Reduced Mental Capacity After Workout

Training
21

[quote]NaturalBeasting wrote:

[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
Sometimes I’ll do a workout where I lay down everything I have in the gym and I’ll feel like that. But most workouts I actually feel more energetic. The day after most workouts, I just have some extra trouble getting out of bed but once I get going the feeling goes away. I never do hard workouts the night before a test.

How’s your work capacity? I find that if I take too much time between sets for a couple months, then I have a harder time recovering.[/quote]

I almost always feel really energetic during my workouts, but after I wind down from that is when I feel mentally tired.

Work capacity probably isn’t great right now. I’ve been training strength, so I’ve been doing low reps per set and longer rest (3-5 min). But I still had these same symptoms when I did more volume with short rest.[/quote]

Sorry for not being clear, I mean energetic after the workout and sharper with the exception of when I make a workout more brutal.

Might also be a case of not knowing when to pick and choose your battles.

After lower body workouts I always like to go for a 30-60 minute walk and I think it helps a lot.

There all things to think about.

Do you have a log? If so, you might want to start logging how you feel before, during, and after the workouts to see if you can spot a pattern. I would definitely start doing something for conditioning (whether it’s shorter rest between sets or complexes, sled work, hill sprints; maybe even just regular walking can do the trick)

22

[quote]trav123456 wrote:

[quote]NaturalBeasting wrote:

[quote]trav123456 wrote:
I doubt that you actually have a drop off in mental performance for 1-2 days man haha. What leads you to that conclusion?

When I clicked on this thread I thought you were going to say maybe an hour or something and I was going to agree somewhat[/quote]

I progressively feel better as I get farther from my last workout.

If I do a tough workout in the morning, I feel brain dead for the rest of the day. It’s just super hard to concentrate.

Then for the next 1-2 days I don’t feel brain dead but I still have more trouble focusing than I would otherwise.

Then if its been 3-4 days since a workout I’m a total monster and have awesome concentration.

I’ve been observing this pattern for quite a while so I’m pretty confident of it. Definitely with how zombified I feel on the day of a workout.[/quote]

Damn man if that were the case then most of us would be permanently zombies since most of us train 3-6 days a week.[/quote]

How… could we know we aren’t?

23

Maybe you just have ADD?

Side Note:

you’re 165 pounds and you’re eating 3,000-4,000 cals a day from all “clean” meals and no cheat foods? really? are you running half marathons every day or something?

24

I know this doesnt help, but Im always really amped up after my workout.

I am really good at black ops after a work out, my reflexes are like lightning

25

I would get sluggish from eating that few carbs. The brain fucking loves glucose. Try eating more carbs. Losing your abs beats losing your mind, and you don’t have to do either.

I get sluggish for the rest of the day if I go balls to the wall on squats or deads. Power Drive (before or after my workout) helps with this, it might help you with your problem.

Try nootropics. There are 3 threads about them on this site, the first post in this thread sums them up pretty nicely. Brain Function Boosters - Supplements and Nutrition - Forums - T Nation

26

Try uping the caloric intake. And see how that feels.

27

[quote]gregron wrote:
You’re 165 pounds and you’re eating 3,000-4,000 cals a day from all “clean” meals and no cheat foods? really? are you running half marathons every day or something?
[/quote]
I’m 176 and eat 3000 just to maintain my weight… And he is much leaner.

OP have you tried working out in the evening a couple hours before bed? Change of time might help.

28

Or maybe you’re just a dim bulb to begin with.

Do you need me to define “dim bulb?”

lol

29

Could be overreaching/overtraining. How long since you last took time off or deloaded? Also do you consistently train to failure and incorporate alot of intensity techniques? negatives, forced reps etc.

30

[quote]Jab1 wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:
You’re 165 pounds and you’re eating 3,000-4,000 cals a day from all “clean” meals and no cheat foods? really? are you running half marathons every day or something?
[/quote]
I’m 176 and eat 3000 just to maintain my weight… And he is much leaner.

OP have you tried working out in the evening a couple hours before bed? Change of time might help. [/quote]

So you weigh more than him, eat less than him and are fatter than he is? Why are you comparing your circumstances to his again?

31

Cold intolerance,fatigue,lethargy,slow cerebration with poor memory maybe subclinical hypothyroidism due to hyponatremia from peeing out every hour with ++ water in-take at the work out. Not a diagnosis just a question, I would go see the GP.

32

@ID, you could illustrate it for him, lol.

33

[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:

[quote]NaturalBeasting wrote:

[quote]Fletch1986 wrote:
Sometimes I’ll do a workout where I lay down everything I have in the gym and I’ll feel like that. But most workouts I actually feel more energetic. The day after most workouts, I just have some extra trouble getting out of bed but once I get going the feeling goes away. I never do hard workouts the night before a test.

How’s your work capacity? I find that if I take too much time between sets for a couple months, then I have a harder time recovering.[/quote]

I almost always feel really energetic during my workouts, but after I wind down from that is when I feel mentally tired.

Work capacity probably isn’t great right now. I’ve been training strength, so I’ve been doing low reps per set and longer rest (3-5 min). But I still had these same symptoms when I did more volume with short rest.[/quote]

Sorry for not being clear, I mean energetic after the workout and sharper with the exception of when I make a workout more brutal.

Might also be a case of not knowing when to pick and choose your battles.

After lower body workouts I always like to go for a 30-60 minute walk and I think it helps a lot.

There all things to think about.

Do you have a log? If so, you might want to start logging how you feel before, during, and after the workouts to see if you can spot a pattern. I would definitely start doing something for conditioning (whether it’s shorter rest between sets or complexes, sled work, hill sprints; maybe even just regular walking can do the trick)

[/quote]

Good point, historically I haven’t been great at choosing my battles. Each workout I aim to hit predefined numbers and I don’t easily back down. I’ll definitely be cognizant of these patterns in the future.

Good call on the logging. I do log workouts, but only numbers.

34

[quote]gregron wrote:
you’re 165 pounds and you’re eating 3,000-4,000 cals a day from all “clean” meals and no cheat foods? really? are you running half marathons every day or something?
[/quote]

I just did a quick calc and I average ~3,400 cals/day with little variance. All clean-- haven’t had a cheat meal in probably a year, and no desire to do so. I eat to live not the other way around.

I lift twice a week. Big compound movements. I’m mesomorphic shrugs

When eating clean I can eat a metric fuck ton and not get fat. I ate a clean ~4,500 cals/day for about 2 years when I was lifting more volume. Thats when I got up to 195, but I was still low body fat.

35

[quote]kakno wrote:
I would get sluggish from eating that few carbs. The brain fucking loves glucose. Try eating more carbs. Losing your abs beats losing your mind, and you don’t have to do either.

I get sluggish for the rest of the day if I go balls to the wall on squats or deads. Power Drive (before or after my workout) helps with this, it might help you with your problem.

Try nootropics. There are 3 threads about them on this site, the first post in this thread sums them up pretty nicely. Brain Function Boosters - Supplements and Nutrition - Forums - T Nation

[/quote]

I eat a lot of oatmeal-- usually 3 cups per day
My current diet is: fat/carb/prot = 35/40/25
I also take in dextrose after workouts

Thanks for reminding me, I’ve been meaning to try Power Drive for a few years. It’s time to take the plunge.

36

[quote]Tatsu wrote:
Try uping the caloric intake. And see how that feels.[/quote]

I ate ~4,500 cals/day for a couple years and still experienced the symptoms

37

[quote]Jab1 wrote:
OP have you tried working out in the evening a couple hours before bed? Change of time might help. [/quote]

Yeah, it helps in that I don’t have to deal with the intense mental exhaustion for long before sleeping. But I feel most energetic in the morning and usually feel sluggish by evening, which tends to affect my lifts. This may end up being the best ‘fix’ if all else fails.

38

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
Or maybe you’re just a dim bulb to begin with.

Do you need me to define “dim bulb?”

lol[/quote]

Thank you for taking the time to post

39

[quote]whatever2k wrote:
Could be overreaching/overtraining. How long since you last took time off or deloaded? Also do you consistently train to failure and incorporate alot of intensity techniques? negatives, forced reps etc.

[/quote]

I’ve been doing 5/3/1 by the books for about 6 months, so I deload once a month
I never purposefully lift to failure-- only when I miss a lift
No negatives, no forced reps

40

Go see a doctor…a sports medicine inclined one perferably.