Hi folks,

I have been following a resistance training programme for the past six weeks or so. I've been doing a lot of cardio for some time so am quite fit that way.

My problem is that I seem to take ages to recover. I feel tired for days after training sometimes. Although I'm really enjoying it and seeing real changes in my body shape already.

Is this normal? I never got that with the cardio- I could do it practically every day, but now I sometimes feel too tired to train for three or four days after a weights session, and that includes too tired for cardio as well, at least cardio of any intensity.

Also round t.o.m I seem to feel just too weak to do any training. It's annoying because I find I can only train two or three times a week at the moment. As I said though, I am seeing changes. Should the recovery time get shorter or can anyone recommend anything?

Thanks everyone

I used to feel the same until I markedly increased my protein intake. I take 1 gram per pound in protein (3 meals plus 6 shakes a day). I eat very frequent smaller meals. Since I have done this my recovery has dramatically improved and I am much less sore (and grouchy) than I was. Also losing body fat.

Are you taking L Glutamine after workouts.
Are you eating enough calories a day?
jag

What is the point of your training? I mean.. is it for sports performance, for a hot body, for a certain health goal....? Is there an amount of muscle mass you want to see?

If you do not have specific performance goals, and your nutrition is adequate there is nothing wrong with weight training 3 times a week - more coul dbe overtraining. IF you're training because you want to be able to play a soccer match 5 times a week, to go on a 10 day hiking trek... for specific endurance or voume goals then both your training style and nutrition has to be looked at. Powerlifters would not train the same way as bodybuilders.. who would not train the same way as a soccer player or a gymnast.

What are your goals?

Hi There,

thanks for your replies. I take glutamine- 500mg tablets but the bottle says don't take more than one a day. Maybe that isn't enough.

I have recently upped my protein intake, maybe it's still not enough- I'm not quite sure how much I should be taking exactly- is it grams per pound of lean body weight or total body weight?

As for my goals- I want to gain some muscle- my upper body especially is pretty feeble, and I want to lose fat. I need more energy and would like to counteract stress as well. I'll be forty soon and don't want to lose muscle or bone mass. I have never had an optimally fit body and would like to have that- just for the hell of it!

Hi Alison:

I'm sure the gurus will come along soon and help, but here's what I know.

You aren't taking enough l-glut. You need to get the powdered form. The formula used is .3 g per KG of LBM. I take about 14g/day. That would equal 28!!! of your pills. L-glut's expensive enough, but very uneconomical in pill form. Here's a really good link on l-glut if you want more info - scroll down to the posts by Trainerdan http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...light=Glutamine

Depending on the source, protein requirements range from 1g protein/pd to 1g protein/pd LBM. If you're beginning, it would probably be wise to base your protein intake on LBM figure, but others may disagree. Make sure to eat partitioned amounts of protein throughout your 5-6 meals per day (about 15-50g of protein per meal). Although protein's vital, too much can cause an insulin response.

I also find that potassium supps helps with my energy levels.

Good luck!

Wanda

If you post a typical day's diet we could give you further insights.

Jen

Fairly Typical days diet (today's)

Breakfast: two eggs scrambled on a piece of linseed bread toast

Lunch (after training): tin mackerel fillets with salad and mayo

Afternoon Snack: Greek yoghurt (small tub)

Dinner: Homemade Turkey and tahini burgers (could be fish, turkey, steak etc) with v big mixed salad

Fresh strawberries and double cream (treat)

two glasses of red wine

Often also have evening snack of multigrain ryvita with some kind of goats cheese, sometimes have this for afternoon snack, didn't have other vegetables today but would normally have some kind of cooked vegetable dish eg: baked zucchini and capsicums with goats cheese, cauli, broccoli and spinach cheese bake, stir fry of some kind etc

Lots of water throughout day, about four cups of tea, one cup of coffee, salad dressing made with olive oil and cider vinegar,

I think that's all today (so far)

Feedback appreciated...

p.s apple

supplements: multivit/min, cod liver oil, vitamin C, black cohosh (for pmt), potassium, l-glutamine (500mg- not enough).

Overall your diet looks great - very healthy! The only thing I would lose is the wine. It's fine occasionally, but alcohol is very catabolic, and women have a hard enough time building muscle! You may be having trouble because your muscles are glycogen depleted. If you want to stay eating low-carb, which I definitely agree is the way to go, you may have to strategically add carbs to refuel glycogen. The simplest strategy (TKD) is to take some dextrose, either in a shake or as a dextrose-sweetened candy, before workouts. The other option is carb cycling like CKD or NHE. You can learn more about all these diets in the CKD/TKD forum. Check the stickies and scroll through the posts. HTH!

Jen

Do you know many calories you are taking in daily?
Jag

Just reading through everything here - so far, I totally agree with all the great advise you've gotten.

I might add that it might be time for you to try adding in some extra carbs somewhere in your diet, either pre-lifting a-la TKD, or once or twice a week CKD or NHE style, or by carb-cycling like I am, where I eat a few low-GI carb meals pre-lifting on lifting days only.
There are numerous threads about these, and there's a women's thread here if you would like to read about some specific problems some of the women here have worked around with regard to carbups: http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=194433

For what it's worth to you, I take about 15g glutamine daily, and about .9g protein per pound of my own body weight feels right most days for me, although I only sort-of keep track.

I train each body part once a week for the most part, in a 4-day lifting programme, with some recreational cardio on some non-lifting days.

Good luck with your goals.

Thanks for your feedback folks. I was wondering if it might be that my carbs are a bit too low for the kind of training I want to do. I'll have to experiement with that.

I really don't know how many calories I eat a day- I should think it's around 1800 or thereabouts. I don't want to cut calories though, I'd sooner add exercise (I like eating!), which is why I don't like being tired because it means I can't.

Regarding the wine- I'm really in two minds about that. I know it probably doesn't help the muscle gain goal, but it supposedly has a lot of positive benefits too (I actually think it balances the high fat/high meat content of my diet, I used to be a veggie (for about 15 years) so doing this has meant a big change), plus I enjoy it. I think I'll try the other suggestions first, and look at the wine if they don't work.

Maybe being a veggie all those years was debilitating in a small way, I've been low-carbing now for about a year, could take time to come up to scratch.

I will definitely up the l-glutamine and look at the carbs, thanks everyone

http://www.1fast400.com/?products_id=919
Good source for Glutamine.

Jag

Hey Jag, the one you link to is out of stock, do you know if the Opt. Nut. brand is just as good?