exhaustion after AM work out

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amymeenieminymo
amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Most people I know that work out in the morning speak of how energized they feel afterward. Not me....when I work out in the morning I get up around 5:30, work out and I'm at work by 8. By about 8:30 or 9 I am completely exhausted and fighting to stay awake. I am just not really a morning person....however lately I have been making excuse after excuse why I can't work out after work, so I want to try the morning thing again.

Anyone have any tips on what I can do to stay more alert after my work out? I'm going to try to go to bed earlier, but I am not too confident that will solve the problem. I've tried 5 hour energy drinks, which work great and totally wake me up and keep me awake.....but they also send me to the bathroom and I am a little anxious about drinking them in the first place (I only drink half of one, but still), are they safe?

If you're not naturally a morning person, how do you stay energized after an AM work out?

Replies

  • lmfbs
    lmfbs Posts: 72 Member
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    What's your eating schedule when you're working out in the morning? I find what works best for me is protein (usually an up&go or something) right after the workout, then after I've been at work for an hour or so, cereal.
  • sunnysashka
    sunnysashka Posts: 296
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    few things:
    1. You MUST have 8 hours of sleep
    2. Throw energy drinks out. They do not do any good to your body. Those are like last resort. Use them only in emergency situations. (Those cause addiction!!!)
    3. Have a good snack before work out (banana will do) and eat breakfast after (oatmeal+fruit).

    Sleep and energyzing after work out should help!
  • Cold_Steel
    Cold_Steel Posts: 897 Member
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    Get sleep, hydrate before going to bed, wake up - expel said hydration, rehydrate eat, work out - rehydrate and try maybe eating small amounts of food throughout the day.

    It depends on your eating schedule... I know some people who eat something big after a work out and are just exhausted all day. Kind of got all their energy in one group and it went by bye
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
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    I usually have a granola bar or something before my work out (I have to eat a little something but too much and I feel awful) and then when I get to work I have a small breakfast, usually a banana and yogurt, or cereal etc.
  • Jazzyjules71
    Jazzyjules71 Posts: 150 Member
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    I Just started working out in the morning (last week, only have done it twice). I am SO NOT A MORNING PERSON! So glad you posted this! What are you eating? I find if I eat only carbs the same thing happens to me. Like bagel or cereal or something. I have to have both protein and carbs and it's much better (egg and toast, greek yogurt and fruit etc). Or a smoothie with protein powder.

    My other thought.....are you working too hard? I mean we all need to push ourselves, but I know I can't kill it in the morning like I can at night without feeling poorly during work. So I may workout a little lighter in the morning, but I"m hoping the trade off is I work out more consistently.
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
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    I Just started working out in the morning (last week, only have done it twice). I am SO NOT A MORNING PERSON! So glad you posted this! What are you eating? I find if I eat only carbs the same thing happens to me. Like bagel or cereal or something. I have to have both protein and carbs and it's much better (egg and toast, greek yogurt and fruit etc). Or a smoothie with protein powder.

    My other thought.....are you working too hard? I mean we all need to push ourselves, but I know I can't kill it in the morning like I can at night without feeling poorly during work. So I may workout a little lighter in the morning, but I"m hoping the trade off is I work out more consistently.

    I don't think so....I typically only burn about 500 calories....i either walk and use the bike or do a run/walk combo. It's a good little work out but I'm not going nuts with like P90X and burning 700+ or anything like that.
  • thelovelyLIZ
    thelovelyLIZ Posts: 1,227 Member
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    Are you eating enough and refueling after your workouts? If you're not eating enough, that could be an issue.

    It may also be that your body just needs to get used to getting up so early. My job has required me to get up early, and for a while I had a hard time, but after a few weeks it's much easier.

    Also, make sure you're going to bed early enough.
  • kd80538
    kd80538 Posts: 97 Member
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    few things:
    1. You MUST have 8 hours of sleep
    2. Throw energy drinks out. They do not do any good to your body. Those are like last resort. Use them only in emergency situations. (Those cause addiction!!!)
    3. Have a good snack before work out (banana will do) and eat breakfast after (oatmeal+fruit).

    Sleep and energyzing after work out should help!

    Agree with this 100% - and I also follow mine up with a multivitamin.
  • rungirl1973
    rungirl1973 Posts: 2,559 Member
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    I'm also not naturally a morning person, it's been a huge struggle for me to get in the habit of waking up earlier (no matter how early I went to bed).
    For me, I absolutely have to get up at the same time every day. If I'm not going to work out that day, I still have to get up at the earlier time to stay in the habit. I use that extra time to do laundry or run the dishwasher, or go to work early that day.
    If I try to change my wake up time day-to-day, I'll be exhausted on the earlier days.
  • yo_andi
    yo_andi Posts: 2,178 Member
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    I'll echo the eating advice and I'll also tell you that it took me about two months to get over that exhaustion after a morning workout. At this point I'm so used to it that it throws off my day if I don't get my workout in in the morning. Good luck! And stick with it!
  • Jazzyjules71
    Jazzyjules71 Posts: 150 Member
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    Looking at what you eat, I would try to anchor your carbs with some protein. the protein will cause the carbs to get metabolized slower and won't cause a spike in insulin that causes hunger/low energy a few hours later. I would also eat more! you're probably not fueling yourself enough. Burning 500 calories so early means you need about that many calories!
  • Shock_Wave
    Shock_Wave Posts: 1,573 Member
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    Maybe slam coffee like a shot then work out then slam another one right afterwards for energy. I work out 3x a day and I do this work out slam every time before a work out for sure.
  • TrishJimenez
    TrishJimenez Posts: 561 Member
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    Most people I know that work out in the morning speak of how energized they feel afterward. Not me....when I work out in the morning I get up around 5:30, work out and I'm at work by 8. By about 8:30 or 9 I am completely exhausted and fighting to stay awake. I am just not really a morning person....however lately I have been making excuse after excuse why I can't work out after work, so I want to try the morning thing again.

    Anyone have any tips on what I can do to stay more alert after my work out? I'm going to try to go to bed earlier, but I am not too confident that will solve the problem. I've tried 5 hour energy drinks, which work great and totally wake me up and keep me awake.....but they also send me to the bathroom and I am a little anxious about drinking them in the first place (I only drink half of one, but still), are they safe?

    If you're not naturally a morning person, how do you stay energized after an AM work out?

    I am just like you, after a work out I just want to fall asleep. I have even fallen asleep on the floor where I was resting and cooling off after a really intense work out. The kids thought it was hilarious while they had to step over me in the living room lol. So I would really like to know what the responses are
  • LeggyKettleBabe
    LeggyKettleBabe Posts: 300 Member
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    I eat some thing before the work out perferably protein and I take creatine before and after.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
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    When I first started working out I would feel exhausted afterwards also. Not only tired but sometimes shaky and nauseous and would not be able to eat for hours afterwards. Eventually I started being able to handle the workouts better and I do get a kind of energy boost on some days.

    Leg days still wipe me out though and it takes an hour or two to recover.
  • ginneyrose
    ginneyrose Posts: 15
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    Drink black coffee with protein and a healthy carb. Sounds like ur body is worn out and ur metabolism needs fuel. I drink coffee with egg whites and a 100 cal wheat English muffin and after my workout I have a scoop of 114 cal protein powder mix with water. It makes ur body happy and ur metabolism wakes up!!
  • riskiestlavonn
    riskiestlavonn Posts: 207 Member
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    That would happen to me all the time until I realized I just wasn't eating enough.
  • dburdi02
    dburdi02 Posts: 16 Member
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    I have this same experience with morning workouts. I adjusted my eating before and after to avoid the "over-full slumber" feeling to no avail; by 10:30 am I was useless. I also end up in bed early and sleep like a log after working out in the afternoon. I think the endorphins have a slightly different effect on me lol. I feel great the next day of course. And I absolutely have to get at least 8 hours of sleep or I'm a beast! No idea how to change this....Thanks for posting
  • dany_m
    dany_m Posts: 74 Member
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    My AM workout routine is slightly different to the other posters:
    - I don't eat anything beforehand because it makes me feel nauseous. I only drink water.
    - After the workout I have a shower and finish with a very cold water rinse. That usually energizes me!
    - Protein drink after the shower
    - 1-1.5 hours after my protein drink I have my normal breakfast (hot porridge)

    I guess you have work out yourself what keeps you awake afterwards. To me the cold shower makes all the difference.
  • maryrr88
    maryrr88 Posts: 76 Member
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    My AM workout routine is slightly different to the other posters:
    - I don't eat anything beforehand because it makes me feel nauseous. I only drink water.
    - After the workout I have a shower and finish with a very cold water rinse. That usually energizes me!
    - Protein drink after the shower
    - 1-1.5 hours after my protein drink I have my normal breakfast (hot porridge)

    I guess you have work out yourself what keeps you awake afterwards. To me the cold shower makes all the difference.

    I'm the same. I get up at 5:20 am and I'm at the gym by 5:35 (or working out to an exercise DVD by 5:30 depending on the day) so there's no way I'm eating before I work out. I usually drink my coffee around 7 am and then eat at 8:30 when I get to work (usually cereal, followed up by an egg for protein around 9:30-10 ... I eat about 7-8 times a day). I feel totally fine in the mornings (afternoons can be a struggle if I take a walk on my lunch break though!), and I usually only get 6-7 hours of sleep. It's pretty much impossible for me to get to bed before 10 pm. It works for me though. You just need to experiment to find out what works for you.

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