Super tired after starting morning workouts?? HELP!

EricaKrist0627

Hello all!
After hearing about how incredible morning workouts make you feel, I decided to try. Now of course I accounted about a month for adjustment for it to feel not-so great, but here I am a month and a half later and although my body has started to adjust to the waking up part, lately I cannot get through a workout before practically falling asleep, and feeling exhausted all day at work. I get the same amount of sleep (6-8 hours) every night, I drink plenty of water, and eat better than I did in the beginning! Has anyone else experienced this?
P.s- I certainly don't overexert myself, I work a desk job and my workouts consist of 30 minutes of moderate cardio and then another 30 of strength Training 5 days a week, with yoga and Pilates on the weekends.
Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Chef_Barbell

Coffee?

girlinahat

are you eating enough? It may have nothing to do with the time of day and be simply that you are not fuelling your body.

I recently noticed that my runs are getting slower and slower, which I realised is possibly a delayed effect of reducing my calories. Up your calories slightly for a bit until you reach a point where your workouts are no longer tiring.

Sara1791

I did super early morning workouts for about five months. It got easier and easier until it didn't. I'm not sure if it's physical or psychological. I'm not sure if I've reached a tipping point in weight loss and calorie restriction. I don't know if I just need to change things up. I suddenly didn't have the energy to do my work throughout the rest of the day.

I'm taking a break from early morning right now, changing my workouts, and tweaking my calories. Of course if I feel better soon, I won't know which one did the trick...

Anyway, good luck. I hope you're able to figure it out.

AnnPT77

Based on what I've seen in myself, something like this could be under-sleeping, under-fueling, or just an issue with your personal body clock. Some things to think about, and maybe experiment with:

Are you eating at all before the workout? After? Eating what? How big is your overall calorie deficit? Are you hydrated properly before the workout? During? (Personally, I don't do well if I don't eat before any substantial morning workout. Around 20 minutes of something vigorous is about the max for fasted workouts, unless I want to crash & burn during or after the workout. I also need a tiny bit of extra carbs in between if I go straight from one workout to the next, so I'll bet that would be true if I did a workout before an active job, too. Other people differ, though.)

Since you've adjusted your sleep time to get the same hours in, is there any chance that there's a sleep quality issue from that shift? For example, some people don't sleep as restfully soon after eating, drinking alcohol, or working out. Another possibility could be interference from light, noise in the household/neighborhood, etc.

For me, if I try to over-ride my natural body clock, it takes a loooong time to adapt, but I can eventually do it. Maybe you're a slower adjusting person, too?

(Or . . . since you did this to feel fantastic, and you don't, after a decent-length trial, maybe this routine just isn't optimal for you? We're all different! I've always done better with evening workouts, vs. getting up extra early to get them in.)

ritzvin

I'm usually a bit relaxed and sleepy after a workout - I don't think I could do a desk job after a workout.

CJ_Holmes

It's odd that you're that sleepy during the workout! Do you have coffee or anything to eat? Also, do you drink water when you wake up? You may need more sleep than you think since you have changed your routine. I recently found after a fluke week of 8 pm bedtimes that I really don't feel my best unless I get about 9 hours. That's hard to maintain!

Stella3838

I tried the morning workouts for a few months at the end of last year and no matter how much sleep I got, how decent I was eating, how much water I drank the day/night before, I just didn't get what I felt to be a "good" workout it and I'd be dragging during the day. And even worse, I'd get headaches. My biggest problem was being so dehydrated that early in the morning. Plus, I'm one that needs a little food before working out and that became somewhat of a non-option. It works great for some people, but not me. Finally called a spade a spade and adjusted to get my workouts in when I get home from work and I try to walk 20-30 minutes at lunch. @AnnPT77 has some great points. But, as she said, it could be that morning workouts are just not for you. No shame in that!! Best of luck!

liftingheavy

I did 5AM workouts for almost 2 years. Up at 4:00, had coffee (and a chia bar if it was a heavy lifting day), and felt like a champion all day. I noticed better results too - probably because I ate better during the day. Then, all of a sudden I couldn't do it. Sleep tracking was the same, so I do not know what happened. Time between sets increased, saw decreases in fat burn per tracker, and runs were a laboring chore all of a sudden. So I am back after work 3 days a week and at 8AM on the weekends. It's funny how much of a difference those extra 3 hours make in the morning. AM and PM works, so don't sweat it. The gym is just sooooo crowded after work, takes me almost twice as long to get through everything.