Hey guys. Just wondering how long the duration of fatigue is for you after the gym?
For example. Trained today and getting to the car after the gym was hard i was so spent. Then came home, had a shake and passed out on the couch for at least 2 hrs before i started feeling good enough to start doing things. Maybe even 3 hours sometimes, and caffeine for me is a must after training otherwise i cannot function no matter how hard i try.
This about the same for you guys? Cos finishing training at 10 fucks me until at least 12/12.30.
[quote]pro-a-ggression wrote:
Hey guys. Just wondering how long the duration of fatigue is for you after the gym?
For example. Trained today and getting to the car after the gym was hard i was so spent. Then came home, had a shake and passed out on the couch for at least 2 hrs before i started feeling good enough to start doing things. Maybe even 3 hours sometimes, and caffeine for me is a must after training otherwise i cannot function no matter how hard i try.
This about the same for you guys? Cos finishing training at 10 fucks me until at least 12/12.30.
Thoughts? Is it normal?[/quote]
I felt that way quite often when I was younger. I’m 30 now. It used to happen in late teens and early 20s but I attribute this (and maybe mistakenly so) to sub-optimal nutrition and lifestyle.
What’s your lifestyle like? Student? Work full-time? Combo of work and school? Training program? Nutrition? Maybe even lab values if you have them.
I experience this, but only after some kind of heavy/particularly intense leg day. No stims for me either, but I usually eat a big dinner, and then have a post-dinner nap… and then I’m good.
I have no idea why this might occur, but it does kind of suck, lol. I really can’t see anything other than stims/nap to fix this, unless this is some crazy peri-workout nutrition thing, lol.
I’ve been experiencing this a lot in the last year. It seems to me when I was younger I rarely had this problem. Now, at 34, it seems more common. I would not be surprised at all to find that my test is not what it used to be.
I’m experimenting with different training durations, post-workout nutrition, exercise selection etc. For example this post-workout lag seems to be shorter when I have more carbs in my shake after my workout.
Have had the same thing recently, because of cutting up i thought. Measeured my blood sugar after working out and surpise, it was below fasting levels. I added more carbs post workout and a banana in the middle of the workout, and im just fine.
I think the other commitments of my life factor in a lot more these days, even when I don’t fully realize it. Yeah, I usually leave the gym feeling like I pounded myself pretty hard, but it’s not until Friday evenings when I’ve been running myself all week, up at 5am every day, and burning the candle on both ends so to speak, when I can just plop down and pass out on my couch after a session.
This is something I would experience every once in a while in the past (as Brick mentioned), but never experience anymore. In the past though (high-school, early college) I would workout for an hour and a half, and then play basketball for another hour and a half afterward, with no semblance of peri-wo nutrition. My diet was a travesty as well. So yeah, Id make sure all your ducks are in row nutrition and sleep wise, and then reassess.
The reason why I asked about those other factors is because many people ignore them. I believe the reason I felt like that is because college life is completely disorderly for some people! There is often a lack of resources and sleep; HIGHLY erratic stress and schedules (tests, studying and studying and studying); crappy living quarters; and just so much distraction.
Some people have part-time jobs that take up time and don’t allow for regular attendance at a gym or regular eating. I actually found these jobs (folding clothes at a GAP, bartending, waiting tables, buttering bagels) MORE stressful than regular professional jobs I’ve had.
[quote]mithious wrote:
Deadlift day is the best![/quote]
Fixed for you!
This last week or so I’ve been coming home from work and basically passing out, so I know what you mean. My solution: eat and sleep more. So far so good…
[quote]mithious wrote:
Deadlift day is the best![/quote]
Fixed for you!
This last week or so I’ve been coming home from work and basically passing out, so I know what you mean. My solution: eat and sleep more. So far so good…
[/quote]
Have you been making much progress lately? Do you feel like you’re getting more fat compared to muscle lately?
I go straight to work after less than an hour after getting home from the gym. I’ll often feel stimulated and energised for work, which is the best feeling for good gains.
As soon as I start to feel like you did, I pull back in some way (e.g. rest more). But that’s because I usually have all the other things in order (sleep/diet/stress), so I realise that the only other other variable is training. As soon as I’ve pulled back, gains increase and my body composition improves after a week or two.
If you’ve been training solid and intense for 8+ weeks without a deload/few days break, then I’d seriously consider that. Eating more and trying to sleep more will only do so much; if you’ve accumulated a high level of systematic fatigue, then you need to “let the air out” first (i.e. let your system bounce back).
If you take a few days off/deload, then make sure when you push ahead you do better with nutrition and rest. Also, reassess your workout volume/frequency; are you doing too many exercises/sets? Rarely do I find that I need more than 6 exercises, (3 or so of which are big compound).
A favourite saying of CT is: “Even if the extra volume would give you 2% more gains (which it probably doesn’t) if it causes 10% more fatigue, in the long run it will actually be detrimental for long term progress”
I am typically energetic and uplifted after a workout, especially after I eat. The only problem I run into is after a leg day, where several hours after I’m done at the gym I will bend down to get some or try to get off the couch and my thighs will just die on me.
I have noticed two different times when I will feel like crap after a workout.
One is when I feel crappy going in. If I haven’t been sleeping well, or I am stressed about something else in life I will start to feel drained. When I feel lousy on both ends of a workout, I need to fix whatever problem is holding me back.
If I feel great at the start, but towards the end start to feel groggy and sluggish, it is a blood sugar thing. I immediately get some carbs in me and I start to feel better just as quick.
Neither one happens all that often anymore as I have been better about reading the warning signs before I get there.
Hm… all really good points. Trying to juggle my new uni course, working 3 days a week, gym 5 days a week, study and my girlfriend. So the nutrition isnt adequate although im still gaining weight.
Why do you say after a shake i would feel tired? Usually food gives me a boost, though its still an hour or so after my workout. I also smash the caffeine so im thinking in 2 weeks im going to go cold turkey cos im thinking that it might be that also. I have about 5 cups a day so maybe too many.
Sleeping patterns are off and i have been stressed. Just things u dont think about. Ill try to:
get better sleeping patterns
eat better
maintain stress levels - been big lately, little depressed, tired – only thing fun is gym and gf atm. haha
and toning down the coffee to only when need be
cheers for the thoughts guys, ill let u know how i go and report back in 3-4 weeks to let things settle down.
If I were you, I would immediately throw out caffeine post workout. That’s a horrible idea in my opinion, especially if you’re trying to gain right now. The caffeine is going to keep you in an excited state and less anabolic.
It sounds to me like you’re just dealing with post workout stress which I get often too. I leave feeling completely shit on at times, sick to my stomach, shakey, head ache and just want to crash for the rest of the day. Obviously, working full time, this isn’t possible, especially since I lift early in the morning before work.
What I find works best for me, to get myself feeling cognitive and awake, is a does of fish oil (~6g Flameout) and then about 6,000 IU’s of vitamin D. This on top of sound peri-workout nutrition really helps me.
I’m amped and fresh after a workout, but I’m always tired and sleepy as hell during the day. But’s it’s quite normal for me, as my blood pressure and pulse are both quite low compared to other teens around here (my bp is 98/56, pulse is round 50-52 bpm in a relaxed state. post-workout i’m much fresher, and feel more energetic.
however, there’s an exception, legs. Whenever I train them they add 1.5-2 hours of sleep to my normal needs, and I can barely move. Unfortunately, its my fault too, as I find it impossible to have a decent meal after a heavy leg workout.
making sure you are eating enough carbs both pre and postworkout as other people said. I have felt like I was gonna pass out during or towards the end of a workout which normally involved a deadlift variation or a squat variation. T bar rows seem to be really taxing as well.