Combatting tiredness on intense work out days

chemteacher1987
chemteacher1987 Posts: 68 Member
in Motivation and Support
I am finding that I am very tired halfway through the morning on the days that I have my morning workout. I try to limit coffee to 1 per day and on intense work out days I try to drink a lot of water. I am also trying my hardest to eat. But the things I am doing don't seem to be combating the tiredness. I also try to go to bed by 10-10:30 every night and depending on the day I wake up at either 5:30 or 6.

Only helpful suggestions please and thank you.

Replies

  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    I sometimes take a multivitamin when I feel a little run down. You may be burning through your vitamin and mineral reserves faster on workout days.
  • chemteacher1987
    chemteacher1987 Posts: 68 Member
    I do take a multivitamin daily. It is one of those one-a-day women's tablets.
  • teresamwhite
    teresamwhite Posts: 947 Member
    I take an extra combination B vitamin supplement on my heavy days, and I give myself an extra snack (around 200-300 calories)...It's helped a lot with the tiredness without the caffeine. If i feel i CANNOT function safely (I work in a commercial kitchen), then I will have an extra cup of tea and use the caffeine boost.
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    maybe you're actually tired. a really hard workout can be exhausting. i take it you don't have time for a half hour rest sometime during the day? years ago a competitive bodybuilder recommended that to me, and it can really help.
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    My son's cross country coach had them eat a snack or a glucose gel right after long runs. (about 150 calories) He said it was to replace glycogen to the muscles and helps with recovery.
  • chemteacher1987
    chemteacher1987 Posts: 68 Member
    Oh how I wish I could take a nap during the day (I am a school teacher and depending on the day I get out of work somewhere between 4pm and 11pm because it is a boarding school). I have tried the snack in the morning but it is difficult to do so because I work in a science lab, because I am a science teacher. After those morning workouts, I do go straight to breakfast, but I am still in negative calories by the time I come even close to lunch....
  • Archon2
    Archon2 Posts: 462 Member
    I love the people that say, "Yeah, after a workout, you just get so much energy for the rest of the day!"

    If I could be so lucky! I'm with ya OP, I usually feel physically a bit tired and want to take a nap or something. That, said, a decent meal and coffee usually get me by :)
  • glasshalffull713
    glasshalffull713 Posts: 323 Member
    I am not sure how helpful this is or how long you have been doing this intense routine, but when I first started attending boot camps it was way more intense than any exercise I had done before for the most part and I would get groggy and nap halfway through the day (it was on Saturday am's). After a while my body just got used to it and it doesn't take as much out of me. Maybe you will adjust?
  • trivard676
    trivard676 Posts: 90 Member
    Archon2 wrote: »
    I love the people that say, "Yeah, after a workout, you just get so much energy for the rest of the day!"

    If I could be so lucky! I'm with ya OP, I usually feel physically a bit tired and want to take a nap or something. That, said, a decent meal and coffee usually get me by :)

    I generally do my workouts after work. Sometimes I get the feeling of "yay, I'm so full of energy I can do anything!" others it's "just let me pool into a puddle here and I'll talk to you later."

    Granted, if I absolutely have to stay awake for the rest of the day, I turn to my good friend caffeine for help. I think if it's in limited doses, once in a while wouldn't hurt too much.
  • Archon2
    Archon2 Posts: 462 Member
    chemteacher1987 wrote: »
    Oh how I wish I could take a nap during the day (I am a school teacher and depending on the day I get out of work somewhere between 4pm and 11pm because it is a boarding school). I have tried the snack in the morning but it is difficult to do so because I work in a science lab, because I am a science teacher. After those morning workouts, I do go straight to breakfast, but I am still in negative calories by the time I come even close to lunch....

    Science teacher and a lab, huh? Back in my HS days (mid-80s), I had a couple of science teachers that used to make coffee in beakers and drank it constantly. Also one of them used to grab a smoke break in the lab's office when we had experiments to do. I don't think these guys worked out at all but they sure were experts and imbibing stimulants! When a smoke break was on, this was the time for us to set things on fire like samples of magnesium metal strips in the bunsen burners. Ah, the good old days.
  • jamesdavidy
    jamesdavidy Posts: 32
    First off I can only speak from my own experience. Personal energy levels are difficult to advise on for we are all individual, we can feel tired from eating too much and not moving enough, or vice versa lol. I had a look through your diary (well done on keeping that open) you do seem to consistently fall below your TDEE, Perhaps you are not eating back enough quality nutrition to fuel and repair after your intense workouts. I find active rest ie; doing light cardio or yoga or tia chi one day and intense workouts the next useful to recharge me, and if I am really tired I will just walk and stretch. In the end energy levels are a balance act between what our bodies burn just to function and how well we process nutrition to fuel and repair ourselves after exercise. A balance which gets harder as you age, trust me at 51 I really have to listen to my body if I dont want to be a zombie and or injure myself. So take stock of what your body really needs in terms of nutrition exertion and rest, then play around with the balance to see how it all impacts you, listen to 'YOU'...hope that helps :)
  • DvlDwnInGA
    DvlDwnInGA Posts: 368 Member
    Carbs and protein.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Eat enough to support your activity. Don't be afraid of carbs. Vitamin supplements, particularly B12.
  • chemteacher1987
    chemteacher1987 Posts: 68 Member
    jamesdavidy wrote: »
    First off I can only speak from my own experience. Personal energy levels are difficult to advise on for we are all individual, we can feel tired from eating too much and not moving enough, or vice versa lol. I had a look through your diary (well done on keeping that open) you do seem to consistently fall below your TDEE, Perhaps you are not eating back enough quality nutrition to fuel and repair after your intense workouts. I find active rest ie; doing light cardio or yoga or tia chi one day and intense workouts the next useful to recharge me, and if I am really tired I will just walk and stretch. In the end energy levels are a balance act between what our bodies burn just to function and how well we process nutrition to fuel and repair ourselves after exercise. A balance which gets harder as you age, trust me at 51 I really have to listen to my body if I dont want to be a zombie and or injure myself. So take stock of what your body really needs in terms of nutrition exertion and rest, then play around with the balance to see how it all impacts you, listen to 'YOU'...hope that helps :)


    Yeah I try to eat what I can but I just cannot eat back that many calories. I try so hard to do so because I know that will help me out. The main thing is that when I work out in the mornings at my personal training session, I have either a yogurt or a smoothie beforehand to get through the workout and then I have my breakfast (whatever the school is serving that day) and I am still at negative calories and I know it is because I need to eat more, but my body is full. I did grab a little box of cereal for later this morning to see how that works and go from there.
  • jamesdavidy
    jamesdavidy Posts: 32
    Ok well perhaps your answer is in that shortfall, I would suggest a danger of exhaustion or injury if you don't give your body the fuel you need, being tired is your body telling you to either slow down or 'FEED ME SEAMORE' Exercise is after all stressful. Look at it this way, through exercise we tear and destroy muscle tissue to issue a biological response to burn fat and rebuild more muscle, if we don't supply more energy to effect that repair we are undermining the foundation of our aim for self improvement. So play with the intensity, keep lowering it to see at what level you can achieve your aims without exhausting yourself or fuel up more and whatever always get quality rest. all the best :)
  • chemteacher1987
    chemteacher1987 Posts: 68 Member
    Thanks for all the advice so far everyone. I wish I could take a nap during the day (especially if nap class was an option for high school). I have decided that I am going to get some of those lara bars for my classroom to have on hand and help with getting to my goal for calories. I also am going to re-evluate my carbs and proteins consumption and hopefully I am feeling better soon!

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