Physical exhaustion: Why am I always Tired?

All in our proper measure we will experience a feeling of fatigue or exhaustion, derived from multiple factors that cross our lives. It is really logical and normal, but at other times, something punctual may become typical and continuous, and we may not be able to control it.

What is Physical Exhaustion?

Fatigue, also known as fatigue, exhaustion, lethargy and / or apathy, describes a physical and / or mental state of being tired and weak. We can define this exhaustion as a fatigue or lack of strength after having carried out an activity or effort, usually of a physical nature, although other causes, such as intellectual or emotional, can also be related.

Differences between Physical and Mental Fatigue

Physical fatigue

Your muscles are unable to continue with the physical effort at the rate you started from. This can be extended even after the end of the sports session, and affect you in your life (climbing stairs, shopping bags …). They are symptoms of weakness or lack of physical strength. That well can be solved by dedicating days of rest, but if the symptoms persist, it may be time to alert and look for other causes.

Mental fatigue

In this case, the fatigue does not attend to palpable elements, but incapacitates the person in the correct and normal development of any activity of a cognitive nature. Among the most common is the lack of concentration, feeling of demotivation, mental fog, drowsiness … if this state becomes chronic, we can be talking, among other causes, of Adrenal Fatigue, being a quite frequent origin, stress.

What is Adrenal Fatigue?

Situation that brings together a collection of signs and symptoms that occurs when the adrenal glands function below the necessary level, and is usually associated with intense and prolonged stress.

Symptom

It can be the product of some kind of infection, especially of a respiratory nature. This type of ailments or pathologies, which at the end of the day is fatigue, is not relieved by sleep … You can pretend and act in the same way as if you did not have this disorder, and not appreciate the signs, at the level of physical illness, but even so, suffer the symptoms:

• Feeling unwell
• Fatigue
• Depressive feelings

Adrenal glands

These organs are located just above the kidneys. They respond by segregation of certain hormones before diverse stimuli, related to situations of stress. Its mission is precisely to make us handle stress situations, and manage to overcome them and “survive” them.

Problems of Adrenal Fatigue

There are many people with this syndrome, and the reality is that it can wreak havoc in the daily chore. In many cases, the activity of the adrenal glands is so reduced, that one can have difficulties at the time of getting out of bed … For each reduction of this physiological activity, each organ of our body is affected:

• Alteration of the correct metabolism of proteins, hydrates and fats
• Alteration of the balance of hydric and electrolytic fluid
• Cardiovascular system
• Low libido
• Alterations at cellular biochemical level in response to the decrease in adrenal hormones due to fatigue.

How to Identify Adrenal Fatigue?

We can have an idea of how our system is found through the following test:Answer yes or no

• You wake up every morning “cloudy” and do not see another way to start the day unless it`s with some coffee
• You feel quite often tired feeling
• You have trouble falling asleep or keeping it up at night
• Lately you feel irritability, frustration or depressed emotional state
• You find yourself numb during the day
• If you get sick it takes a long time to get to recover

If the answers were  affirmative, you will be responding to the most common symptoms of adrenal fatigue.

Nervous system

The body is trained to handle stress situations, in fact, we are designed to deal with a stress situation that may be a threat. Our autonomous nervous system takes care of it. This is divided into two types:

1. Sympathetic (activates as a fight or flight response.)
2. Parasympathetic (takes “possession” most of the time, state of rest and calm).

Example of “real life”“Imagine that you are in the car, on the way to the gym, and in this course, the load of a truck overturns right in front of you, in your direction of advance. Thanks to your lynx reflexes, you react quickly and avoid danger, with a skillful flip of the steering wheel synchronized with the brake pedal ”

Once the storm is over, you watch as your heart goes to 100 per hour, you are sweating, your hands are wet and tremble …

What has happened inside our body?

Identification of risk

As you have seen a more than probable accident,  the brain sends a nervous impulse  directly via the preganglionic sympathetic fibers to the adrenal medulla to secrete adrenaline.

Physiological alteration

This substance causes an increase in blood pressure, respiratory rate, increased pulsations and glucose, dilation of pupils, all with the aim of predisposing you to the stimulus that is the accident and be able to get out of it. It is purely an automatic reaction that comes directly from the brain.

Generation of neurotransmitters

At the same time, the brain is sending another nervous impulse, it is sending the  adrenocorticotropa hormone (CTH)  which is a neurotransmitter involved in the stress response – from the hypothalamus, and this in turn produces the release, from the pituitary gland, the  adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)  that communicates to the adrenal glands to produce  cortisol.

Hello Cortisol

The function of cortisol will be to increase the level of blood glucose to provide “fuel” to the muscles and to cope with the stress situation. A third hormone is released, the so-called aldosterone, a mineralocorticoid responsible for regulating the levels of sodium and potassium in the body. Sympathetic System As we have said, the body can activate the sympathetic system to overcome any risk or threat. The problem stems from the fact that this activation remains constant, given that the body continually identifies situations of risk. In our world this is mainly due to … stress.

What happens with Cortisol?

Abnormal levels of  prolonged cortisol,  can ruin the efforts that so much sacrifice causes the gym, because these high levels generate several damages, among others, suppression of the function of the pituitary gland, leading to low levels of testosterone …

Effects of cortisol

• Increase in blood sugar levels
• Suppression of pituitary function, causing a decrease in luteinizing hormone and, due to this, a lower level of endogenous testosterone
• Decrease in the detoxifying capacity of the liver
• Increased bowel inflammation, infection and permeability
• Alteration of the immune system function, allowing an increased risk of infection
• Insomnia

Alteration circadian rhythms

This last consequence has implications for the circadian rhythm. Cortisol tends to be elevated during the morning, to decrease throughout the day, being at night its lowest level, which coincides with the resting phase. An altered order can cause, among other symptoms:

• Memory and learning problems
• Insomnia and problems falling asleep
• Lack of rest

Why is Physical Exhaustion Produced?

When someone experiences physical exhaustion or fatigue, it means that they can not continue to function within their normal levels of physical ability. In addition, mental fatigue plays a prominent role in this.

Do not pretend to be an athlete …

The cusp of collecting all the above factors results in our body not recovering properly from efforts, even if they are light, leading to one of the feared syndromes that any athlete would like to get away from, over training. It is true that many top-level athletes train many hours, and yet, in our case, for a few hours a week, we already notice this fatigue.

Why Do Athletes Support this Rhythm?

• These athletes have some outstanding qualities (genetics and sports predisposition),
• Dedication 100% (High Performance Centers),
• They are monitored (highly qualified personal trainers, available means),
• No worries or external distractions (your sport is your job).

Causes of Physical Exhaustion

Stress

It`s 6:45 and the alarm goes off … but if you do anything to turn off the light to sleep,  after having prepared the dinner, pick up the clothes, give the children dinner, pick up the table, put the dishwasher … A new day, which chronometrically lasts 24 hours, although for you it is as if it were double. The problem of repeating the same pattern of actions every day, or what is the same, the routine, is not the exact problem, but the  workload and responsibilities associated with the person  what is generating a state that is increasing as that advances the time, arriving to exhaust it in the physical plane, and mainly psychic. The worst: you may keep this situation even when you go to sleep, and do not do it …

Cortisol

Cortisol is the  warning hormone, which is activated in critical situations, stress … Our ancestors had a great appreciation, because thanks to it the body reacted in thousandths of a second, giving time to escape the predator that came to the cave where they spent the night … Under normal conditions, this hormonal secretion would remain at  maximum during the beginning of the day  so that as the day progresses it will decrease and finally coincide with the start of the night rest.

Rhythm of life

Especially if you live in a city, it only increases this situation. Having to adjust to the schedule, go out again with the food in full digestion … are reasons for a free person every day a hard battle (against itself) and to prolong the activation of cortisol. Unfortunately in this aspect little can be done, it is the innovations of the 21st century that generate this problem, but what we can do is act accordingly, through  activities that can mitigate the harmful effects of stress, and that do not cause us a continuous discomfort in the performance of our daily tasks.

Vitamin B12 deficiency

One of the groups that can most notice the effects of lack of vitamin B12 are vegetarian or vegan. But not only is it exclusive to them, people affected by autoimmune disease (such as Crohn, ulcerative colitis …), people with celiac disease, alcohol users, or patients with leaky gut syndrome, can also present this diagnosis.

The vitamin B12 is known as cobalamin, and exerts important functions and is involved in reactions such as the  health of the nervous system, red blood cell synthesis, DNA …  low levels of water-soluble vitamin may result in cases such as:

• Anemia
• Weakness and exhaustion
• Difficulty breathing
• Depressive symptoms
• Confusion, lack of memory and alertness

Lack or Excess of Iron

The iron is an  essential mineral  for human health. One of the main functions is to support the red blood cells for the  transport of oxygen to all the cells of our body. Iron is also involved in metabolic processes of  conversion of glucose into energy, being a crucial step in athletes, since it allows the muscle to work in conditions according to the intensity of the activity. The  synthesis of certain enzymes, hormones, amino acids, and neurotransmitters  also has room for this mineral, being equally important in patients recovering from some type of disease, or after periods of great physical demand, such as competitive event or a quite demanding training plan.

Loss of Iron

Possible  routes of excretion of iron  in our body can come by: Urination, Sweating, Defecation, Exfoliation of skin cells … Hemorrhages increase iron depletion, and this symptom is usually suffered by the female audience. Also, considered as risk groups are vegetarians or vegans, people with some type of stomach disease, celiac disease, and women who use hormonal contraceptives.

Iron Absorption

Although you could be a remedy the image above … the truth is  iron alone is not absorbed and need co factors, ie substances that help their assimilation. Among these elements, the principal is the  vitamin C. In the same way there are  substances or foods that it would be better to avoid at the same time that we ingest iron, via supplementation (zinc, calcium) or through food, such as coffee and tea, due to tannic acid and catechins that limit absorption.

Symptoms of Lack of Iron

A   very immediate effect of keeping the “warehouses” low, referred to this mineral, is the case of not producing correctly hemoglobin, limiting the transport of O2, and this leads to the symptoms of:

• Fatigue
• Dizziness
• Athletic disability, referred to athletes

Excess of Iron

If the lack of this mineral is alarming, it is not less, its  excess. It is possible to over nutrition of iron, either by excessive diet of this, or by “abuse” of supplements intended to supply deficiencies, not with the thought of “more is better”. In these cases always have the opinion of an expert.

Among the possible symptoms of excess iron is known:  Hemochromatosis, or accumulation of iron in the body in tissues and organs, which if not put on the brakes can end up damaging these, and with fatal consequences.

How to End Physical Exhaustion

Disconnect

It seems easy … Despite being subjected to a cascade of responsibilities, sometimes our health must occupy the first position. Find ways to disconnect from time to time, even if only a couple of days a month. Your body is going to thank you infinitely. The mountain or the beach (obviously avoids crowds), a spa, even a “spa” … You must dedicate time and seek a moment of disconnection to promote the Relax.

Take care of your Food

One of the effects of leading a busy life is that  important aspects are neglected, such as the issue of food. It tends to the “easy”, such as throwing precooked foods, snacks of poor nutritional quality, eating in 5 minutes, …, all this leads to direct consequences in a relatively short period and that also produces a “fish” behavior that bites the tail “:” … as I`m in a hurry, like something fast, the first thing I catch, but that in turn does not feel good, but I have 10 minutes to go out again … “.

Consequences of a Bad Food

• Weight gain:  A higher fat index is associated with contracting certain types of diseases, which together with the sedentary nature, athletically speaking, can occur in the case of insulin resistance, diabetes, symptoms of fatigue, weakness …
• Energy ups and downs:  Motivated by food of poor quality and the abuse of sugars, which make us a minimum function from the nutritional level, and that cause alterations of our mental and energy, from the hormonal point, by causing multiple increases in insulin. They are energetic foods, they provide you with fast but not sustainable energy, but they tend to produce a consequent downturn, which damages cognitive tasks.

 What foods are recommended?

• Eggs  (campers if possible), lean meats, fresh fish,  fresh cheese …
• Sources of essential fats, such as blue fish, olive oil, nuts …
• Fruits and vegetables, fresh and seasonal. These can serve as a snack (apples, raw carrots …)
• Carbohydrates in moderation, preferably low GI, such as rice or whole grains, tubers such as potatoes, sweet potatoes.

Strategie

Prepare the next day`s meal, or at least the most laborious dishes, such as lunch or dinner, the night before is a good strategy. For meals of the rest of the day, you can go on the go, like  cold salads, for mid-morning or snacks go to one of these  healthy recipes, and of course, opt for healthy dinners.

Do not Forget the Salt

Because the adrenal glands are responsible for producing  aldosterone, if this is reduced, the level of sodium in the blood is eliminated through the urine. Drinks with low sodium and high potassium are not the solution, since this is opposite for those who suffer from cortisol. If you eliminate processed foods, and opt for a healthy diet, you may be resentful of the lack of this supply of sodium, therefore, you will have to provide salt in your dishes.

Sport activity

One  of the best steps you can take in your goal of disconnection, and increase the quality of life. The practice of a sport motivates the mind, frees it, it is a time in which you evade any problem or task, it is a “kit-kat” in every rule. Whether it`s going to the gym, swimming in the pool, running, cross fit for the toughest :), spinning, and why not, buzz; P, whatever it is, do it, and help you generate a release state of endorphins that will directly affect the feeling of well-being.

Download tool

The premise is to look for an escape valve after a long day at the office, to  help us release and discharge tensions, or on the other hand, start the same energy charge with a morning workout, which  triggers satisfaction rates  from the first morning time.

Moderate Activity

Nor is it a plan to complicate our state, that is, if as I have explained, we want to lean on the sport for its benefits, what we can not do is to take it to the extreme and because of it, go under minimum forces and energies …  If we are able to maintain a high intensity, without problem, but just at the moment that  more than benefit, suppose an ordeal, we abort and seek or another activity, or we plan our routine better.

How and when to train

If we train in the gym, better opt for “full-body” or “torso-leg” routines since they are more efficient, because in less time, the results can be better than dedicating other types of strategies. If we go running, it`s not a matter of doing 20 km every day. A good scheme is to intersperse training, 2-3 times a week, such as continuous running, HIIT, fartlek … The same for swimming. If we go to directed activities, the planning is done according to the schedule in which they are taught, and it will be the monitor himself who will vary the distribution of the sessions.

Turn off the Light Before Sleeping

Sounds pretty obvious, and unless there is fear of the dark;) … But I mean we have to naturally segregate the hormone commonly known as rest, that is,  melatonin. If at first I mentioned cortisol, and due to current habits, it secretes too much, melatonin happens the opposite: the  production of melatonin  begins to take place when  the light intensity decreases, since the pineal gland is photosensitive.

From here it is easy to know why our ancestors kept in full condition the biological clock and circadian rhythms. Surely the asuence of lampposts, tablets, smartphones, TV, … would have something to do?

If we do not allow our body to secrete this hormone, our rest can be affected, entering a loop where we do not take advantage of this important moment …

Out of artificial light

So, a good habit would be to condition our bedroom for rest. If we go to bed is to sleep or for … So it was lights, no mobile phones or tablets (checking social networks until the last moment in which we close our eyes), if possible,  avoid electromagnetic pollution, caused by the load of the mobile or the accumulation of electronic devices on the bedside table. If necessary, using a sleeping mask would not be a bad option.

Everything necessary to  re-synchronize our internal clock, where a direct consequence may be waking up at the same time without the need for an alarm.