You know, every time you see people talk about getting into an exercise routine, you invariably see them gush about how great and energized they feel. Am I the only person alive who feels like crap when they work out?
Seriously…exercising doesn’t make me feel good. I mean, I know in my head that it’s good for me, but physically, all it does is make me tired. I can feel proud of the fact that I made the effort, but other than that, there’s really no reward. Instead of feeling energized and fit and blah blah blah…all I feel is worn out. And hungry.
Exercising doesn’t charge me up for the day, it makes me want to stuff my face and then take a nap.
I’ve been feeling like crap after I exercised all week. I work out in the evenings, and I’ve just felt like a zombie afterwards. I complained about it to my husband, and said maybe I needed to tone down my workout. He asked me if I’ve beek staying hydrated.
:smack:
Indeed, I keep forgetting my water bottle.
The other thing I’ve noticed is that if I work out with my heart rate at the low end of my aerobic zone, it basically sucks. If I get my heart rate up higher (right up at 80-90% of my max HR[sup]*[/sup]) then I get some major endorphin action. So you might want to try to intensify your workout a bit and see if that gives you more energy. Seems counterintuitive, I know.
[sup]*[/sup] I’ve done a full exercise test on a treadmill under the supervision of a licensed trainer, so I know my max heart rate and that it is safe for me to work in this range. This might not be safe for everyone. Talk to your doctor and/or a trainer to see what kind of workout will be safe and effective for you.
It’s not just around the time of my workout…I expect to be tired after I work out. It’s all of the other time that I’m talking about. If I work out regularly, during all of the time in which I’m not working out, I want to sleep (and eat). I’m tired literally all of the time. I would come home from work and go directly to bed if I could.
Exercising simply does not make me feel better. Not one iota. Not before, after or during.
I have a problem with long-term energy loss when I work out, too. It’s a huge barrier for me. I actually ENJOY exercising (cycling, specifically) but I’ve come to avoid it because it siphons off my energy in the evening. I know it’s not SPOZED to be like that, but over the years I’ve learned that what’s SPOZED to be and what IS are not always the same thing. Especially where nutrition and exercise are concerned.
An obvious question is: how much sleep are you getting?
Do you warm-up and cool-down diligently? IME, if I do a proper warm-up and cool-down, I feel full of endorphins after exercising. OTOH, if I rush in, hit some weights and rush out again, the post-exertion period makes me feel like I’m going to puke.
I’ve always needed a lot of sleep…even when I’m not exercising, I need 8+ hours on work days. On weekends, when I can wake naturally, I sleep for 9.5-10 hours.
Getting enough sleep isn’t the issue, unless I’m supposed to be sleeping 12 hours a day when I’m exercising.
My exercise right now is all swimming. I’m going 4x a week (MWF and one weekend day) and I swim approximately a half mile at a time, which takes me about 40 minutes. Warm up/cool down is done in the pool (warm up is a few slow laps, cool down is a few walking laps before I get out, then 5 minutes in the hot tub).
As I said, I’m not talking fatigue that’s directly related to my workout. My workout itself is fine. It’s the fact that I’m just generally worn out and hating life when I’m on a regular exercise regimen (regardless of what exercise I do…this swimming thing is new, the fatigue is not) I’m on. And yes, I’ve been to the doctor a number of times. I’m “healthy”. Whatever.
If you’ve been to the doctor and everything is fine, I would say your fatigue might be tied to your diet or you are exerting yourself too much, too soon, in the pool. I also swim 2-3x per week (early in the morning though) and I’m pretty worn out for most of the day, depending on how hard I push myself in the water. Maybe you should swim at a more comfortable pace and see if that makes you feel less fatigued afterwards.
I’d also recommend eating immediately after exercising. Even if you’re not hungry, eat a granola bar or a yogurt or something you like that will replenish your energy. There are a lot of good nutrition books out there too that might be helpful. I’ve found the Sports Nutrition Guidebook by Nancy Clark to be really useful.
Then again, maybe swimming just doesn’t give you an endorphin rush. It doesn’t do it for me, I only feel that “high” after running.
For some reason, swimming really tires me out. I trained for a triathalon earlier this year, and was fine biking and running, but when it came to swimming, I felt exhausted most of the time - during and after. I also got really cranky after. Anyway, have you exercised regularly in the past, or are you just starting out? Sometimes starting out exercising really sucks a big fat one. Or maybe swimming’s not for you. Maybe you should try to find a form of exercise that doesn’t really feel like exercise. Have you ever considered doing something like taking swing dancing classes, or salsa?
I used to swim a few times a week, and I never felt particularly energized afterward. The day I swam I was usually tired and sluggish the rest of the day, although I felt fine on the days I hadn’t swum. Now I mostly just play basketball, which gives me a lot of energy, especially after I’ve been playing regularly. It might have something to do with the heart rate intensity mentioned by Podkayne, I don’t know.
I feel your pain. Of course, I’m always always tired, but exercise makes it worse. The more exercise, the worse it gets. I’ve never had any sort of rush from exercising, and I’m “healthy” too.
No, not really. As I said, I’ve always needed more regular sleep than anyone I know, but as long as I’m getting my regular sleep, I’m fine. When I’m on a workout plan, though, it’s all I can do to drag myself out of bed in the morning, and laying on the sofa is all that’s on my mind when I get home.
It’s so frustrating. I wish I could be one of those people who gets a rush from exercising, but I just don’t. I’ve done all manner of exercising (including real outdoor activities like hiking and mountain biking, not just boring gym stuff) and it’s always the same. I know in my head that I need to do it, but it’s an endless ordeal.
I’ve been the same since childhood. Exercising puts me on a real downer, makes me feel tired, miserable and grumpy. In primary school our teachers used to make us run around the perimetre of the school once a week, and every single time my legs would break out in an itchy red rash. I’ve never been able to comprehend what people are talking about when they say that exercise gives them a high, because it’s exactly the opposite for me. I’m not a model picture of good health, I’ve suffered fibromyalgia since I was 19 (9 years), but like I said, this pre-dates any of that and goes back as far as I can remember. My parents tell me that other people used to comment that I was the only two year old they ever met who didn’t run everywhere.
Jadis, maybe you want to consider the time of day that you are exercising. I know that for me, exercise in the afternoon is really hard. I never get into the groove, and am mostly tired afterwards, much like you.
However, if I exercise in the morning, it is endorphin time! And I feel energised for the rest of the day.
Also, for me, exercising in a gym is near torture to me. But listening to music does make it better. But I much prefer the outdoors.
I agree with other posters that swimming is not energising. So I hike in the hills surrounding the valley I live in…anywhere from 45 minutes to 3 hours, depending on the demands of the day. Weekends are for the longer hikes. I usually hike 2 days and take the 3rd day off, then repeat.
Seeing as how I need so much sleep in general, exercising in the morning has always been anathema to me. All of my previous gym efforts up until now always revolved around going after work. I was tired then, too.
This time around, I’ve been going to the gym at 6am. Believe me when I say it doesn’t help to go in the morning. In a lot of ways, it’s probably worse, because I don’t want to get out of bed even on good, non-exercising days. Getting up at 6am is its own special little hell.
If I’m on the push-it-to-the-limit phase of my routine, then yeah, the low energy can linger for the whole week. But this is specifically because I’m pushing my workouts to the limit for that week. If I’m doing a lighter workout (or if I’m splitting upper body/lower body) so my total work output any given day is lower, I’m fine and peppy.