# Energy: the #1 complaint

Hidden vs visible stressors. Exercise gives energy; under-fuelling and stimulant loops take it.



## Takeaways

- Rate energy daily.

- Add one active movement per week, not five.

- Are you under-fuelled? Check calories before supplements.



Energy is the number one reason people come to Galpin: tired all day, can't sustain output, recovery takes longer. What separates world-class performers isn't working harder — it's energy management: choosing what matters, stripping the rest.

He splits causes into visible stressors (you're not exercising, you're under-fuelled, you're over-caffeinated and under-slept in a loop) and hidden ones (a pathogen, mould, low energy availability, a mismanaged relationship). Exercise reliably increases feelings of energy across 70 trials — 'stress inoculation': the thing that exhausts you now is the thing that gives you capacity later. Light-to-moderate sessions give energy the same day; hard sessions cost today and pay on aggregate.

Track a daily energy (and stress) rating; SleepShred correlates it with sleep, caffeine, exercise and alcohol so you can find your own constraint.



## Sources

- Effects of chronic exercise on feelings of energy and fatigue: a quantitative synthesis (Puetz TW, O'Connor PJ, Dishman RK, 2006)

- Association between objectively-measured physical activity and sleep, NHANES 2005–2006 (Loprinzi PD, Cardinal BJ, 2011)

- The bidirectional relationship between exercise and sleep: implications for exercise adherence and sleep improvement (Kline CE, 2014)

- The cumulative cost of additional wakefulness: dose-response effects on neurobehavioral functions and sleep physiology from chronic sleep restriction and total sleep deprivation (Van Dongen HP, Maislin G, Mullington JM, Dinges DF, 2003)

---
Educational summary of published research, not medical advice. Screening scores are not diagnoses. If a score is elevated or you feel unwell, talk to a clinician.

SleepShred for iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6802040541