Started working out regularly - sudden energy crash?

PosyPose

Hi,

I've recently really stepped up my activity levels and gone from doing next to nothing to working out 30-60 mins most days over the past couple of weeks. I've been more active in terms of walking too. It's been going great, and in the last couple of days especially I've had loads of energy and been really productive.

I woke up this morning, however, feeling totally sluggish with hardly the energy to get out of bed. I dragged myself up and did a 20 min workout because I thought that might wake me up a bit but I'm feeling even more drowsy now.

Is this just a normal reaction to my change of activity levels? I feel totally wiped out! My muscles aren't sore, I'm just really really tired. And I've been sleeping normally.

Thanks!

ChrisLindsay9

Congrats on putting in the extra work, that's awesome.

I'm wondering if you have 1-2 days of complete rest (or nothing more than a leisurely walk)? If not, that might be a reason for your lethargy. Getting complete rest is important for both recovery and fat burning.

If you're use to having 1-2 days rest, then a couple other reasons might be 1) you've caught a cold or similar but it's not manifesting symptoms like coughs or runny noses because you have partial immunity or your body's fighting it off rather efficiently; or 2) the increase in activity has not been coupled with an increase in calories. You may have to bump up your calories or just eat back your exercise calories in full.

Hope this passes and you're back to putting in high-energy workouts. Great work so far!

SCtolulu

Track your cycle. Hormones play a huge role in energy. I guarantee you will see a pattern.