Is your workout working for you?
Your workout might be why you can’t LOSE weight. Yes, you read that right.
Well, let me explain…If your goal is to lose weight and you are doing the wrong kind of exercise for adrenal health, you will not lose weight and can in fact, gain weight. In the age of more is better, people believe that the harder they work out the better body they will have. But over-training can have the opposite effect especially when you have adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue is an imbalance of hormones produced by the adrenal glands. These hormones include, cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. Hard-core exercising can tax this delicate hormonal balance and make you feel horrible. Under normal circumstances, cortisol helps maintain proper blood sugar levels by using glycogen stores (the storage form of glucose) from the liver. If you don’t have enough glycogen stores, cortisol then breaks down muscle in order to increase blood sugar levels. If cortisol is not functioning properly, as is the case with adrenal fatigue, it can cause excess sugar — storing this excess sugar in the form of fat — particularly in the belly region. Not only is this dangerous but the body loses the ability to use this sugar for energy
How do you know if you have adrenal fatigue?
Signs and symptoms of adrenal fatigue include consistently feeling run down, body aches, low blood pressure, lightheadedness, hair loss, loss of appetite, salt cravings, getting sick easily, brain fog, decreased sex drive, dark circles under your eyes, irregular menstrual cycles, trouble sleeping, and GI issues.
So, what is the wrong kind of exercise if you have adrenal fatigue? High intensity workouts cause the body to produce cortisol in order to help you use the sugar as fuel. However, if you have adrenal fatigue, your body already has cortisol dysregulation, abnormal regulation of the metabolic system, so a high intensity workout can lead to a crash which creates increased symptoms and instructs the cortisol to store any sugar in the body as fat. When the body is in a state of adrenal fatigue, it goes into survival mode which increases fat storage instead of normally burning fat.
If you notice that you used to feel great after a big workout and now feel terrible, it may be time to switch things up and allow your body time to rest and recover. This may be an “AHA moment” for those of you that stepped up your work outs in order to lose weight but aren’t seeing the results and are just feel crappy.
If this is you, break up with high intensity or heavy, long cardio workouts. Exercises including running, cross-fit and intense sports are not beneficial for an adrenal fatigued body.
What is the right exercise?
Research shows that long, slow walks for 1-hour or more are the key to reprogramming your body to start burning fat again. Generally, while recovering from adrenal fatigue, sticking to a low impact exercise is best. Aside from walking, other options include, swimming, water aerobics, light strength training and yoga.
Listen to your body. A good rule of thumb for adrenal fatigue sufferers is if you do a workout and feel abnormally exhausted and energy depleted up to 30 minutes after, you have gone too hard. This is a sign that you are not doing the right kind of workout for your body.
If you exercise all the time and eat well, yet see the scale going up, your workout could be at fault. Of course, not exercising at all is not the solution. You need to find the right kind of exercise and balance that will help you feel energized and reach your goal body weight. If you have any questions about how adrenal fatigue may be affecting you or if you are in need of a guide to help you find the right workout for you, reach out to me.
