When I woke up this morning I was tired. I mean really fucking tired.

Recently, I took a 25 mile long bike ride along the C&O Canal and while it was a beautiful ride, my body wasn’t quite used to the duration.

During the week, I train every day. I typically do three days of strength training along with two days of interval training, but my sessions are short and fall between 25-45 minutes each. I’m not one for long duration cardio and find it insanely boring.

But every now and then, I like a challenge and to mix things up which is why I took a 25 mile ride on my mountain bike. And even though it was only a handful of hours of work, it wore me out.

So getting up before sunrise sucked and I would have rather watched 12 hours of non-stop Kardashian shows than roll out of bed, but I did it anyways.

Given the level of my exhaustion, I had to pull out all my tricks in order to stay awake and keep functioning and it got me thinking about all the ways in which I keep myself alert and focused during the day, even though most of the time I am wiped the fuck out.

What’s Making You Tired

The main reasons most of us (including me) are tired a lot is due to stress and trying to juggle too many things, but also because we carry that stress over into our sleeping habits.

And while there is no substitute for a good night’s sleep and I think getting 7-8 hours per night of uninterrupted sleep is best, it’s unrealistic for many of us.

And rather than tell you all the reasons you need more sleep (you won’t listen anyway), I’m going to share some ways you can be more energetic during the day given the sleep you do get.

So today’s video shares 7 ways to stop being so fucking tired and some tips and tricks I use in my own life to stay more energetic.

  1. Move more. It could be as little as a 10 minute walk, but you need to be more active.
  2. Avoid junk and blood sugar spikes. Nothing will sap your energy more that loading up on soda or candy and having a crash a short while later.
  3. Dump the negativity. Get rid of the stress, negative emotions, and bad vibes any way you can. I personally think sharing those thoughts with a close friend does wonders.
  4. Drink caffeine but learn to cycle it. Also, avoid it within 6 hours of bedtime.
  5. Get more sunlight and less artificial light.
  6. Drink more water, like half of your weight in ounces every day.

Keep in mind these things will help you in the short-term and get you through your days with more energy, but getting enough sleep and reducing overall stress are critical to your long-term health.

And if you have a YouTube account, feel free to subscribe to the Fit Dad Nation channel and get notified when I post new videos!

Fit Dad Basecamp
Join The Inner Circle