Exercise and fatigue

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jendpositive
jendpositive Posts: 26 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Just wanted to ask can you over do it with the exercise. I'm feeling constantly fatigued at the moment. I exercise 6 days a week, one day strength training at the gym followed by a high intensity dance cardio class the next. I push myself to the limit and I'm walking around craving sleep and feeling so sluggish. Any suggestions?
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  • berlynnwall
    berlynnwall Posts: 669 Member
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    Yes, you can over do it. Would you be willing to cut back a little on a trial basis to see how you feel? That's what I would do. Maybe go every other day.
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    Yes, it is possible to over do it, and it may be that your body is not getting enough recovery time.

    Do you ever take recovery / rest weeks?
    Are you fuelling your workouts properly i.e. eating back exercise calories?
  • AlisonH729
    AlisonH729 Posts: 558 Member
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    And make sure you are adequately fueling this amount of exercise.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    You can certainly train so much that it impairs recovery. There are a few options to alleviate this. First is the obvious one, train less. Maybe ditch one of the cardio days, or maybe do strength training 3x a week, low intensity cardio 1 day, and high intensity cardio 1 day. I wouldn't cut back on the strength training. 3x a week is appropriate for weights. Another option would be to eat more. Increasing the total calories taken in per day can help with recovery. This will slow weight loss though so keep that in mind. Finally, sleep more. I don't know if that is personally an option for you, but getting more sleep can improve your recovery.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
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    Also, are you getting enough sleep? And is your caloric intake appropriate (e.g. for a safe rate of loss)? The exercise sounds reasonable to me.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    jendpositive wrote: »
    Just wanted to ask can you over do it with the exercise. I'm feeling constantly fatigued at the moment. I exercise 6 days a week, one day strength training at the gym followed by a high intensity dance cardio class the next. I push myself to the limit and I'm walking around craving sleep and feeling so sluggish. Any suggestions?

    Are you eating enough to support the activity you're doing. That's where most people seem to go wrong...they eat like birdies and train like they're an athlete...doesn't work that way.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    jendpositive wrote: »
    Just wanted to ask can you over do it with the exercise. I'm feeling constantly fatigued at the moment. I exercise 6 days a week, one day strength training at the gym followed by a high intensity dance cardio class the next. I push myself to the limit and I'm walking around craving sleep and feeling so sluggish. Any suggestions?

    how much are you eating?
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
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    Is it a new regimen? Anything else going on right now? Sometimes you will have an adjustment period...

    For me, I think I have the March blahs--it's just so gray and gross outside it makes me want to crawl back into bed.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    um, yeah you can totally over do it, exercising like that 6 days a week going super all out all the time.

    i do triathlon, and everything i've read about triathlon is that they recommend the 80/20 rule. that 80% of your training should be low intensity, and 20% of it should be moderate or high intensity.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Yep, getting enough fuel and sleep are a big part of it. What is your calorie goal and are you meeting it? Do you eat back exercise cals?
  • jendpositive
    jendpositive Posts: 26 Member
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    Thanks for the great advice, means a lot to me. I'm eating around 1300 calories a day, I am hitting my protein targets as I know that's important. I get about 8 hours of sleep...lots of restless patches according to the fitbit.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    jendpositive wrote: »
    Thanks for the great advice, means a lot to me. I'm eating around 1300 calories a day, I am hitting my protein targets as I know that's important. I get about 8 hours of sleep...lots of restless patches according to the fitbit.

    thats it?!?!
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    jendpositive wrote: »
    Thanks for the great advice, means a lot to me. I'm eating around 1300 calories a day, I am hitting my protein targets as I know that's important. I get about 8 hours of sleep...lots of restless patches according to the fitbit.
    1300 calories probably will not support the amount of activity you are doing. What is your height and weight?

  • MrCoolGrim
    MrCoolGrim Posts: 351 Member
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    jendpositive wrote: »
    Thanks for the great advice, means a lot to me. I'm eating around 1300 calories a day, I am hitting my protein targets as I know that's important. I get about 8 hours of sleep...lots of restless patches according to the fitbit.

    At a minimum take a couple of days to recoup. Rest is very important. I sometimes take a week off for recovery after 3 or 4 weeks of extensive training and it helps, not only physically but mentally. :)
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    jendpositive wrote: »
    Thanks for the great advice, means a lot to me. I'm eating around 1300 calories a day, I am hitting my protein targets as I know that's important. I get about 8 hours of sleep...lots of restless patches according to the fitbit.

    protein is set to 15% if you're using MFPs default settings, which isnt much. do you eat back your exercise calories?
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
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    The problem may have revealed itself. 1300 sounds low for intense workouts 6 days/week, unless you have a lot of body fat to draw upon. There's a metabolic limit to how much energy body fat can provide--~30kcal/lb fat. Hence, lean people have to be more accurate with calorie intake (and can tolerate less deficit) than people with more stored energy on hand. I would recalculate your energy need before scaling back the exercise. Solid sleep would help, too.
  • Robertus
    Robertus Posts: 558 Member
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    Believe it or not, rest and recovery is the time when your body is actually rebuilding and getting into better shape. Exercise breaks down so that your body can rebuild and make you stronger. Try working out every other day, and I bet you will make better progress. Once you are in really good shape, you can alternate heavy and light days and work out 5-6 days a week, but this can be counter productive when you are not yet in good condition.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    1300 isnt enough calories to sustain that kind of activity long term. thats why youre tired.

    eat back your exercise calories, at least half of them.
  • jendpositive
    jendpositive Posts: 26 Member
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    I'm 5,5 and 140lbs. If I eat back my exercise calories I don't lose. My goal is 130.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    jendpositive wrote: »
    I'm 5,5 and 140lbs. If I eat back my exercise calories I don't lose. My goal is 130.

    How long have you tried eating back your calories for?

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