Prolonged tiredness after exercise

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LittleRedBoots
LittleRedBoots Posts: 20 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Heya,

I was wondering if anyone has experienced this; just being overly tired after you exercise, not fatigued straight after but just sleepy.. for hours afterwards. I worked out today for just over an hour early afternoon and its now evening and since I got home from my workout I've been super sleepy and haven't been able to get much work done.
Has anyone else had similar experiences to this? My main question is does it go away? I'm thinking its possibly because I'm new to exercising regularly and over-time I'll get used to it and be able to function after a work out?

Thanks in advance for your help

Replies

  • tamsinwhitfield
    tamsinwhitfield Posts: 135 Member
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    Are you timing eating around exercising? I usually eat one hour before and one hour after a workout (usually complex carbs before hand, and heavier on the protein afterwards - works for me at least!).
  • creature275
    creature275 Posts: 348 Member
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    energy is supplied to your body by carbohydrates, post workout you need to make sure your getting carbs and not just protein or else I would expect a crash, also like tams said pre workout complex carbs will give your body energy through workouts, oatmeal is a great choice, post workout try using fruit and protein, a great post workout meal for a female would be a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich with banana on whole wheat bread with a small protein shake, the peanut butter will give you proteins and healthy fats for your heart and joints, the banana and jelly will give you the fast simple carbs your body needs to "drive" the nutrients into the broken down muscle tissue for recovery and the whole wheat bread will supply you with complex carbs for delayed release of energy.
  • LittleRedBoots
    LittleRedBoots Posts: 20 Member
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    Hmm I see, I possibly didn't eat enough before hand, I had toast and jam for breakfast then an apple a while later then went to workout just before lunch. Afterwards I went to my favourite juice bar and got a shake and a chicken pita. So I feel like I ate enough afterwards, I was so full.
    The thought of a PB&J sandwich is tempting but I don't think I can include that in my calorie intake! :p
    Does it sound as if food is the issue? What did I do 'wrong' with the foods I ate?
  • creature275
    creature275 Posts: 348 Member
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    Hmm I see, I possibly didn't eat enough before hand, I had toast and jam for breakfast then an apple a while later then went to workout just before lunch. Afterwards I went to my favourite juice bar and got a shake and a chicken pita. So I feel like I ate enough afterwards, I was so full.
    The thought of a PB&J sandwich is tempting but I don't think I can include that in my calorie intake! :p
    Does it sound as if food is the issue? What did I do 'wrong' with the foods I ate?

    ahhh I think I see the problem, you ate an apple and toast with jam in the morning then you worked out just before lunch so im assuming there was a few hours between when you ate breakfast and when you worked out, see what happens to sugars...like in an apple or jam for instance, is that when these fast acting carbs hit the bloodstream the body responds with an insulin spike, much of the sugar will be converted quickly into whats called ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) and the rest will be converted into glucose and glycogen when your ATP stores are full..which is rather quickly. the issue is that the fast carbs will give you fast energy but afterwords your blood glucose levels will become unstable and you will crash, same with heavy starches they will make you tired, so your fix is this, dont eat fast carbs in the morning unless your workouts follow within about 30 minutes of those foods being consumed. a better breakfast would be eggs with oatmeal or use peanut butter on the toast instead of jam. the fruit is ok though but I personally wouldnt eat it without oatmeal or something to support a better blood glucose response. so if you eat oatmeal you can save the apple for a pre-workout snack which would be of benefit to spike your glucose levels

    you should read up on energy systems in the body, ATP-CP (adenosine triphosphate creatine phosphate) through the use of muscle glycogen and into lactic acid and fatty acids for more prolonged events. you will find a direct reflection on the type and amount of carbohydrate to the kind of workout event your doing, sprints will require one and a marathon will require another and everything in between including lifts. I hope this was all helpful for you

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