excercise time of day

[pinkcaddy]

The last few days have been a struggle.... it is so hard to stop myself when I am sliding...I have been doing 1 1/2 hours of cardio every day and sometimes I feel like it is hurting more than helping.... I find that if I excercise in the AM I want to sleep at supper, and If I exercise after supper, I can't sleep.... any suggestions???

[Natrushka]

Firs thing that comes to mind is are you eating enough? You need calories to function and if you're working out, or trying to work out and suffering, you need more of them. 10 times your body weight is the minimum. Also, are you taking your supplements? A multi vitamin, calcium with magnesium and potassium. They will help with muscle ache and fatigue and improve the quality of your sleep.

You can get potassium from products called "HalfSalt" or "NuSalt", which are primarily potassium chloride. 1/8 tsp. (528 mg potassium) Mixed with water twice a day for a couple weeks will do the trick.

Magnesium is another mineral you need to supplement. Our diets tend to be very poor in magnesium, which is not good; magnesium plays a role in over 325 biochemical reactions in our bodies. It is magnesium that controls the fate of potassium and calcium in the body. If magnesium is insufficient potassium and calcium will be lost in the urine and calcium will be deposited in the soft tissues (kidneys, arteries, joints, brain, etc.)

Magnesium aids in relieving muscle cramping. You can get a good calcium / magnesium supplement that will help with cramping along with other things. The ratio is usually 2:1 (Calcium to Magnesium) and be sure it's in a chelated form - citrate / gluconate / malate as it is more completely absorbed than the carbonate form. The chelate forms are bound to a protein molecule, which helps carry the mineral through the intestinal lining into the blood stream. I take one cal/mag supplement with every meal and another an hour before bed. One of the side effects of magnesium is improved quality of sleep.

Also, are you drinking your water? If you're working out you'll need more than the 64oz advised.

And lastly, take a few days off. I know the desire to workout every day, but you do need time off. You may be overtraining. The symptoms of overtraining can be found here (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19377); in a thread from last month.

Cheers,
Nat

[Trainerdan]

Nat, you nailed it all. Good advice.