Exhausted from Lifting Weights

[cazzzidy]

Hey folks,

I just got back on the Starting Strength weight training program after taking a couple months off. For those not in the know, it's a strength program built around squats, presses and deadlifts/cleans, three days per week. I'm eating a lot more and a lot cleaner than usual and gaining about 1 to 2 lbs per week. Still in my linear progression and I'm feeling confident in the gym. I'm getting plenty of sleep.

However, just as before, I have considerably less energy than when I'm not working out. Apart from the soreness, I have a laziness that is unusal for me. An urge to lay down and watch TV. Lack of drive.

Does this happen to any of you guys when you workout really hard? Is this the beginning of overtraining? Am I simply not eating enough? Or is this, as I suspect, normal and how one should feel after squatting and yanking hundreds of pounds several times per week? It makes this type of rigorous program unsustainable (for me at least.)

 

[MonkeyFresh]

Eat more, sleep more
Sleep is essential... Trust me, I lift 4 times a week and when I lose a few hours of sleep I feel it the next morning when I'm nodding in and out of sleep in class...
On workout days allow at least 6 hours of sleep, ideally I try and hit 7 or 8 although it's hard splitting free time and study time
Once you get get a routine going, working out will actually start to give you energy
If you just started your lifting program, I'd say allow for more sleep and definitely eat more (at least your target weight in grams of protein a day) and by next month you'll feel energy levels will be back to normal at least, if not sky high

 

[animeman05]

Take Rippetoe's advice and drink a gallon of milk a day. Food is energy and to recover you need to consume sufficient calories.

 

[east coast]

Originally Posted by MonkeyFresh

at least your target weight in grams of protein a day
Apparently ~.65 grams per lb bodyweight is fine. http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-...,4679650.story

 

[Hartmann]

Originally Posted by mmadha

Take Rippetoe's advice and drink a gallon of milk a day. Food is energy and to recover you need to consume sufficient calories.

Uh, don't actually do this

 

[Superfluous Man]

Originally Posted by Hartmann

Uh, don't actually do this

If by don't you mean do, then +1.

 

[bbaquiran]

Eat and sleep more. Read http://startingstrength.com/articles...n_rippetoe.pdf before deciding whether to do GOMAD.

 

[Mr Herbert]

it will take some to become conditioned to your new regime

nothing i love more than a lazy saturday arfternoon snooze after a morning session

 

[Xelloss]

As a previously certified personal trainer, there is nothing wrong with lacking drive or exhibiting laziness. Many factors can affect energy levels and especially what/when you eat at certain times throughout the day. Also, your body is naturally more energetic during a workout given the fight or flight mechanisms that are activated. Once you get acclimated to your workout, your metabolism and energy levels will naturally rise even on off days. You might also want to evaluate the length of your workout sessions to prevent excessive soreness. One thing I advise is never to workout past the one hour mark if you are efficiently working out. Your muscles start to denature and lose density after that moment especially for a mass building regiment. In the end, there is nothing wrong with lacking any devotion on your off days especially when attempting incredibly difficult and new workout programs. I had just finished a radical workout program one of my trainer friends provided and there were times when I dreaded it just from looking at it. There is a plethora of information available online for nearly anything to working out because honestly, personal trainers are rip offs unless you need supremely structured regiments and are going into some competition.



I would also like to say hello as this is my first post and wanted it to be poignant. I have perused SF for some time but never made an account. I finally kicked that lazy aspect out and am being proactive in every regard.

 

[Kajak]

Originally Posted by east coast

Apparently ~.65 grams per lb bodyweight is fine. http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-...,4679650.story
At first I thought you were way off, but then I realized you meant per lb. 1.8g/kg/day is the max that you really need. You just pee the rest out (sort of - you still get the calories which is either a meh thing (really expensive) or bad (if you're trying to lose weight)

 

[Raxxman]

vitamin suppliments and fish oil might help.

 

[Lagrangian]

If I'm totally destroyed by my regular lifting sessions, the culprit is usually some combination of the following:

• Coming down with an illness
  
• Too little sleep
  
• Too little calories
  
• Too much volume/TUT

 

[Hartmann]

Originally Posted by Xelloss

As a previously certified personal trainer, there is nothing wrong with lacking drive or exhibiting laziness. Many factors can affect energy levels and especially what/when you eat at certain times throughout the day. Also, your body is naturally more energetic during a workout given the fight or flight mechanisms that are activated. Once you get acclimated to your workout, your metabolism and energy levels will naturally rise even on off days. You might also want to evaluate the length of your workout sessions to prevent excessive soreness. One thing I advise is never to workout past the one hour mark if you are efficiently working out. Your muscles start to denature and lose density after that moment especially for a mass building regiment. In the end, there is nothing wrong with lacking any devotion on your off days especially when attempting incredibly difficult and new workout programs. I had just finished a radical workout program one of my trainer friends provided and there were times when I dreaded it just from looking at it. There is a plethora of information available online for nearly anything to working out because honestly, personal trainers are rip offs unless you need supremely structured regiments and are going into some competition.



I would also like to say hello as this is my first post and wanted it to be poignant. I have perused SF for some time but never made an account. I finally kicked that lazy aspect out and am being proactive in every regard.

What an idiotic post, thanks for the broscience tho

 

[db_ggmm]

He has his points (and his crazy).

I read a slogan on Tnation (lol) recently regarding your downtime / recovery. It basically went - while recovering, don't stand if you can sit, don't sit if you can lie down, don't lie down if you can sleep. It's ok to be whipped.

 

[dacia1300]

more sleep will cure what ails you.