Unintentional Energy Zapping via LEA....
You are out there doing your best, but you’re slowly feeling more & more zapped, not the plan.
Monday: Work is loading up as you enter a known stressful period, you choose to keep your HIIT training & add in more to try to lift your energy.
Tuesday: You made it to the gym in the morning, high five, but you forgot to your bring breakfast & you’ve got no time to stop.
Wednesday: You’ve had a few more meetings piled on at work & lunch is now cut in half & your appetite is blunted from the stress.
Thursday: You’ve got a bit of extra time so you DO MORE at the gym!! Oh and your casual team sport tonight.
Friday: …. just moody.
Sound familiar??
So what is going on when you are doing what you’ve been told, no one could fault you for your effort, but your energy is as flat as a pancake (ironically) - it might be Low Energy Availability (LEA)!
Low Energy Availability (LEA) describes the disruption in normal physiological function existent when insufficient energy intake is combined with exercise. SO not meeting the nutritional needs of your base metabolic requirements (ie: organ function) + daily living activities + exercise efforts.
To conserve energy a range of endocrine (hormonal) adaptations occur, impairing health, work efficiency, emotional availability and athletic performance.
And LEA is more common than you might think in your non professional athletes - YOU “recreational exercisers”. A solid study in NZ (Slater et al 2016) surveyed 109 recreational female exercisers & found 45% were at risk of LEA.
LEA has been classified in three mechanisms and acting on a spectrum "unintentional", "intentional but misinformed", "clinical disordered eating".
The first two being the target of our chat here. Here are examples of how we can end up each spot through the lifespan:
puberty:
unintentional - loving movement & running around all day at school, then having an after school sport most nights of the week, & games on Saturday.
intentional but misinformed - hormone peaks changing biomechanics & performance = training more will fix drop in performance; hormone peaks changing body shape = training more & eating less.
reproductive:
unintentional - all variations you can come up with from our intro example.
intentional but misinformed - increasing cardio volume & eating less to control body shape / being told females need less protein than males / fasting pre exercise.
Peri & post menopause:
unintentional - hormone changes adjusting sense of huger & thirst so consuming less / finally being at the top of your career game = stress + new physiological stress of changing hormones
intentional but misinformed - noticing change in body composition (due to hormone changes) so exercising more & eating less.
The implications of functioning in this state are:
reduced training effect
higher injury risks*
onset of mood disorders*
cognitive impairment*
cycle disruptions/hypothalamic amenorrhea
reduced bone density
immunity disorders*
gastrointestinal disorders*
thyroid & hormonal disruptions* ....
*things compounded by perimenopause
What to do:
1) take time off - 4-5 days or more & notice what improves, YUM!
2) increase nutrition & hydration focus, particularly in the morning & as soon after exercise as possible
3) cut your exercise load & volume in half & notice what improves
4) monitor your morning heart rate - if it’s +7 beats higher than your average take a rest day
5) replace an intense training session with a more yin/parasympathetic training session
6) all of the above
Take the Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire
General ideas for those in puberty are we shouldn’t be exercising for more hours than our age.
For those that are not yet exercising but feeling low energy & starting feels like an oxymoron - start with seeking sun in the morning, start your day with movement - small bits of yin yoga/beginners pilates or yoga. Learn about how much nutrition you need for your life as you build your exercise & celebrate your success while avoiding comparison.
xx