Should I be eating more carbs before workout?
dhiggins210
Posts: 17 Member
I workout every morning and suffer from post-workout fatigue. Sometimes I feel like I can't even function, especially after a hard session. I just want to sleep!! I usually have toast with PB&J and a banana for breakfast and drink 100-120 ounces of water each day. I know dehydration is not my problem. Should I be eating more carbs before I workout?
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Replies
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Question is... how many calories are you eating? And are you eating back your exercise calories?0
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I eat around 2000 calories each day. I try to not eat back my exercise calories, but don't go over 2300. I always follow up my workout with a high-protein snack0
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How many grams of carbs are you eating? And what kind of exercise do you do?0
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Unless you are doing some really intense exercise, no, what you eat before or after is not going to change anything.0
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If it makes you feel better to eat more, eat more. Realistically, it almost certainly isn't necessary.0
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I am eating around 250 grams of carbs in a day. I am doing circuit training. Cardio and then strength training was getting so boring, I changed it up. The strength training is light and I give my muscles time to rest. I work a different area each day. I do about 30 minutes of cardio. It just can't be normal to be so fatigued. Yesterday I fell asleep for over an hour because I was so exhausted! I drink plenty of water and get plenty of sleep (I'm one of those lucky ones that are out when my head hits the pillow). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.0
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It doesn't sound like you get plenty of sleep. If you don't want to take naps and you think your exercise is causing them, you could exercise less.0
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dhiggins210 wrote: »I am eating around 250 grams of carbs in a day. I am doing circuit training. Cardio and then strength training was getting so boring, I changed it up. The strength training is light and I give my muscles time to rest. I work a different area each day. I do about 30 minutes of cardio. It just can't be normal to be so fatigued. Yesterday I fell asleep for over an hour because I was so exhausted! I drink plenty of water and get plenty of sleep (I'm one of those lucky ones that are out when my head hits the pillow). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Have you had any blood work? It's potential that iron or vitamin d could be low. Also, how much sleep do you get at night?
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No, eating more carbs at certain times won't give you more energy or make you less tired when you're done working out.0
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DeguelloTex wrote: »It doesn't sound like you get plenty of sleep. If you don't want to take naps and you think your exercise is causing them, you could exercise less.
Deguello, it sounds like you are telling me to just listen to my body (?)0 -
dhiggins210 wrote: »I am eating around 250 grams of carbs in a day. I am doing circuit training. Cardio and then strength training was getting so boring, I changed it up. The strength training is light and I give my muscles time to rest. I work a different area each day. I do about 30 minutes of cardio. It just can't be normal to be so fatigued. Yesterday I fell asleep for over an hour because I was so exhausted! I drink plenty of water and get plenty of sleep (I'm one of those lucky ones that are out when my head hits the pillow). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Have you had any blood work? It's potential that iron or vitamin d could be low. Also, how much sleep do you get at night?
I usually get around nine hours of sleep. It has been a while since I've had blood work done, but have had issues with low iron. That hasn't even crossed my mind.
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If you eat carbs when you're tired after your workout, do you get your energy back quickly? If you hit the wall/run out of glycogen, you'll feel terrible. I don't think that sleeping would make you feel better in that situation though.0
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dhiggins210 wrote: »dhiggins210 wrote: »I am eating around 250 grams of carbs in a day. I am doing circuit training. Cardio and then strength training was getting so boring, I changed it up. The strength training is light and I give my muscles time to rest. I work a different area each day. I do about 30 minutes of cardio. It just can't be normal to be so fatigued. Yesterday I fell asleep for over an hour because I was so exhausted! I drink plenty of water and get plenty of sleep (I'm one of those lucky ones that are out when my head hits the pillow). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Have you had any blood work? It's potential that iron or vitamin d could be low. Also, how much sleep do you get at night?
I usually get around nine hours of sleep. It has been a while since I've had blood work done, but have had issues with low iron. That hasn't even crossed my mind.
Getting blood work would be the first place I would start.
Also, can you open your diary? Are you getting a variety of nutrient dense foods?
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yellowantphil wrote: »If you eat carbs when you're tired after your workout, do you get your energy back quickly? If you hit the wall/run out of glycogen, you'll feel terrible. I don't think that sleeping would make you feel better in that situation though.
You're right. If I fall asleep, I feel so irritable when I wake up!0 -
dhiggins210 wrote: »dhiggins210 wrote: »I am eating around 250 grams of carbs in a day. I am doing circuit training. Cardio and then strength training was getting so boring, I changed it up. The strength training is light and I give my muscles time to rest. I work a different area each day. I do about 30 minutes of cardio. It just can't be normal to be so fatigued. Yesterday I fell asleep for over an hour because I was so exhausted! I drink plenty of water and get plenty of sleep (I'm one of those lucky ones that are out when my head hits the pillow). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Have you had any blood work? It's potential that iron or vitamin d could be low. Also, how much sleep do you get at night?
I usually get around nine hours of sleep. It has been a while since I've had blood work done, but have had issues with low iron. That hasn't even crossed my mind.
Getting blood work would be the first place I would start.
Also, can you open your diary? Are you getting a variety of nutrient dense foods?
Thank you SO much! This makes so much sense. I will I will look through my diary and check my nutrient intake. But, I'm thinking anemia may be the culprit!
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dhiggins210 wrote: »yellowantphil wrote: »If you eat carbs when you're tired after your workout, do you get your energy back quickly? If you hit the wall/run out of glycogen, you'll feel terrible. I don't think that sleeping would make you feel better in that situation though.
You're right. If I fall asleep, I feel so irritable when I wake up!
If the problem is running out of glycogen, carbs will fix it. You could either eat carbs before your workout, or have some sugar while working out. If glycogen isn't the problem, then the carbs won't make much difference.0 -
yellowantphil wrote: »dhiggins210 wrote: »yellowantphil wrote: »If you eat carbs when you're tired after your workout, do you get your energy back quickly? If you hit the wall/run out of glycogen, you'll feel terrible. I don't think that sleeping would make you feel better in that situation though.
You're right. If I fall asleep, I feel so irritable when I wake up!
If the problem is running out of glycogen, carbs will fix it. You could either eat carbs before your workout, or have some sugar while working out. If glycogen isn't the problem, then the carbs won't make much difference.
What type of sugar could I eat while working out?
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dhiggins210 wrote: »yellowantphil wrote: »dhiggins210 wrote: »yellowantphil wrote: »If you eat carbs when you're tired after your workout, do you get your energy back quickly? If you hit the wall/run out of glycogen, you'll feel terrible. I don't think that sleeping would make you feel better in that situation though.
You're right. If I fall asleep, I feel so irritable when I wake up!
If the problem is running out of glycogen, carbs will fix it. You could either eat carbs before your workout, or have some sugar while working out. If glycogen isn't the problem, then the carbs won't make much difference.
What type of sugar could I eat while working out?
Anything but lactose, so no milk. I'd go with fruit juice. Or you could have a sports drink, pop, candy, whole fruit maybe. Just something easy to digest. You could try it and see if it helps--it might not.
I read somewhere that lactose digests more slowly than other sugars, which is not what you want if you're looking for quick calories while working out. And for me, chugging milk might upset my stomach. Those other sources of sugar should be easier/faster to digest.0 -
Dextrose is the fasting acting sugar (found in whey protein products and gummy bears/pixie sticks). But since the OP isn't doing endurance workouts and regularly consumes 230g+ of carbs, it's very unlikely that its a glycogen issues.yellowantphil wrote: »dhiggins210 wrote: »yellowantphil wrote: »dhiggins210 wrote: »yellowantphil wrote: »If you eat carbs when you're tired after your workout, do you get your energy back quickly? If you hit the wall/run out of glycogen, you'll feel terrible. I don't think that sleeping would make you feel better in that situation though.
You're right. If I fall asleep, I feel so irritable when I wake up!
If the problem is running out of glycogen, carbs will fix it. You could either eat carbs before your workout, or have some sugar while working out. If glycogen isn't the problem, then the carbs won't make much difference.
What type of sugar could I eat while working out?
Anything but lactose, so no milk. I'd go with fruit juice. Or you could have a sports drink, pop, candy, whole fruit maybe. Just something easy to digest. You could try it and see if it helps--it might not.
I read somewhere that lactose digests more slowly than other sugars, which is not what you want if you're looking for quick calories while working out. And for me, chugging milk might upset my stomach. Those other sources of sugar should be easier/faster to digest.
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Dextrose is the fasting acting sugar (found in whey protein products and gummy bears/pixie sticks). But since the OP isn't doing endurance workouts and regularly consumes 230g+ of carbs, it's very unlikely that its a glycogen issues.yellowantphil wrote: »dhiggins210 wrote: »yellowantphil wrote: »dhiggins210 wrote: »yellowantphil wrote: »If you eat carbs when you're tired after your workout, do you get your energy back quickly? If you hit the wall/run out of glycogen, you'll feel terrible. I don't think that sleeping would make you feel better in that situation though.
You're right. If I fall asleep, I feel so irritable when I wake up!
If the problem is running out of glycogen, carbs will fix it. You could either eat carbs before your workout, or have some sugar while working out. If glycogen isn't the problem, then the carbs won't make much difference.
What type of sugar could I eat while working out?
Anything but lactose, so no milk. I'd go with fruit juice. Or you could have a sports drink, pop, candy, whole fruit maybe. Just something easy to digest. You could try it and see if it helps--it might not.
I read somewhere that lactose digests more slowly than other sugars, which is not what you want if you're looking for quick calories while working out. And for me, chugging milk might upset my stomach. Those other sources of sugar should be easier/faster to digest.
Thanks. It might be unlikely, but it's an easy thing to try. The difference when adding carbs will either be very noticeable, or nothing will happen. I've hit the wall while mowing my lawn before, and my lawn isn't unusually large, so I'm perhaps unusually cautious about glycogen now.0 -
Oh gosh!!! I needed to hear this! I sleep well, and eat well (need more carbs per day but working on it!)
ANEMIA!! Duh, I know I don't have enough iron intake. Thank you!0 -
Oh gosh!!! I needed to hear this! I sleep well, and eat well (need more carbs per day but working on it!)
ANEMIA!! Duh, I know I don't have enough iron intake. Thank you!
Just make sure you get blood test to confirm it before taking an iron supplement, as there are many other vitamin deficiencies that can have similar results.
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I consume majority of my calories around my workouts. 2-3 hours prior to my workouts (WO fuel) and the remaining calories post workout (recovery). Although these are not absolutely necessary, but it works the best for me.0
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dhiggins210 wrote: »yellowantphil wrote: »dhiggins210 wrote: »yellowantphil wrote: »If you eat carbs when you're tired after your workout, do you get your energy back quickly? If you hit the wall/run out of glycogen, you'll feel terrible. I don't think that sleeping would make you feel better in that situation though.
You're right. If I fall asleep, I feel so irritable when I wake up!
If the problem is running out of glycogen, carbs will fix it. You could either eat carbs before your workout, or have some sugar while working out. If glycogen isn't the problem, then the carbs won't make much difference.
What type of sugar could I eat while working out?
snickers is my go to fast acting food. not so heavy you'll puke- but it's got a decent macro split to get you through the hump.0 -
When's the last time you took a week off?0
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_benjammin wrote: »When's the last time you took a week off?
What an interesting question. Thanks for asking that. I was wondering last week if it's a good idea to take a week off, I don't know, once a quarter. Sometimes I do by happenstance (e.g. travel or, more seldom, sick), but never intentionally. I don't have a balls-to-the-wall hard core routine. Sounds similar to OP's, maybe. I run or do sprint intervals over a 4mi route 6x/wk and ST 3x/wk with one day rest. If I skip the rest day, I miss it, but I suspect that's more mental than physical.
Do moderate exercisers benefit from a week off? A triple-digit heat forecast for an entire week made me think that would be a good week to take off. I've been running in the low 80'sF in the AM which is really nothing to complain about. But it prompted the pondering.0 -
@ahoy_m8
Sounds like you would benefit from a week off at least every 3 months or at least cut your volume in half (deload) every 2 months or so and possibly take the week off from running completely while deloading.
A week of 100+ temps sounds like the perfect week to take off! As mentioned, if you are antsy to do something, do your strength training at a reduced volume.0 -
@_benjammin
Thanks tons for the reply! What is the benefit of deloading?0 -
^Allows your body (and mind) time to completely recover.
http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-conditioning/deloading-101-what-is-a-deload-and-how-do-you-do-it
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Thanks again. Didn't mean to derail the thread. Maybe OP will respond to your question.0
This discussion has been closed.
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