Beyond Coffee and Willpower: The Science-Backed Approach to Increase Energy

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re feeling drained, sluggish, and are looking for sustainable ways to increase energy,  you’re not alone.  Many high-performing, busy professionals report low energy as one of their top frustrations, despite good intentions around diet, sleep, and exercise.

We take a holistic view to energy production and work with your biology, from a variety of angles, starting with understanding where energy really comes from and what drains it.

1. Mitochondria: The True Source of Your Energy

Most people don’t realise that energy doesn’t come from food—it comes from your mitochondria’s ability to turn food into energy.

Mitochondria are tiny structures inside your cells often described as “powerhouses” but that doesn’t do justice to their role. They take in oxygen and nutrients (especially glucose and fats) and convert them into ATP, your body’s actual unit of usable energy.

When mitochondria are functioning well, you feel clear-headed, have sustained energy and feel resilient to stress. If mitochondria become damaged or inefficient, through aging, poor sleep, stress, or inflammation, fatigue and brain fog creep in and recovery slows.

Improving mitochondrial health is one of the fastest ways to increase energy at a cellular level. This includes:

• Eating nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory foods
• Supporting mitochondria with key nutrients like CoQ10, magnesium, and B vitamins
• Maintaining a fitness routine that is known to challenge your muscles and stress your cells, such as HIIT and resistance training
• Using evidence-based technologies like IHHT (Intermittent Hypoxic-Hyperoxic Training) to promote mitochondrial renewal and oxygen efficiency

2. Metabolism: The Fire That Fuels You

Your metabolism is the sum total of all the processes in your body that create and use energy. A sluggish metabolism can leave you feeling slow, tired, and unable to recover. A robust metabolism means you’re converting fuel efficiently, managing blood sugar well, and burning fat and carbs for steady energy, not sugar highs followed by crashes.

People often associate metabolism with weight loss or calorie burning. In reality, your metabolism is deeply tied to movement, muscle, and mitochondrial activity.

One of the most efficient ways to boost your metabolism is through regular, muscle-stimulating movement. This doesn’t mean long cardio sessions, but short, focused sessions, especially resistance training, to send strong signals to your body to keep energy production high.

Technologies like Whole Body EMS (Electrical Muscle Stimulation) offer a powerful way to build strength and stimulate metabolism, especially when time is limited. EMS activates muscle fibres deeply and efficiently, promoting metabolic health in just 20 minutes.

3. Resilience to Stress = More Energy for You

Let’s talk about energy loss through stress.

Chronic stress doesn’t just make you feel anxious or tense; it can hijack your biology. It shifts your body into survival mode, raising cortisol, impairing digestion and sleep, and increasing oxidative stress (internal damage caused by free radicals). All of this puts strain on your mitochondria and nervous system, draining energy.

If you’re constantly “on,” even if you appear calm on the surface, your body is likely spending energy on invisible survival mechanisms, leaving less for daily function and recovery.

To reclaim that energy, you need to build stress resilience at the level of your nervous system and cells.

Some of the most efficient approaches include:

• Breath efficiency training to improve CO₂ tolerance and nervous system regulation
• Neurofeedback, which helps your brain navigate stressors without becoming stuck in survival
• IHHT (aka Altitude Training), which reduces oxidative stress and inflammation, improves mitochondrial health and oxygen efficiency
• Resistance training helps your body shift out of stress physiology and back into muscular balance

The Takeaway: Energy Efficiency Comes from Inside

Boosting your energy is about targeting multiple bodily systems in a smart, efficient way. By improving your body’s energy production systems (mitochondria), fuelling your metabolism with effective movement, and reducing internal energy drains like stress and inflammation, you build a system that sustains your performance long-term.

No crash. No burnout. Just consistent, reliable energy, physically and mentally.

If you’re curious about science-backed ways to increase your energy and resilience, I’d love to help you build your system.