Replenished
Senior Member
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This is completely anecdotal but I've had two days many months apart where I've forced myself to do some exercise in the morning and this has resulted in much more energy for that day.
When I say forced myself, let me be clear I'm not suggesting anyone with M.E. should force themselves to exercise when they are not up to it. The days where I have done the morning exercise have been days where I've been feeling 'ok'. Not well, but ok. I didn't have a lot of energy or feel like doing the exercise particularly and even during the exercise I can't say I felt great but after doing it, then recovering/resting for half an hour, my energy pool seemed to massively increase for the rest of the day.
The first occasion this scenario happened was, I went for a very very light jog, walking pace but jogging for about 20 minutes with some walking in between every few minutes of jogging. This was after breakfast. I then laid down at home for half an hour just resting. After 30 minutes or so my energy seemed to grow and I had a good day.
The second occasion was today, but this time I went for a bike ride, after breakfast, again very slow pace but enough to get the breathing and heart going, for about 20 minutes. Straight after the bike ride, I actually felt quite depleted and felt I was about to get some bad PEM. I was annoyed thinking how limited I still am. I went to lay down for half an hour in my annoyance, expecting I'd pushed myself too far and am going to feel like crap but after about 30 minutes, again my energy started to lift. I felt hungry, and wanted to do something active. I then did a workout with weights (I used to be really into bodybuilding/weightlifting before becoming unwell) and I found I had the most energy to lift weights that I've had in a long time. I then went shopping. It's hours on and I still feel I have energy spare to do more if needed but I'm not going to push anymore for today.
Sorry, I've made that a really long explanation for something quite basic but I wondered if anyone has experienced anything similar or if there is any logic as to why the morning exercise led to more energy throughout the day?
To me it felt like the light cardiovascular exercise in the morning, somehow fired up my system and got some oil/fuel in the engine per say. If I feel up to it I will try it again tomorrow and report back.
When I say forced myself, let me be clear I'm not suggesting anyone with M.E. should force themselves to exercise when they are not up to it. The days where I have done the morning exercise have been days where I've been feeling 'ok'. Not well, but ok. I didn't have a lot of energy or feel like doing the exercise particularly and even during the exercise I can't say I felt great but after doing it, then recovering/resting for half an hour, my energy pool seemed to massively increase for the rest of the day.
The first occasion this scenario happened was, I went for a very very light jog, walking pace but jogging for about 20 minutes with some walking in between every few minutes of jogging. This was after breakfast. I then laid down at home for half an hour just resting. After 30 minutes or so my energy seemed to grow and I had a good day.
The second occasion was today, but this time I went for a bike ride, after breakfast, again very slow pace but enough to get the breathing and heart going, for about 20 minutes. Straight after the bike ride, I actually felt quite depleted and felt I was about to get some bad PEM. I was annoyed thinking how limited I still am. I went to lay down for half an hour in my annoyance, expecting I'd pushed myself too far and am going to feel like crap but after about 30 minutes, again my energy started to lift. I felt hungry, and wanted to do something active. I then did a workout with weights (I used to be really into bodybuilding/weightlifting before becoming unwell) and I found I had the most energy to lift weights that I've had in a long time. I then went shopping. It's hours on and I still feel I have energy spare to do more if needed but I'm not going to push anymore for today.
Sorry, I've made that a really long explanation for something quite basic but I wondered if anyone has experienced anything similar or if there is any logic as to why the morning exercise led to more energy throughout the day?
To me it felt like the light cardiovascular exercise in the morning, somehow fired up my system and got some oil/fuel in the engine per say. If I feel up to it I will try it again tomorrow and report back.
