This happened to me as well when I began working out again. I kept yawning and had no energy. Now when I work out, my sessions are 2 hours (twice a week) no yawning and good reps all the way to the final sets of the day. I'm just in way better shape/conditioning than before. I suggest you take a pre workout drink to help your focus and energy levels. Also take post workout proteins.
I don't really measure my time in between sets. I will do warm up sets. Basically, in my sets I am looking more for technique and more reps rather than heavy weight with bad technique and few reps. I don't have anything codified in my workouts cause that gets borong for me, but I generally shoot for 4 sets of 12 to 20 reps per set depending on the exercise and I am not really even struggling to get thru those sets either, so it's not as if I am killing myself to finish a set. I mean I will try to put on enough weight for it to be hard, but I also have a jacked up right elbow to go with my jacked up right knee so I avoid doing workouts where I feel like I am putting excess strain on my joints.
That may be my problem. My body may just not be adjusted to the routine. That said I have never been able to get my body used to weight training even though I have had a relatively athletic life. Also, I always make sure to have a pre workout drink and maybe a small sandwich or snack before I workout.
Honestly I don't think you're getting enough CARBS before your workouts. You need to load up on carbs, preferebly 2-3 hours depending on the food, before your workouts. Sweet potatos or sandwich with whole wheat bread are good options. Also you shouldn't be having the majority of your calories at one meal, especially dinner. It's true you need to fuel your body with plenty of food post workout as it needs to repair itself. But its equally important you eat the right foods prior to workout as well. Try to have medium-medium-medium meals with plenty of supplemental protein, rather than light-light-heavy pattern meals. Also its good you are eating frequently throughout the day, that'll keep your metabolism up.
Krnx, I'll try the carb suggestion as well as trying to even out my meals even though I have never been successful at maintaining that. BTW I repped everyone who replied. Thanks guys.
robbie380, These are usually the first places I would look for deficiency: 1) Water. 2) Sleep. 3) Vitamins/Minerals. Taking a multivitamin and multimineral a day for a week or so every once in a while is useful, though it's not a great replacement for getting the same stuff from a natural source. Also, it is not unusual to snack while you work out. Finally, please be careful when you drive. You never know when you might pass out, especially if you don't know what's wrong (if anything).
I don't think it really matters how or when you get your calories. As long as your macros are good for the day, then you will be fine. I've lost 50 pounds over the last ten months from doing that. One day, I might not eat breakfast, have a snack, and then do about 40 min of cardio. Or if I'm doing weights, ill eat a bigger breakfast, might skip lunch and just have a protein bar or something, then have a large dinner. I have also had water diet days and feel great those days. It's like a body cleanse.
I can only speak from personal experience but I have much better workouts after eating the right carbs. I try to avoid greasy/fried food in the same manner (they make me lethargic). In any case, for me atleast having enough carbs and giving myself enough time to digest usually leads to more intense workouts, and more 'bang for buck' for my time spent in the gym. So it makes sense to me, to intake more calories BEFORE workouts rather than AFTER, if you will be intaking the same amount of calories for that day. You can have a relatively medium to light meal for dinner with high protein and lower in fats and carbs ratios, your body still needs fats and carbs but I'd recommend more focus on protein. Before bedtime, casein protein such as Greek yogurts are great snacks! I think the weights are too light for you. The key to results is muscle failure. Even if you go high reps/low weight, you should be working your muscles to the point of muscle failure. Otherwise you are just wasting your time IMO. I think 20 reps is way too high. You need to find a weight range where you can do 12-15(max) and the last 2 or 3 reps the spotter helps you, since you mentioned concerns of injuring your joints. Depending on the range of motions, certain exercises may not be for you because of your past injuries. You need to find exercises you can do safely but also to the point of muscle failure. You'll see bigger and faster gains.
Your breakfast and lunch sucks. You should stop snacking and eat complete meals. You have very little protein for breakfast and for someone bodybuilding, you need protein if you expect to build any muscle. For breakfast eat a full ass meal. Eggs, oatmeal, throw in some brown rice, and some olive oil for your healthy fats. Also drink coffee or tea in the morning and add coconut oil to it, super healthy fats that give you sustained energy. Now with all that being said, I think your problems are not all completely related to your diet. Sounds like something else is going on, possibly hormonal. You could have adrenal exhaustion and low cortisol. Lifting weights is a stress and should cause a stressful response in your body which would cause it to relase cortisol. How do you feel in the mornings? Do you have trouble waking or getting going in the AM? This can explain where I'm going with this: http://vimeo.com/3818805
Eating and nutrition is key yes. Eat at least three times a day if not more. If you're not obese, light cardiovascular workouts are already good enough for general health. Try to intensify the speed and time of your workouts until you get a decent burn in the heart, then lay off for optimal effects. If you want to weight train, do some cardio first to get your heart rate up, then do the exercises slowly and methodically- None of that grunting and huffing shyte. Focus the specific muscles involved, and ALWAYS breathe. Sleep is key, you need at least 8 hours each day, if not more. Meals throughout the day should have a tapering down on carbs. So foe example, you should 80% of your breakfast as carbs, 60% for lunch, and 40% for dinner. Good holistic supplements are also beneficial. Try drinking tea and eating acai berries, they boost your metabolism and gives you more energy overall. Finally, just try to stay as active as you can, and you should see improvements in your feeling. Hope this helps
Well I'm not trying to get huge, but I would like to add more weight as I get more comfortable with finding out how my elbow will react to more weight. For my legs I have to continue to do lower weight and higher reps. It's more about rehab with my leg workouts. I might look to push the weight as I see improvement in the vastus medialis of my quad. Also, range of motion isn't an issue, but arthritis is. It sucks being 32 and already having been thru 6 surgeries. It's so bad that I am jealous of T-Mac's health .
For those suggesting more weight/calories, ITS OKAY for not every guy in the world to want to gain as much muscle as possible. It's not a problem with his workout. I think what cheke said may actually be correct or part of it. Blood pooling in some way. Could be related to your injuries. You can have scar tissue build up and muscle fascia that's glued down, which is can be caused by trauma and altered mechanics done to compensate (for the trauma in some cases). This may cause issues with circulation of fluids, like blood. Can affect breathing as well...a little bit of everything and you've got the recipe for feeling lightheaded after a work out. Blood/oxygen may not be circulating like it should. Also, the mind is a powerful thing, so if you're psyching yourself out before you even feel badly, then that's not going to help either. I'd go to the doctor and get your blood pressure and hear rate checked, both at rest and during and after exercise. And whatver else the doctor recommends. I wouldn't just leave this alone or expect diet/workout changes to solve this issue without professional help.
I'm not looking to body build. Just maintaining strength is my main goal. In the morning I generally don't have time or the urge to make all that. Eating the Odwalla protein bars or having a protein shake is the substitute for having nothing. The same goes for my snacking. It is a substitute for eating nothing. Eating nothing really screws me up bad and it's something I seem to tend to do naturally so it's kind of a battle for me. In the mornings I am fine waking up, but I have HORRIBLE sleeping habits and it has pretty much been that way since puberty. I have tried to work on them, but repeatedly failed miserably. I understand how bad it is for me and I have talked with psychiatrists and psychologists about it. It's the biggest flaw in my entire life and it is a major one. That said, I have no real schedule or routine everyday since I don't really have to work that much, so that doesn't help things either.
You're too young and height/weight proportionate to be experiencing the things you mentioned in the OP. I'd go to the Doc and get a physical done.
I've had this "crashing" issue with weight training ever since I was like 15 when I first tried it. Back then I was injury free and in very good shape. I do think I am finally going to see a doc about this though.
I started working with a personal trainer almost two months ago. I had the same problem the first few times. It's gotten a LOT better since as my conditioning has gotten better and my body has now "woken" up to what I'm now doing to it. My trainer also suggested a pre-workout drink to help get me going and push me through the workout.
The trauma of an injury can cause the scar tissue and fascial adhesions, but fascial adhesions can occur before injury for other reasons, so it's still a possibility, but at that age, it's probably something else. I guess you go to a general practitioner and get some basic tests done and see who they recommend. It would be great, if they'd recommend you to a sports physiologist, so they can actually test you while working out. Other doctors may simply guess a diagnosis based on several factors, which may or may not work.
