WHY YOUR WORKOUT FEELS HARD SOME DAYS
You sweat through this workout every week. But this particular Wednesday? You're struggling way more than usual — moving slower, taking longer breaks, cutting sets short. When you're not feeling a workout, it's frustrating to end it feeling like you didn't accomplish much.
"We all want the time and effort we invest into a workout to feel like it's worth it. Having a bad workout happens, but if it's happening more often than usual, it might be time to take a look at a few of your lifestyle behaviors — specifically, the ones that affect your workouts the most," says Kim Lowry, sports dietitian at Houston Methodist. Lowry says the main behaviors that can impact your performance during a workout are:
What you eat
How you recover
How much sleep you're getting
With that in mind, here are four mistakes you may be making if you just struggled through a workout feeling low energy.
You're not eating the right foods at the right time
When we typically talk about diet and exercise, we often think about calories in versus calories out. But, aside from weight maintenance (or loss), what you eat also plays a huge role in your performance during exercise.
"Your body and brain need energy during a workout. If you're well-fueled, there's energy readily available in your blood stream. If you're not well-fueled, your body is going to need to tap into your energy stores, which takes time," says Lowry. "This may result in feeling like you can't push yourself as hard as you usually can."
So, how can you make sure you start a workout with plenty of readily available energy? That comes down to when and what you eat. Ideally, you want to eat a well-balanced meal about three to four hours prior to working out. This includes:
Complex carbs, such as oatmeal, quinoa, or sweet potatoes
Colorful veggies, such as bell peppers, carrots, or tomatoes
Lean protein, such as chicken, plain yogurt, or eggs
If you're going to be exercising at a high intensity for longer than 30 minutes, it is also recommend to top off your energy stores about an hour before your workout by eating some simple carbs, like a piece of fruit or granola.
You're eating the wrong foods at the wrong time
The other mistake that's easy to make is eating the wrong thing too soon before your workout.
"While a piece of fruit is mostly made of simple carbs that your body can quickly digest to provide a pool of ready-to-use energy, foods that are high in fats and complex carbs or fiber take a while for your body to digest," warns Lowry. "Digesting food takes energy. So if you eat these foods too close to your workout, some of the energy that could've been dedicated to your workout is now being used to digest your food."
It can take up to an hour or two to digest fats and heavy carbs, so you'll also want to avoid eating these types of foods immediately before your workout.
You're not fully recovering between workouts
Exercise is a short-term (good) stress on your body…it's what makes you stronger. But, your body (and mind) also needs to recover after exercise, particularly when it's intense or frequent; your body is recovering for up to 24 hours later.
Glycogen reserves are depleted after intense or long exercise sessions. (Glycogen depletion is associated with muscle fatigue.) Rebuilding glycogen reserves is a slow process, so it’s important to add the right amount of carbohydrates in your diet and consume them regularly.
In addition, some muscle protein is broken down along with glycogen and fat, due to the stress placed on them during exercise. This damage may continue for hours after the exercise session is over. Protein and amino acid supplements assist in muscle growth and are recommended to be consumed, along with carbohydrates.
We also experience psychological resistance to change from current habits. This is known as cognitive inertia. This effect causes people to continue their present resting state and may be partly responsible for the struggle to resume exercise after a break.
You're not getting enough sleep
Most of your muscle recovery happens while you're sleeping, since this is when your body release the most growth hormone. During this time, your muscles are repairing and rebuilding. Given this, and the fact that muscle recovery is important for getting through your next workout strong, it's easy to see why getting plenty of sleep can help improve your exercise performance.
If your workout performance is suffering or you’re experiencing pain during or between workouts, click the button below for a complimentary assessment with one of Success Studio’s certified personal trainers. We can help you get back on the road to workout success!