lesson learnt - importance of fuel

jessicadawn1978
jessicadawn1978 Posts: 45 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Thought I'd share my experience this morning, so yesterday I had a rest day and didn't reach my 1200 calorie limit (set by MFP). I was actually quite under having netted around 811 calories, and did not hydrate properly. I have no excuses just took my eye off the ball.

Most morning's I'm in the gym for 6am and generally don't eat prior to a workout, this morning was no exception and I decided to do a 60min high intensity interval training session on the spin bike (I'd done a similar 50min session on sat with strength training for an hour).

So I got off the bike and have rarely felt so awful, I attempted my weight session but realised it was not going to happen and staggered to the showers. I've felt weak, my stomach was churning and I've been close to throwing up all morning (apologies for the detail!)

Its taken my 3 hours to feel normal again, having eaten some small amounts of food and slowly rehydrating. Not the best start to a monday morning especially as I have a busy work day ahead. I believe this is due to a very low blood sugar from lack of proper fuel and hydration before a hard session.

My lesson of the day to make sure I properly fuel my workout or pay for it later!

Replies

  • EmRobo
    EmRobo Posts: 146 Member
    I was going to do the 5:2 and struggled when to fit in the other day on the lower cals as I can burn quite a lot on a Monday and a Tuesday, but then I thought I don't want to do it on a Sunday for the same reasons you mention, nor on the Monday or Tuesday itself. So I do it on a wed, and so far that it is.

    It shows you how important it is to fuel yourself
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,262 Member
    Cardio before weights is not advised and I wouldn't classify a 60 minute session as HIIT..........20 second intervals with 40 second rest periods for 10 minutes would have me crawling out of the gym. Anyway if your doing that kind of exercise, time wise I mean you need to eat more.
  • jessicadawn1978
    jessicadawn1978 Posts: 45 Member
    It was a coached audio spin set from Motiontraxx, with a mixture of steep climbs with sprints in the climbs, the speed intervals were as you've described 60/40/20/20/40/60 periods of all out effort with rests in between, also some long flat climbs, and active recovery periods. So a big cardio effort with HIIT in there too.

    I agree definitely will eat more before doing a similar workout next time.

    I've always done my cardio before weights, although I have heard about switching it around. What would be the benefits of that?
  • lcvaughn520
    lcvaughn520 Posts: 219 Member
    It was a coached audio spin set from Motiontraxx, with a mixture of steep climbs with sprints in the climbs, the speed intervals were as you've described 60/40/20/20/40/60 periods of all out effort with rests in between, also some long flat climbs, and active recovery periods. So a big cardio effort with HIIT in there too.

    I agree definitely will eat more before doing a similar workout next time.

    I've always done my cardio before weights, although I have heard about switching it around. What would be the benefits of that?

    I like doing cardio first, too, but apparently it is a bit safer to lift before cardio. Your body may be too tired to life safely if you do your cardio first. (This is just what someone else told me in these forums). I also think the theory is that you will be able to lift more, therefore getting more benefit from the lifting part, if you lift before cardio.

    I've also heard people say you should just do whichever you want to improve first. For me, I am really working on getting better at running, so I find it's counterproductive for me to lift legs and then try to run. So cardio first is still my personal preference, but at least now I know the potential pitfalls :)
  • lcvaughn520
    lcvaughn520 Posts: 219 Member
    Oh and also - thanks for sharing your story! It can be easy to get too focused on eating less and forget that food serves a really important function :)
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    It was a coached audio spin set from Motiontraxx, with a mixture of steep climbs with sprints in the climbs, the speed intervals were as you've described 60/40/20/20/40/60 periods of all out effort with rests in between, also some long flat climbs, and active recovery periods. So a big cardio effort with HIIT in there too.

    I agree definitely will eat more before doing a similar workout next time.

    I've always done my cardio before weights, although I have heard about switching it around. What would be the benefits of that?
    If you lift first your body will use up it's glycogen stores for fuel. Then if you do cardio after you can run off of FFA's from burning fat.
  • jessicadawn1978
    jessicadawn1978 Posts: 45 Member
    Ah I see, I'll give that a go thank you


    [/quote]
    If you lift first your body will use up it's glycogen stores for fuel. Then if you do cardio after you can run off of FFA's from burning fat.
    [/quote]
  • jessicadawn1978
    jessicadawn1978 Posts: 45 Member
    Ah I see, I'll give that a go thank you

    If you lift first your body will use up it's glycogen stores for fuel. Then if you do cardio after you can run off of FFA's from burning fat.
    [/quote]
    [/quote]

    So I swapped it around this morning and did weights first then cardio (spin). I certainly had less strength for the cardio but hopefully my lifting was better quality. It felt quite strange to do the opposite of my normal routine butwill keep it up and see if I notice a difference. Thanks for the explanation and support all.

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