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Workplace fatigue busters: don't let your job drain your energy—or diminish your workouts
Men's Fitness, Oct, 2002 by Lisa Alcalay Klug
Here's the first truth about your job: It's work. Love it or hate it, it's work. Write with a pen or pound with a hammer, it's work. Get paid a lot or get paid a little, it's still work.
Which brings up the second truth about your job: It's tiring. Spend eight hours or more doing anything, and it's bound to exhaust you. You're concentrating, managing conflict. And you're away from hearth and home.
All work and no play makes you more than a dull boy. Work exhaustion, in fact, causes serious damage when continued unchecked. "Some men pursue the almighty dollar at all costs, spending their health to gain wealth," says clinical psychologist Dan Baker, Ph.D., director of Canyon Ranch Life Enhancement Center in Tucson, Ariz. "Then they try to use their wealth to regain their health. That's a much tougher proposition."
In addition to draining your health, job fatigue taxes your workouts--keeping you from performing at your best whether you're lifting weights or running your favorite trail.
One way to fight back is to drink plenty of water, eat a well-balanced diet and get sufficient sleep. But it takes a lot more to put the oompf back into your day. To tackle this challenge, we've put together a holistic plan, addressing everything from head to heart. Within a number of weeks--if not hours--you should notice huge energy gains.
SCHEDULE A MENTAL TUNE-UP
The greatest influence on workday fatigue is your mental attitude. "The mind itself can create a heaven of hell or a hell of heaven," Baker says. Deadlines, performance pressure, competition for promotion, even the economy, get "into our heads and ultimately affect our bodies. The body never questions the brain: `Could you be exaggerating?' If the brain says you're in a combat zone, that's exactly how the body reacts." When the body senses danger, it releases great amounts of the opposing fight and flight hormones adrenaline and cortisol, which play havoc on muscle tension and mental concentration, and can even cause fat deposition. "When you're overdosed with these two hormones, you're assaulting your body," Baker explains.
If you often feel under siege at work, imagine your dream job and devise ways to actualize it. In the meantime, undergo a mental tune-up. "Focus on what's right about your work and try to build from there," says Baker. And watch the language you use. Does it create energy or take it away? Do you tend to say "I must" or "I can't" instead of "I choose" or "I get to"? "With constructive language, you can take on difficult opposition and become more resilient," Baker says.
DO YOUR BODY GOOD
If you experience severe slumps, ask your physician to test for low blood sugar or adrenal or thyroid insufficiency. Continued stress on your adrenals--from job pressures and a diet low in protein and high in caffeine, sugar and carbs--leads to a biochemical cascade that, when triggered many times a day for several years, can worsen a variety of conditions. According to The Canyon Ranch Guide to Living Younger Longer, written by the staff of Canyon Ranch Health Resorts (www.canyonranch.com), these include depression, headaches, musculoskeletal problems, anxiety, skin disorders, poor concentration, digestive troubles, infertility and a diminished sex drive.
A traditional M.D. would typically prescribe pharmaceuticals, something like hydrocortisone, but these carry the risk of side effects that may be more severe than the original afflictions. To rebalance adrenal levels, holistic practitioners (who emphasize natural remedies) prescribe capsules containing actual hormones, glandular extracts or a combination of vitamin C, pantothenic acid ([B.sub.5]), zinc, licorice root and ginseng. But supplements are only a quick fix, says Richard Kitaeff, N.D., L.Ac., a naturopathic physician and acupuncturist in Edmonds, Wash. A lasting solution requires a commitment to wellness.
PLAN FOR FUN
You can cultivate creativity, motivation and sustained energy by "planning your fun and relaxation when planning your work," says Ann McGee-Cooper, Ed.D., author of You Don't Have to Go Home From Work Exhausted. "It's just as important to have a well-thought-out plan to reenergize as it is to fulfill your work commitments."
McGee-Cooper's strategy, which has been tested by NASCAR drivers, includes these precepts:
* Exercise both sides of your brain by regularly switching gears. After performing a task that demands concentration and accuracy, read a humor column or jump rope (or toss around a football, as some MEN'S FITNESS staffers are prone to do). After brainstorming, illustrating, writing, teaching or performing similar creative activities, switch to filing, unpacking your briefcase or other zoning-out tasks.
* Take five- to 15-minute breaks to plan a new workout, schedule a date or plan a getaway.
* After long meetings, take 10 minutes to center yourself and relieve stress through "imaging." Picture yourself succeeding at a challenging task or at your ideal job. Shed the negative self-talk and self-criticism. Instead, focus on how you contributed new ideas to the meeting, took informative notes or listened well.
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