochondrial biogenesis are critical: For untrained, everything works. For trained people, SIT is most effective—particularly when glycogen-depleted (i.e. after a period of fasting). The most important factor for transient energy boosts from physical activity: PLAY!

EXERCISE/MOVEMENTFORENERGY:SAMPLETRAININGREGIMENS Morning wakeup walk or Yoga/Qigong—ideally outdoors. If your fitness level is low, morning is a good time for rhythmic aerobic exercise like brisk walking, jogging, swimming, or cycling. If your fitness level is already very high, you may want to experiment with doing brief fasted SIT to boost mitochondrial biogenesis (before eating anything in the morning) Standing, moving, and walking as much as possible throughout the day while at work (standing desk, treadmill desk, mini stair stepper, under desk cycle, etc.) Brisk walks after meals (or using stair stepper/treadmill/cycle while on computer) Afternoon or early evening: Intense exercise. Can be either resistance exercise or HIIT or a combination. For untrained, walking throughout the day as the foundation combined with resistance exercise 4-5x/wk and aerobic or HIIT 3-5x/wk is a good idea. For trained, resistance exercise 5-7x/wk + fasted morning SIT (or HIIT) 4-7x/wk and ample walking (7x/wk) is a good protocol. Make time for some kind of physical play at least 3x/week, if not every day. Play with your dog. Have sex. Play with your kids. dance! (This is REALLY important!) Brief micro workouts of 10-20 plyometrics done in 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps can be done once or twice daily to boost alertness and energy levels.