Tired during exercise

Shazzabir

Gold Member
I exercise almost everyday. As my time is quite limited I do 30 - 40 mins before work and 30 mins late evening.
My problem is I am always tired when I exercise and don't feel I am giving it 100%.
I have to get up at 04:45 in a morning, I have a shower than start exercising, but I am sooo tired. I don't want to eat anything beforehand as it kind of defeats the object of exercising and I need the extra calories for later in the day.

When I exercise at a w/e I get up later and notice a huge difference in my workout, but this is not an option I have during the week.
Does anybody have any ideas ?
 
How much sleep do you get?

Could you possibly skip the morning workout - or do more at your evening workout? I'm always really tired in the morning but by the time I exercise at 5:30pm I'm usually fine - maybe it is something to do with the glycogen stores being refilled by food throughout the day, I have no idea!

Finally, are you taking any vitamins / supplements? How is your vitamin A content (you can see this on MFP) and your Vitamin B? (Vitamin B can't sadly be tracked on MFP but - to quote Wikipedia- B vitamins are found in whole unprocessed foods. Processed carbohydrates such as sugar and white flour tend to have lower B vitamin than their unprocessed counterparts. B vitamins are particularly concentrated in meat such as turkey and tuna, in liver and meat products. Good sources for B vitamins include kombucha, whole grains, potatoes, bananas, lentils, chili peppers, tempeh, beans, nutritional yeast, brewer's yeast, and molasses. )
 
I am probably in bed asleep around 9pm each night. I nearly always feel as if I have slept well.
My vitamin A seems to be over 100% most days. I'm not too sure about vitamin B, but turkey is one of my main foods. I hadn't thought about taking vitamins, so will look into that.
I struggle to fit more than 30 mins in an evening, as I don't get home until 17.30, then it's tea, spending some time with my daughter, then bedtime routine. So it's normally 19.00 - 19.30 before I start to exercise. I always need an hour of tv to chill out, then its bed. Which is why I try to exercise in the morning before everyone wakes up and the morning routine starts.
 
I missed that you're exercising on an empty stomach. This is more than likely the culprit! You need to consume SOMETHING before you exercise or you risk crashing mid-workout, and you won't be able to work out to full capacity without some glycogen stores (from food!).

Please please please have something before your shower - a banana smoothie, or a bit of wholemeal toast and some peanut butter (or low fat yoghurt if you don't like that). It doesn't have to be big! More importantly, make sure your post-exercise meal is nutritious (balanced between protein and carbs) so your body burns fat optimally!

If this doesn't work, maybe try the supplements. (However, I'm a vitamin fan recently, and would advice the supplements anyway! They're on offer in Tesco - 3 for 2!).
 
Thank you for your advice, I really appreciate it. I had a feeling I should be eating before exercising. I will try and get into the routine of doing it. I may be consuming more calories, but if I'm going to be more energetic then I should be burning more calories anyway. :)
 
Exactly! If you eat before working out, you'll get more out of the workout :) Just be sure to have something small and balanced, because you'll end up with stomach upset if you have a normal-sized brekkie and then go and exercise without at least an hour's digestion time. If you have something small you'll only need to wait about 15 minutes ^^
 
That's great, thanks for your help :)
 
Thanks for adding this thread as i am up at 6am every morning and exercise on an empty stomach and feel wiped out after 10 mins:D
 
I guess we both need to make the effort to eat happyhippo :)
 
I was in the same way of thinking as you, i thought you couldn't eat before exercise and it was defeating the purpose :confused: But i will make more of an effort to eat something now
 
I had a banana before my workout this morning and I do think it made a difference!!!
 
Yay! That's so much better and I'm pleased it made a difference!! if you like milk or yoghurt, that'd be an ideal pairing with your banana so you get a bit of protein in too :D
 
I haven't exercised in the morning for the last couple of days, i have been doing it at night instead, but i will keep you posted when i do
 
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