How to Get More Energy: It Starts Off the Court

How to Troubleshoot Your Energy

If you’re an active adult living and playing in Florida, you’ve likely had days where your energy simply flatlines on the court. It’s easy to assume something is wrong, or to throw your hands up and blame it on getting older. But before you write off your stamina, take a step back. Your body is sending you clues long before you run out of gas.

True energy doesn't start when you tie up your sneakers, it starts off the court. Here is a practical guide to troubleshooting your daily vitality and getting back your competitive edge.

1. Sleep Quality Matters as Much as Sleep Quantity

Getting seven or eight hours of sleep is a good start, but time in bed isn't the same as restorative sleep. If you're waking frequently, sleeping lightly, or waking up tired despite spending enough time in bed, the quality of those hours matters.

One surprisingly simple factor is temperature. Your body naturally cools as it prepares for sleep, and a bedroom that's too warm can interfere with that process which is especially relevant here in Florida. Late-evening intense exercise, alcohol, heavy meals, stress, and an inconsistent sleep schedule can also make restorative sleep harder to achieve.

Quick Fix: Keep your bedroom cool, give yourself a wind-down window, and finish intense workouts early enough for your body to cool down before bed.

2. Fuel for the Day’s Activities

Playing 90 minutes of tennis or pickleball creates very different demands than sitting at a desk. If you're heading onto the court under-fueled, or routinely restricting carbohydrates because you've been told they're “bad”, you may simply not have enough readily available fuel for the activity you're asking your body to perform.

Carbohydrates are stored in your muscles as glycogen, and court sports rely heavily on those stores during repeated bursts of movement. So on longer or more intense days, your carbohydrate needs may be higher than they are on a rest day.

But what you eat your carbohydrates with matters too. Ever eat something, feel energized for a while, and then hit that dreaded afternoon slump? Pairing carbohydrates with protein, fiber and healthy fats can help provide steadier energy during everyday life.

Think fruit with Greek yogurt, an apple with nut butter, or whole-grain toast with eggs. The goal isn't to avoid carbohydrates - it's to match your fuel to what you're actually doing.

Quick Fix: Match your fuel to your day. Eat enough to support your activity, use carbohydrates strategically around harder exercise, and build everyday meals around carbohydrates paired with protein, fiber and healthy fats.

3. Your Stress Bucket Doesn't Distinguish Between Tennis and Tuesday

Your body doesn't experience your tennis match in isolation from the rest of your life. Work deadlines, family responsibilities, travel, emotional stress, poor recovery, and hard workouts can all contribute to your total physiological load.

On top of that, playing in Florida’s heat and humidity adds a major hidden demand. In warm weather, your heart undergoes 'cardiovascular drift,' beating faster at the exact same pace because it has to split its effort between powering your legs and pumping blood to your skin for cooling. That extra climate strain fills your stress bucket even faster.

Quick Fix: When life or weather stress gets unusually high, lower your workout intensity. Always ask yourself: "What am I asking my body to recover from right now?"

4. Listen to the clues

Energy isn't the same every day, and an occasional off day on the court doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong. What can be more useful is noticing patterns and changes from what's normal for you.

Are you waking up tired despite getting enough sleep? Starting strong but fading earlier in a match? Hitting the same afternoon slump every day? Feeling noticeably more depleted during weeks when work, travel, heat, and training all pile up?

Those are clues worth paying attention to.

Start with the basics you've just read about: sleep, fuel, and your total stress load. Rather than changing everything at once, choose one area and see what happens. Sometimes a surprisingly small adjustment can make a meaningful difference.

Quick Tip: Before you schedule your next match, think about your energy over the past few weeks. What's changed and when do you notice it most? Pick one thing you can change this week and pay attention to how your body responds.

5. What Kind of Tired Are You?

"I'm tired" is one of the most common things I hear in my office. It's also one of the least specific. Not because it isn't real, but because tired can mean several very different things.

It's a bit like telling your tennis pro your game is off. A good pro doesn't hand you a new racquet. They ask questions. Is it your serve? Your footwork? Are you late on the ball, or just not getting to it? The answer changes the fix.

Tired works the same way. When a patient describes it, I'm usually listening for one of four things.

Sleepy. You could doze off almost anywhere if you sat still long enough: in a meeting, reading a book, as a passenger in the car, waiting for your court. This usually points to sleep itself. That can mean not enough of it, poor quality, or a sleep disorder like sleep apnea. And yes, fit people get sleep apnea too. Loud snoring, a partner who notices you stop breathing, or waking up with a headache or dry mouth are worth mentioning to your physician.

Fatigued. You're awake, but the tank is low. Everything takes more effort than it should, and it isn't only your body; your focus and motivation feel flat too. Fuel and total stress load matter most here. But this is also where low iron stores, thyroid changes, hormonal transitions, low mood, or a lingering virus like to hide.

Weak. Your energy may feel fine, but your muscles won't deliver. You push off and your legs feel like they're wearing ankle weights. This often points to recovery: too many hard days stacked together, or not enough protein to repair what you used. Less often, it's a medication. Statins, for example, can cause muscle aches and weakness in some people.

Winded. You're more out of breath than the effort explains, or your heart seems to be working harder than it should. Heat and conditioning account for a lot of this, especially in a Florida summer. But breathlessness can also come from anemia, asthma, heart rhythm problems, or medications such as beta-blockers that change how your heart responds to exercise.

One important exception: chest pressure, breathlessness out of proportion to what you're doing, lightheadedness, or a racing or irregular heartbeat during play are not energy problems to troubleshoot at home. Stop playing and get medical attention right away.

Most people aren't purely one type. Plenty of us are sleepy and fatigued. But naming your tired turns a vague complaint into a useful clue.

Quick Tip: Name your tired: sleepy, fatigued, weak, winded, or a combination. If you bring it up with your physician, start with that word.

The Bottom Line

Low energy on the court usually has a reason, and most of the time that reason is off the court: how you slept, what you ate, and everything else your body is carrying that week. Small, targeted changes often make a surprising difference. Knowing what kind of tired you are points you in the right direction. And if you've addressed the basics and your energy still isn't what it should be, don't just accept it as age. That's a sign something deserves a closer look.