This isn’t a recent developement, so please don’t start suggesting that I might have thyroid problems or anemia or whatever (i’m fine.)
Ever since I first hit the gym 8 years ago (and have been going there on-and-off), I would find that a morning workout (a good, hard, 1-1.5 hour workout with weights or some heavy cardio) would completely tank me for the rest of the day. I’m a professional pianist, so the prospect of having to practice for 7-8 hours afterwards sucks ASS. I can barely sit upright on the bench and there’s no energy left in my arms or in my shoulders, and my feet are trembling on the pedals. Practicing something slow and easy is doable, but getting through some of the more hair-raising stuff feels like a herculean effort. The triceps and shoulders start burning fast. For some reason, my mind is also slightly foggier; it’s not easy to focus and it tends to wander, so everything is difficult to do. Even having to go and get groceries sucks. The only thing I want to do after a workout is take a 2-hour nap.
For this reason, i’ve had to move my workouts to be the very last thing I do in a day - usually around 9-10 pm. Which sucks in its own ways, but it’s still better than dragging ass the entire day and thinking of nothing but sleep.
I’ve read somewhere that when you first start to excercise, it will wreck you and you will feel tired after, but after about 2 months of consistent excercising, you will start to feel energized instead. Well, that has never happened to me.
How’s it possible that even just a regular 1 hour long workout still drains me so much, both mentally and physically, for such a long time after i’m finished? I’m wondering how many others here experienced this?
Let us see what your average workouts each day of the week look like (including cardio).
EDIT: After having a quick look through your previous posts with you worrying about lack of sleep and stress, worrying that you’re not gaining muscle despite getting stronger and lots of other overthinking… This seems like it could be a mental thing. I imagine the same people that have given you answers before will give you similar ones again.
In your situation, I’d start a log, get on a low-frequency program and measure how you feel day to day. You don’t have to go balls to the wall to gain muscle! Make sure you’re eating healthy, make sure you’re sleeping enough, and learn to manage your stress better. The great thing about having a log is it can work as a diary for what works and what doesn’t. Being able to get advice consistently from some of the super educated people here could be the golden ticket for you.
Just 9 days ago some other users and I were discussing your “as many reps in 10mins” type programming ideas. Like dude, just the thought of that stuff exhausts me.
Lots of people feel this way. Especially as they get older and try to do the same stuff they did years ago.
There are lots of strategies to avoid this, from using different exercises, or doing less sets/reps, scheduling hard workouts for your days off, getting some nutrients in during your workouts, and on and on…
I get in a challenging workout first thing in the morning, then bike to work and I have a relatively high authority/stress job. I’m also 49. So it’s certainly possible for this work. Some thoughts about your situation:
I don’t know what you’re workouts entail. If they are soul-crushing to the point of flooring most people, that would be your answer. You’re feeling the natural effects of being physically exhausted.
Some point to your other posts (I haven’t checked them out) that suggest you stress about your training, its results, lack of sleep, etc… This may point to another problem: stress management. If you were struggling with this type of fretting before training, adding training on top of it could push you over the edge and leave you exhausted. You may need to first get a handle on your stress and lifestyle before embarking on a challenging training program.
It is likely some combination of physical (1) and mental (2) exhaustion. Try backing off your training intensity and duration. Once you can get in, say, 30 min of training 3x a week and feel good and recovered, only then add more to your workload.
In my country there is a saying that basically means smth like - The more you do, the more you can do.
Is lifting the only thing you do for sports? If yes, thats probably the answer.
When i was into fighting professionally i did gym every day, i had 2-3 training sessions for fighting a day, i also trained clients and i also went on Tinder dates in the night, fucked all night, slept a few hours, got up and the circle continued and i was never tired.
Now Cov shut down fighting for 3 years(we still havent recovered the businesses) and i turned towards strength training and gaining size so to preserve calories i did no cardio for 2 years.
Long story short - after not doing anything more than the gym, in 2 years i came to a situation where if i do deadlifts, i am done for the day. I was wrecked midway the gym session. My BP also was shit, my libido dropped from “i will rape anything with a pussy 4 times a day” to “i might touch my superhot GF and see if i get aroused enough to atempt sex today”.
So when i did a lot i could do alot. When i did only gym, gym became the maximum amount of my capabilities.
So what to do? Simple.
When you are finished with regular workout, add bodyweight circuits in a HIT manner for like 10-20minutes followed by slow run, recovery incline walks or biking of around 121-129HR for another 20mins. Do this every day. Focus on increasing intensity and work capacity of circuits, and never skip the steady state part(not walking in a park tho, that doesnt raise HR enough).
The first month you will feel like death. But push through.
I did this for 3 months straight, feeling much more like garbage every day, my head hurt every day and night for a month cuz i was so weak and out of shape, i couldnt do anything more than gym.
Now 3 months in, my BP is down from 143 to 122+ and sometimes as low as 117/60. My libido is up to at least 2-3 times a day, and sometimes 4. And i am never tired.
Only after the cardio part i feel a bit wrecked for like 30mins but then i feel fresh again. I also sleep much better.
I couldn’t have written a better response. My thoughts exactly.
I strongly believe you need to set your priorities straight. It is close to impossible (or unrealistic) to have a very demanding job, combined with excessive excercise demands. Not to mention any family (social) duties on top of that. You never heard of successful warfare on several fronts, did you? (I just wanted your attention by this statement).
I recommend you talk to an ACT psychologist or behavioural therapist about this (try googling “life compass” for starters, a simple tool for evaluation of your priorities). We all could use some guidance during tricky passages in life.
Yeesh, went from poor recovery factors to WW2 rather quickly in here.
Might I suggest a different method of training than what it is you are doing now? @Christian_Thibaudeau has a pretty well reviewed Neurotype Training plan that might suit your needs well.
As others have mentioned, you’ve got a bad training:recovery ratio - I suggest addressing this by whatever means you know you need to fix it (food, sleep, stress, etc.).
You can start auto regulating your training a little more. For instance, I use a 5/3/1 lift specific template. The most important thing for me is to do my main lift, and get at least 5 reps on every set. Everything else from there is a bonus if I’m really rundown and need to back off a bit.
As an example, last night I squatted immediately after jiu jitsu training and I was extremely tired and my lower back was tight. I worked up to my top set of squats hit my reps of 290 for 5 and decided, “I’m not going to do my 5x5 FSL backoff sets because I’m deadlifting in two days and want to be at full strength for that”(I’m a bit more focused on deadlift progression than squat progression). Then I changed all of my Assistance movements to bodyweight exercises with the exception of Fat Grip Barbell Curls and Leg Extensions because those are easy and don’t have much recovery cost. My point here is that it’s good to be good at auto regulating so you can keep training, not get injured, and stay motivated. Make sure you keep your priorities straight though and don’t always go easy on yourself or you’ll never see progress. And you also might need to be sucking down more calories so the recovery thing doesn’t stay an issue.
The ONLY thing that gets me past that is sleeping. It doesn’t matter what else I do during the day. It doesn’t matter if I do or do not have work after either. A lot of what I do has me taxing my CNS regularly. Like anything else it’ll adapt, but I’ve found sleeping is the only thing that fixes it. Even if I somehow eat under maintenance, as long as I can sleep I’m fine.
Only thing is that I have to sleep almost continuously. One time I maxed out and had overdone it with some caffeine and slept until the next next day. I remember waking up 2-3 times to go to the bathroom that night and woke up terrified because I thought I had been in a coma.
But I usually step back from the caffeine regularly. Most days though, especially on my off days, I will sleep the entire day if my husband doesn’t disturb me. I usually get school work and chores done during the work week specifically so I can sleep all day lol.
The days that do me in the most are the ones where I’m pushing 20-25 total reps with poundages in the 80%+ range. Max out days do me in, but to a lesser degree than the former.
