After workouts Im EXHAUSTED

are you getting enough calories to sustain the workout? what is your average calorie intake (and how tall are you?)

Also exhausted after lifting days. I had to move my lifting to the evenings since it helps me get to sleep. When I do early (pre-work) training it is usually a bit of cardio, body weight exercises. As a note, I had to increase my calories before lifting when I did it in the morning. In the evening I could actually do it with much fewer (say I had not eaten for three or four hours prior). You have to find what works for you.

As for switching things up so soon....may want to consider sticking with a plan for a few months and build a good base (not sure what your goals are long-term). After you build that base, switching things up can provide a nice variety, but by that time you will already have an idea of what your body is looking like and will be able to see where you want to put on more muscle or areas to work on. Either way, listen to your body. Make some changes as you see fit for your level of exhaustion. If it were me, I would not necessarily cut back until I determine if it has something to do with nutrition or time of day factors.

Have fun with it!

RossAH wrote: »

dym123 wrote: »

I'm exhausted on strength days, I consider that to be a good thing.

ETA: After seeing MireyGal76's post, I wanted to add I do make sure I get enough calories before my workout, protein bar or a BCAA pre-workout. You should never lifted in a fasted state.

I trained fasted back when I was doing intermittent fasting to help lose weight. My last meal was at 8pm, I trained at 4am, and didn't eat until noon. I never had any problems. Granted, it's not for everyone, but saying that one should "never" do it is pretty close minded. What doesn't work for one person may work wonders for another.

Yes there are always anomalies, but this is not something I made up, this is research I did when I decided to start heavy lifting and talking with other lifters and trainers. I'm not eating a big meal, just something that gives me some extra energy to lift the heavy things. If lifting in a fasted state works for you, then great, but the consensus says different.

amaliacc wrote: »

I'm 5'0, 197 lbs. Average calorie intake is 1600 calories a day. I didn't know you weren't supposed to lift in a fasted state, I thought working out first thing in the morning before breakfast. I switch every month because I've read several places that muscle confusion is good for continued benefit.

"Muscle confusion" is often more times one of those "karate kid" inspired "wax on. wax off" type techniques. The goal is to get you to do one thing, while disguising it as something else. What muscle confusion boils down to is "changing the way you're stimulating your muscles." The easiest example that I can think of is training your biceps. Imagine holding a dumbbell in each hand, and sitting straight up with your arms at your sides. As you curl the weights upward, the beginning part of the move is easy. When your forearms are parallel to the ground is when the move becomes most difficult/there is the most tension on your bicep/you're bicep is as "peak contraction." As you continue to curl the weight upward, the closer the dumbbell gets to your shoulder, the easier it becomes. That's when you're sitting straight up.

Now lean back in a reclined position with your arms hanging at your sides. Begin curling the weight upward. You notice that it's more difficult to get the weight moving than it was when you were sitting upright. This position places peak contraction at the bottom of the curl, rather than halfway. Some would call this "muscle confusion," but what you're really doing is changing the position at which peak contraction occurs, so you train your bicep more completely. You can then perform the same move, in the same positions, but with your palms facing down instead of up in order to shift the focus from the inner head of the bicep to the outer head.

I change up my routine every 3 weeks, but that's more along the lines of weight and rep ranges, than it is cardio vs weight training. Changing up your routine can also help keep you from getting bored with it, and simply going through the motions. The expression on a person's face tells you how engaged they are. Some people look like they're about to die. Others look like they're doing their taxes while lifting weight.