Optimising Energy for Peak Performance

Unit 1 – Personal Energy: A Key To Success

• What is personal energy?
• Examples of the three types of personal energy
• The real energy crisis
• How leaders become and remain energized
• Implications for everyone
• Supplementary notes: physical energy production
• The nature of energy
• Units of measurement
• Energy production pathways from different foods
• Energy production from breathing
• Practical application of breathing
• Respiratory quotient (ie. Rq or re)
• Resting quotient
• Aerobic capacity and burning fat
• What happens during exercise?

Unit 2 – 14 Keys to Managing Your Personal Energy

• What are the keys to managing personal energy?
• What you do and think
• When you do things
• How you do things
• How you prioritize energy expenditures key
• How you reward thoughts and actions
• The impact of negative and positive self-talk
• Identifying and conquering sources of stress
• Eating an energy-enhancing diet
• Developing an exercise program
• Engaging in mood-improving activities
• Participating in energy-increasing activities
• Improving sleep patterns
• Creating a healthy environment
• Securing others’ support for energy management efforts
• Supplementary notes: energy & aerobic fitness
• ATP and ADP
• Sources of ATP
• Krebs cycle
• Summary of the aerobic energy system:

Unit 3 – 10 Falsehoods About Managing Energy Supply

• Myth 1. “there is no way anyone can learn to increase their energy level or to manage it better”.
• Myth 2. “i will always have all the energy i need whenever i need it, as long as i live.
• Myth 3. “i don’t have to concern myself with my energy level. Either i have energy or i don’t”.
• Myth 4. “i have no control over anything else. Why should i try to deal with my personal energy level when it is low?”
• Myth 5. “you are either born highly energized or you are not. You can never change that.
• Myth 6. “it doesn’t matter when i do things. Timing has nothing to do with how well i perform various tasks”.
• Myth 7. “i can just turn my energy lever to the “on” position when i start my workday and leave it there. The energy will continue to flow until quitting time”.
• Myth 8. “tension has no bearing on how much personal energy i have”.
• Myth 9: “what i eat or drink has nothing to do with my energy level”.
• Myth 10. “my mood has nothing to do with my energy level”.
• Fatigue & recovery
• Stages of fatigue
• Fatigue between work sessions
• Recovery from strenuous activity or tasks
• Oxygen debt and lactic acid
• Recovery from strenuous mental activity
• Strategies for recovering from mental activity.

Unit 4 – The “Other” Energies: Emotional and Intellectual

• Values and energy
• Intellectual energy
• Factors that contribute to shortages in intellectual energy
• Assessing your intellectual energy
• The primacy of emotional energy
• Factors that contribute significantly to shortages in emotional energy
• Assessing your emotional energy
• Supplementary notes: breathing
• Additional recommended reading

Unit 5 – The Myth of Invincibility

• Leadership and energy
• Enhancement of energy
• Supplementary notes: nutrition
• The recommended daily intake (rdi)
• The balanced diet
• The food pyramid
• The basics for healthy eating
• Carbohydrates, proteins and fats
• Carbohydrates
• The glycemic index
• Proteins
• Fats
• Other factors affecting nutrition
• Initial quality of ingredients used
• Range of ingredients used
• Compatibility of ingredients
• Cooking methods used
• Eating
• Major food groups
• Food allergies and food intolerance
• Allergies

Unit 6 – The Limits of Stress and Time Management

• General limits
• Basic points about personal energy
• Supplementary notes: stretching exercises
• Stretching the upper body
• Stretching the lower body

Unit 7 – Occupational Self-Sabotage

• Re-active and pro-active approaches
• Why people work
• Causes of avoidance
• The impact of avoidance
• What are “avoiders” trying to avoid?
• Bases for avoidance
• Supplementary notes: recreation and personal energy
• Energy and play
• Therapeutic benefits of recreation