The bodybuilding and fitness lifestyle is not an easy one. Along with it comes a barrage of stressors that most take as simply a byproduct of the bigger picture. As those stressors add up over time, so can an overwhelming feeling of being on a low begin to develop for no apparent reason.
While you try your best to deal with this low, it sometimes spills over into other aspects of your life and all of a sudden your training starts to suffer. Next thing you realize is that your sleep habits are gradually getting worse and it’s taking longer to fall asleep than normal. Your energy levels a hitting all time lows and your ability to deal with any stress is nowhere to be seen. Your appetite is far from where it needs to be for a hard training individual, and you eventually begin to take on a persona, unlike anyone you’ve ever been before.
If any of this sounds familiar, you may be struggling with what is known as Adrenal Fatigue.
What is Adrenal Fatigue?
Adrenal fatigue is a culmination of many signs and symptoms grouped together to be known as a syndrome. It is the result of the adrenal glands functioning well below their normal capacity due to prolonged intense bouts of stress put upon them. The condition itself is relatively difficult to pinpoint as there may be no signs of a physical illness whatsoever. That being said, those who suffer from adrenal fatigue generally lead normal lives but are plagued with a sense of feeling down and being a little tired all the time. Often they end up looking to stimulants to help get them through their day.
What causes Adrenal Fatigue?
Like mentioned above, intense or prolonged bouts of stress are responsible for the downgrading of the adrenal glands. Cortisol levels become affected, your circadian rhythm gets thrown off, and your ability to produce the hormones needed to transmit “good” feelings is dampened.
This stress can come from many areas; family related stress, job stress, money worries, overtraining, loss of sleep, poor dietary habits and any other type of situation in which your body must respond to something that is bothersome to you. When this happens, the hormones released by the adrenal glands are diminished leading to problems regulating other functions in the body that keep us feeling healthy.
Energy production and storage is affected, immune function is impaired, your ability to metabolize important macronutrients becomes difficult, and your ability to handle any stress is nil. Your body will try its best to get itself back to homeostasis, but as you can see, it pays a hefty price for doing so.
What are some common signs?
While there is no one definitive or particular sign or symptom that directly leads you to diagnosing Adrenal Fatigue, there are some things you should pay attention to. When showing these characteristics for a long period, you may want to consider looking into ways to battle adrenal fatigue. You may be experiencing adrenal fatigue if you notice one or more of the following:
- Tired for no reason
- Hard time getting out of bed after sleeping a good amount of time
- Feeling rundown or always overwhelmed
- Takes a long time to get back to “normal” after being sick
- You crave sweet and salty snacks
- You feel more awake later in the evening than you do all day
How can you fix the problem?
The biggest change you can make to fix the problem of Adrenal Fatigue is to make a complete lifestyle change. Avoid the things that stress you out, or if you can’t do that, figure out a way to handle the pressures of life without letting it get to you. Next thing is to make sure to get your rest. You recover while you sleep and without it, you are only adding more stress to the situation.
Avoid overtraining in your routine at all costs. High volume, high-frequency training where you are asking your body to perform arduous tasks over and over again with no break is a sure-fire way to ramp up the stress on your body. Stick with training under the principles of Max-OT to avoid this from happening.
Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet including complex carbohydrates, lean cuts of meat, poultry and fish and focus on taking in a significant amount of healthy fats. Then once all this is in place look to your supplement protocol for additional help. Be sure to take a potent multivitamin/multimineral such as MultiPro 32X, as this product is designed for hard-working and high-stressed individuals.
Finally, enjoy life. This is quite possibly the best medicine.
Adrenal Fatigue is a real problem and something that can hold you back from being the best version of yourself you can be. Pay attention to how you are feeling, make changes in your lifestyle to avoid stressing out all the time, get your rest, enjoy your training and enjoy the things you like to do that make you happy. Don’t let yourself become a victim of a preventable problem.
