Weight lifting and massive fatigue

[SunnyGirl86]

Hi everyone,

First off, I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm having massive success this time around with Fitbit and eating a more low carb diet.  I'm trying to build muscle while dropping fat, and was recently gifted a massive Gold's Gym weight machine for Christmas.  Since then, I've been doing fairly intense weight lifting sessions along with intense sessions on the stationary bike followed by a brief one on the rowing machine.  Steps are somewhat secondary to this, although I'm working on my stamina there as well.  Anyhow, I basically just slept all day yesterday after work because I was absolutely exhausted following Monday's workout, which was the biggest one yet in terms of calories, duration, and weights lifted.  Since beginning body building, I've been noticing a marked increase in fatigue overall.  Is this normal and a sign of progress, or should I be doing something differently?  I should add because of my mild cerebral palsy, that the doc who looked at my broken leg, did advise me to go slow at first and gave me some rough guidelines.  He says he wants me to eat 1600-1800kcals on active days, but I've been too scared to eat that amount as I'm only 5'2".

Thanks,

SunnyGirl86

[SunsetRunner · Accepted solution]

Well, if your gonna exercise intensely then you'll need to eat. You gotta fuel the body to maintain intense exercise.

My experience over the last year, doing a very restricted calorie diet (under 1800) with intense exercise did me in. matter of fact, I increased my daily calorie intake to 2200 because even at 1800, I felt worn out.

I workout 5 days a week, with lifting heavy and doing moderate to intense cardio on the concept2 rower.

I refuse to starve myself.

[Mukluk4]

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@SunnyGirl86 wrote:

Hi everyone,

First off, I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm having massive success this time around with Fitbit and eating a more low carb diet.  I'm trying to build muscle while dropping fat, and was recently gifted a massive Gold's Gym weight machine for Christmas.  Since then, I've been doing fairly intense weight lifting sessions along with intense sessions on the stationary bike followed by a brief one on the rowing machine.  Steps are somewhat secondary to this, although I'm working on my stamina there as well.  Anyhow, I basically just slept all day yesterday after work because I was absolutely exhausted following Monday's workout, which was the biggest one yet in terms of calories, duration, and weights lifted.  Since beginning body building, I've been noticing a marked increase in fatigue overall.  Is this normal and a sign of progress, or should I be doing something differently?  I should add because of my mild cerebral palsy, that the doc who looked at my broken leg, did advise me to go slow at first and gave me some rough guidelines.  He says he wants me to eat 1600-1800kcals on active days, but I've been too scared to eat that amount as I'm only 5'2".

Thanks,

SunnyGirl86

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1. Yes you need to eat more.

2.  Don't focus on the scale number if you are lifting, focus on body measurements.

3.  How often are you lifting, and what muscles are you using when?  You need to ensure you have adequate recovery time (48 hours for a muscle group).