Can't maintain energy level during workout

yirara

My energy for workouts doesn't seem to be the best around: When running my energy stores seem to be depleted after just over 7km (less than 5 miles) in just under an hour with the result that my HR jumps upwards, I lack the energy to run on, stumble over my own feet and can't do math sums anymore. Basically I feel miserable. After eating some dried fruits I feel better again fairly quickly and can continue for about the same distance if I take another mouth full of dried fruit in between. My heart rate also drops to more familiar levels. I've noticed this for years when going on hikes even in flat terrain. When hiking I need to refill about every 60-90 minutes, depending on terrain.

I keep on reading about people being able to run half marathons without the need to eat something and feel like I'm eating too much sweet stuff during workouts (I don't like sweet things anyway). I do seem to have some problems with repeated mineral depletion, and with absorbing fatty foods though, but I'm not sure this is related.

Any advise? Any other people with similar problems?

michaellongland

As someone who cycles anywhere between 2 and 5 hours at a time all I do is eat more Carbs, which is why when you eat sugary fruit you feel better. Try eating a small handful of fruit just before you start, I tend to start with a banana.

There's loads of differing opinions about nutrition and exercise but I find being properly fuelled for exercise means I enjoy it more and can work harder for longer therefore burning more calories. I tend to eat porridge an hour or so before a morning workout or rice works well for later in the day. I'm no nutritionist but if you exercise and burn through your glycogen reserves your muscles produce more fatigue metabolites (bad stuff), your heart has to work harder to pump blood round the body and you start to breakdown muscle rather than fat to provide energy but as I've said there are conflicting views on all this stuff so just do what feels best.

yirara

I tried eating something light and sweet before, but it makes no difference to only eating the last meal 90 minutes before a run. Yesterday I participated in a 10 mile run and had an apple before the race. I start running, felt great for a long time, then suddenly crash down and notice I'm again at just over 7km, like so often. The annoying bit is: if I eat much more than this apple right before a run or decrease the time of the last proper meal before a run I end up with stomach cramps. It almost looks like there's no proper solution. Well.. maybe it would help bringing a sugary drink along, but like I say I hate sweet things, and every time I try to drink something during a run my throat shuts down and the fluid moves towards my lungs. I'd need to fully stop for a few minutes until I'm able to drink again. I'd really love to train for a half marathon. Fit-wise I think I'm not too far away from it, but if I can't sort out my energy levels I will have a problem.

sijomial

Are you doing very low carb?

The mental confusion, poor co-ordination part does sound like classic symptoms of glycogen depletion a.k.a. hitting the wall for runners or for cyclists bonking. As does the fast recovery when eating something sugary. Carb gel or sports drink would be faster acting but you shouldn't be getting to that state so quickly. 90 minutes to two hours would be more "normal".

Maybe try a bowl of breakfast cereal an hour before your run and tuck a carb gel in your pocket to see if carbs are your problem? Not all sports drinks are sweet tasting as you say you don't like sweetness.

Are you having a big calorie deficit? For an extended period without a diet break?

yirara

No, I don't do any low carb. I only occasionally count calories as I've been maintaining for over a year now, but I'm usually at about 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat, though the latter two are often just a bit lower.

I have a couple of unsolved problems like I mentioned: my mineral levels always tend to be on the low side if I don't take supplements even though I try to eat food rich in the problematic ones; and fat seems to end up in the loo quite often. Eating very fatty food also doesn't really seem to satisfy hunger very well. The only real food intolerance I have though is dairy as it causes acid reflux. Thus I stay away from cereals as they are too bland without milk or yogurt and eat lots of bread. I love bread! Thus breakfast and lunch is usually bread with for example ham or hard cheese, and dinner is something that I cook fresh. And in-between it's fruit and veggies, or a small handfull of liquorice or other not too sweet candy.

yirara

Any more ideas?

rtamayo

did you ever try a pre-workout?
I never used to have energy to workout either. I work nights, have a 3 year old.
They come in powder from and you mix them with water, take 25-30 minutes before your workout.
They give you this crazy energy boost that only lasts an hour or so, and help with blood flow and improving your results and lessen the soreness and fatigue you feel after.
I started out with C4, half a scoop. Work your way up to a whole scoop after you see how it hits you the first time. Tingly and all that stuff is normal. I worked up to 2 scoops.
I have also tried Mpact by Dymatize, and currently I'm using Noxipro by CTD.
They are all great and will make a huge difference.
I went from never having the energy, ever, to working out 6 days a week.

middlehaitch

Have you been following the same running programme since you started maintenance a year ago?
It sounds like you need to up your daily intake a little, not just get fuel in you while running.
You may also be a little dehydrated in general.

These are observations from a non runner. I do walk 10km races though.

I find I have to up cals and water consumption as I increase my activity level or I crash something wicked. An EmergenC usually does a quick job of balancing my electrolytes.

Just putting a different thought out there.

Cheers, h.

yirara

I'm not sure rtamayo. First of all this stuff is not allowed around here (think Ebay prices of over 200 USD for a small pack, and I suppose customs will do anything to stop such a shipment), and secondly: what happens with your own energy when you use something like this? Does it remain 'in place' if this runs out say 90 minutes into a run? Plus it contains caffeine, a substance that has the opposite effect on me: I could take a caffeine pill as sleeping pill if it didn't increase my pulse so much and made me clumsy. I only have experience with trying to work out on Ventolin which gives me an increased heart rate. Doesn't work at all. Glad I don't need it anymore.

EvgeniZyntx

yirara wrote: »

Any more ideas?

A few. Can you outline what your training is?
Number of runs a week, distances, time, how long you have been training.
Are you very consistent?
You say you are at maintenance, how many cals about?

possible issues:
- from under hydration, in general to over hydration, to low Mg.
- possibly pre-diabetic (this is not only an overweight issue) or hypoglycaemic . If you are consistently under eating fat, look into it. Consider modifying your diet to have less carbs - more protein and fat. See how you feel - this response is relatively fast, a week of change in diet may see some change in hypo episodes.
Doctor related stuff (don't trust a random person on the internet and should see a doctor...):
- you also mentioned acid reflux - note that Helicobacter pylori-induced gastritis may contribute to the occurrence of reactive hypoglycaemia. Get tested and, if necessary, treated. Reduces the risk of ulcers too.
- a couple of other things that might come up - see a doctor, not worth worrying about them until you've looked into diet and hydration basics.

yirara

Well.. I currently run 3 times per week.
Long slow run: anything from 1-2 hours. This is the problematic one
faster 5K (I'm still a slow runner though)
anything else I feel like doing: like involving some terrain, intervals or something else.
been running for a year, however, when I started out I'd lived in an extremely hot country and was happy to at least manage 4-5 kilometer on a day three times per week. Thus no variation, too hot for intervals (think 42 C after sunset). Since moving and picking up running again in December I've massively improved on distance, and also speed and am constantly trying to improve on both and do more variation in my runs.

- I drink a lot of water and tea all through the day, and until short before a run. Dehydration might be an issue, but I know real dehydration from that hot place while it's currently winter here.
- pre-diabetic has been excluded. I'm not. My blood sugar stays normal throughout the day, and if I'm in that extremely tired state it's not too low either. I never feel hungry after a run. Might be hormones though.
- I avoid food that gives me reflux and go months without any problems, but I need to catch up on that. And on why I'm deficient on various minerals. According to my mother I had the rickets twice, as a baby and at around 6. And it's still Vitamin D3 and the same associated minerals that are being problematic. Never broke a bone though in all my life even though I'm extremely clumsy and always end up in all sorts of accidents.
- Fat: I also need to check up on that as I've had floating or fatty poop for as long as I can think. Never thought it was something unusual until I started googling on it recently. Maybe I don't get much energy from fat, which might be one of the reasons why I run out of energy quickly.

I'm over 40, female, 169cm, 57kg. For maintenance I eat about 1750kcal per day plus my sport calories.

eschelar

yirara wrote: »

My energy for workouts doesn't seem to be the best around: When running my energy stores seem to be depleted after just over 7km (less than 5 miles) in just under an hour with the result that my HR jumps upwards, I lack the energy to run on, stumble over my own feet and can't do math sums anymore. Basically I feel miserable. After eating some dried fruits I feel better again fairly quickly and can continue for about the same distance if I take another mouth full of dried fruit in between. My heart rate also drops to more familiar levels. I've noticed this for years when going on hikes even in flat terrain. When hiking I need to refill about every 60-90 minutes, depending on terrain.

I keep on reading about people being able to run half marathons without the need to eat something and feel like I'm eating too much sweet stuff during workouts (I don't like sweet things anyway). I do seem to have some problems with repeated mineral depletion, and with absorbing fatty foods though, but I'm not sure this is related.

Any advise? Any other people with similar problems?

You're running out of sugar.

Like what the others have said, but the simple fact is that your brain requires sugar to function. That's why you can't do math sums. That's why taking dried fruit (highly dense sugars) helps you get your senses back.

The thing with weight loss is that you need to balance insulin more than anything. Low insulin leads to weight loss. Keeping your insulin at moderate levels can actually impede weight loss even with low calorie intake. That's the principle behind intermittent fasting type diets. Insulin spikes can lead to fat storage if not accompanied by exercise.

If you are doing short burst type exercise (I do strength/power type lifting), faster sugars are OK, especially in smaller quantities. Foods like white bread and fruit sugars can digest in 15-20 minutes and be gone. They will spike your insulin - that's OK if it's right after a workout and your muscles are all depleted.

That's not so great if you are doing long duration exercise. Actually, for heavy cutting, long duration exercise is often not recommended for exactly this reason. But the solution is to have complex carbs, not simple carbs. Those carbs will be released more slowly (less insulin spike, but longer insulin presence). That's for anything more than 30 minutes or so. Of course, when hiking, if you are snacking regularly with a trail mix of some sort, that will replicate the slow release of carbs from something like oatmeal.

All processed cereals are much more "simple" carbohydrates than complex. Strongly recommend going with whole/rolled grains for lower glycemic index foods. The easier your stomach acid can access the carby goodiness inside, the faster it will spike your insulin.

You *can* lose weight with a heavy hiking routine, but you will probably need to increase fiber/fats as well as carbs and try to keep your carbs and sugars up.

The ideal weight loss diets that can be sustained are often the type that don't put you to very low calorie intake. I was losing quite a bit of weight doing 2200 cal/day until work got in the way this month.

erimethia_fekre

Work on increasing your speed, not the duration of the run.

If you're not drinking sips during your run then that's an issue. I drink enough to wet my mouth. You don't have to gulp it.

I like Xtend in my water along with some beta alanine. Helps my run anyhow

yirara

Eschelar two things: I'm not dieting anymore, and I'm a fairly small women. On 2200kcal I would gain weight

EvgeniZyntx

yirara wrote: »

Well.. I currently run 3 times per week.
Long slow run: anything from 1-2 hours. This is the problematic one
faster 5K (I'm still a slow runner though)
anything else I feel like doing: like involving some terrain, intervals or something else.
been running for a year, however, when I started out I'd lived in an extremely hot country and was happy to at least manage 4-5 kilometer on a day three times per week. Thus no variation, too hot for intervals (think 42 C after sunset). Since moving and picking up running again in December I've massively improved on distance, and also speed and am constantly trying to improve on both and do more variation in my runs.

- I drink a lot of water and tea all through the day, and until short before a run. Dehydration might be an issue, but I know real dehydration from that hot place while it's currently winter here.
- pre-diabetic has been excluded. I'm not. My blood sugar stays normal throughout the day, and if I'm in that extremely tired state it's not too low either. I never feel hungry after a run. Might be hormones though.
- I avoid food that gives me reflux and go months without any problems, but I need to catch up on that. And on why I'm deficient on various minerals. According to my mother I had the rickets twice, as a baby and at around 6. And it's still Vitamin D3 and the same associated minerals that are being problematic. Never broke a bone though in all my life even though I'm extremely clumsy and always end up in all sorts of accidents.
- Fat: I also need to check up on that as I've had floating or fatty poop for as long as I can think. Never thought it was something unusual until I started googling on it recently. Maybe I don't get much energy from fat, which might be one of the reasons why I run out of energy quickly.

I'm over 40, female, 169cm, 57kg. For maintenance I eat about 1750kcal per day plus my sport calories.

Nice history.

Rickets, your travel history (like mine), mineral issues, stool (possible malabsorption), intermittent reflux, would suggest you check for bacterial/viral infection ( h. pylori or other) with your doctor. Those are all signs that point in that specific direction.

Again - you are getting into an area that really will need interaction with medical field, a few tests and not just internet advice.

yirara

Absolutely, EvgeniZyntx. I used to have a great doctor in 'that hot place' but I had to leave before he could do further tests. And when I moved I ended up with one who is just rubbish at everything nutrition, minerals, etc. If all those issues I'm having are related to me running out of energy when running I have no idea. I'm not looking for medical advise but for people who experience similar things. Mind you, I never had the idea that something might not be right. I always answered the questions about diarrhea, winds, pains, blown up feeling etc as negative.

christyg74

Of course, you should see your dr but low energy, problems with electrolytes and vitamin deficiencies sounds like Celiac or gluten allergy. Have you been tested? I had all of those issues before finding out.

yirara

christyg74 wrote: »

Of course, you should see your dr but low energy, problems with electrolytes and vitamin deficiencies sounds like Celiac or gluten allergy. Have you been tested? I had all of those issues before finding out.

But then you'd have other problems as well, don't you? I tend to say I have an iron stomach and gut. I can eat anything (apart from some dairy due to reflux) without getting any problems at all. Hey, I enjoy street food in SE Asia and never even got sick in India. If anything it's related to fatty food, not gluten I would think, and most likely exists since childhood.

Packerjohn

rtamayo wrote: »

did you ever try a pre-workout?
I never used to have energy to workout either. I work nights, have a 3 year old.
They come in powder from and you mix them with water, take 25-30 minutes before your workout.
They give you this crazy energy boost that only lasts an hour or so, and help with blood flow and improving your results and lessen the soreness and fatigue you feel after.
I started out with C4, half a scoop. Work your way up to a whole scoop after you see how it hits you the first time. Tingly and all that stuff is normal. I worked up to 2 scoops.
I have also tried Mpact by Dymatize, and currently I'm using Noxipro by CTD.
They are all great and will make a huge difference.
I went from never having the energy, ever, to working out 6 days a week.

For the OP, this is bad advice. Find the root cause to the energy problem instead of over caffeinating yourself.