Questions about energy

Since 2001, over 90,000 cyclist's have joined Cycling Forums to discuss topics from general cycling to equipment, training, racing and travel or vacation destinations (especially in europe during the tour de france). We also feature an great deals in our online store, 100's of articles, classifieds and product reviews.

So i spent the last 7 years or so without the slightest shread of excersise!! I'm 27 now and I used
to be very energetic when i was in my teens (karate/football(err... soccer)/sprints etc etc), but
soon after starting work it was downhill from there. Through the years I have been on
Beer/Schintzel/French Fries and all other forms of junk food! grew from around 60 kgs of lean muscle
to 82 kgs of unadulterated fat!!!

During the last year I have completely turned around though, havn't touched a single junk food item
at all, run a mile or so every day, work out quite hard(mostly free weights and pushups/pullups etc)
and have started studying aikido. I'm down to 77 kgs now but all of it pure muscle (so I like to
think ;-) but seriously the only little bit of flab i have is around my belly, but that too is fast
disapearing.. but i have noticed that my energy patterns have severly changed over the years.. from
beign able to have sustained or bursts of energy during physical activity back in the day, now I can
only manage short bursts.. e.g I can't do more than a mile and a half (6.5mps on a treadmill)
despite a regular schedule. my legs hurt/breathing becomes stressed (not too severly though), but
after a short while of slow walking I can get into the workout phase quite easily, can manage around
75 pushups without a problem and that's only a warmup!! but it really sucks not beign able to run
some more...

I don't smoke (never did), used to drink socially(occasionally) but that too has stopped. and health
is otherwise perfect.

do you'll have any suggestions on how I could increase my energy levels to run longer. Thanks,
A.

autofuzz@lokmail.net (Autofuzz) wrote:

> do you'll have any suggestions on how I could increase my energy levels to run longer.

Don't run everyday. You mentioned eariler in your post (deleted) that you ran 'a mile or so
everyday'. I would take two days off a week... maybe even three. The other keys of course are proper
sleep and diet. Also, it is important to mix your runs up a bit. Don't always do the same thing day
in and day out. Do mostly slow runs and then one or two fast/hard runs per week. Those hard runs
could be a fartlek, track work, tempo run or hills.
--
David Nova Scotia, Canada.

Are you eating enough calories now? If you are eating clean then you might not be eating enough.
Also you need to push yourself a little, then rest to recovery.

Brian