Exercise Improves Fatigue

Scientists conducting 70 randomized trials with 6,807 individuals concluded that regular exercise improved fatigue by as much as .37 standard deviations. This was true for all the different groups studied - healthy adults, cancer patients, diabetics, heart disease. This was better than improvement from medication modafinal, a narcolepsy drug, which improved symptoms by .27 standard deviations. Personally, I can't say that this has been true for me. Whenever I would exercise I would just feel like I expanded energy, and can't say that I felt an overall increase in my energy levels throughout the day. Of course, I would force myself to exercise, which felt like an energy drain. I must admit that I feel more energy, and less struggle, when I'm playing sports like football, ultimate, tennis, and hockey, but I never noticed the effect carrying over to when I was at work. Even when I was playing an aerobic intensive sport like ultimate on a regular basis, I didn't feel more awake, alert, or energetic while at work. The results leave me skeptical. Maybe the fact that the people actually performed the exercise influenced their perception of having more energy, when it was nothing more than just will-power. The article does say that the results would seem counterintuitive. I agree exercise is important, and I force myself to do it, but I don't seem to get the benefits they described, at least not that they are noticeable, except when I am playing sports.