Have you worked out and had the post exercise mental plus physical exhaustion? Do you hate it as much as I do? You just want to get through this phase of the fitness journey, don’t you? You want to return to having more energy flowing through you afterward. We’ll stick around for a second. I’ll tell you a story and give some advice on doing things better for your mind and body.
About a year ago I tore my Achilles tendon when I changed my running workout to be more strenuous and include HIIT speed training. This type of injury is commonly referred to as Achilles tendinitis. I chose to go the home route of letting it heal for 8 weeks, then slowly start to try to get back into training. This turned into 12 weeks before the limp was completely gone and I could do some light workouts. I was so lazy.
I was lazy for months as I healed. I didn’t change my diet to reflect that I was no longer training like I would for a race. My caloric ceiling when I’m training is about twice as much as a normal person should eat. I have been training constantly for basically a decade. During this time, I’ve been eating like the temple of my body was a bottomless dumpster. I ballooned 20 pounds faster than Ryan Gosling did drinking melted Häagen-Dazs to plump up for a role.
Lately I’ve been back on the workout wagon finally dropping the weight that’s been annoying me. It’s rare for me to be on the cut side of the workout cycle. Every time I go through it, I have to reset my post workout micro and macro nutrient routine.
You may be asking, “Why don’t you just take post workout supplements?” I dislike using the powder in the shaker. I avoid it for the same reasons I would avoid meals in pill form. I want to enjoy my nutrition damn it! I don’t want to squeeze a tube of goo for the calories to keep going. I want a freaking cookie. If you’re still here I’m betting you feel the same way.
This is going to be easier to swallow than you think. When you’re wiped after a workout, your brain feels sluggish for a few very real reasons. These include depleted glycogen, mild dehydration, nervous system fatigue, and sometimes a drop in blood pressure. The fix isn’t just “rest more”, it’s about resetting your physiology quickly.
The first and most important step is right after you workout. The body immediately needs glucose and electrolytes. After any physical activity you’ll be low on both. Within 30 to 45 minutes you need to consume protein, carbohydrates, and electrolytes. This can be as simple as yogurt with honey and berries or an egg and avocado burrito.
The next part to do is hydrate! You should have been hydrating as needed during the workout or event. After you’re done, get 12 to 24 ounces of H2O into you. You could even add some of your favorite electrolytes here too.
Believe it or not after a strenuous workout your nervous system needs rebalancing. Hard workouts push you into a sympathetic mode (“fight or flight” in layman’s terms). After you’ve eaten and hydrated to think clearly, you need to shift back to parasympathetic mode. For about 5 minutes do some breathing exercises. Inhale for about four seconds, then exhale for about eight seconds. If this seems to much like meditation and not your Jove then go for a five to ten minute walk. You will feel the difference in your mind.
Sometimes an additional boost is still needed after all of this. 30 to 60 minutes later you can indulge in a cup of coffee or tea. Not a fancy whip cream covered sugar beverage, but something simple. Remember you can do your cheat meal later. You don’t want to constantly derail the improvements from the workouts.
Lastly don’t jump right into mentally draining activity right after a workout. Start light with easy to complete activities, then build up from there. If you burn out mentally you’ll feel it physically.
That’s my two cents. Use what you need and leave the rest.
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