About 6 months ago I posted on this forum about “adrenal fatigue” and you explained how there is no such thing as “adrenal fatigue” but the symptoms are real. You also gave me some great tips that helped a lot.
Over the years I have had a lot of psychological stress as well as working hard in the gym when I probably didn’t need any additional stress. Due to this extra stress over the years, I believe it has taken a toll on my body.
I have been living with symptoms of “adrenal fatigue” and overtraining for a long time:
irritability
-body aches
trouble sleeping (waking every 2-3 hours) I don’t know the last time I slept longer than 4 hours in a row. I also get up and go to the bathroom every time I wake up but I don’t drink much before bed.
-waking up sweaty
-constantly exhausted and wanting to nap
-depression / anxiety
-resting heart rate higher than normal
-lightheaded when Standing up
among many others
I can still make progress with my lifts but it trashes me. If i try a lower body taxing exercise I could be feeling extra beat up for days. Anything that raises my heart rate extra high (high rep lower body, farmers walks, etc) also will beat me up for days.
I’m getting to the point where I’m starting to finally smarten up and realize I need to set my ego aside and get better. This sleep thing especially drives me crazy. I’ve been to many doctors and they’ve all said I’m fine besides my hormones being depleted due to the chronic stress.
Sorry for the long post but my question to you would be what kind of workouts (if any) can I complete during the week to at least keep my sanity while I try to really pull back on the training and get better? Frequency, Less taxing exercise examples, splits, etc? My routines are usually full body workouts 3 days a week and when I switch routines Up I switch to upper lower upper for 3 total days per week. I find it hard to work my legs without taxing myself but I know at this point it’s about health and not gains for now.
Hope your doing great I know it really sucks I am on the same boat as you .
First and far most I have to guide myself with you since you will always say and keep spinning your brain thinking you have a problem I know you have but you have to shift your mindset big time so you stop stressing yourself more
Second for training the best thing that you relay on a coach who knows what’s up send me your mail and I will send you some coaches that can help if you went that road on your own bias will dig the whole deeper since your willpower will make you train harder and will mess you more I fall in that trap always
Third how is your nutrition doing if you are in a deficit or not upping your calories will mess you more so you better look at that and check Reverse dieting
Fourth supplements may help like coach here said about magnesium Taurate + Glycine and some melatonin three times a day with only 1mg at 5-7-9 pm will help reset your circadian clock and exposure to bright light at night fucks your sleep we all fall in that these days and try to have low glycemic carbs at night before sleep by 2 to 1 hour sweet potato oatmeal some jasmine rice will lower cortisol and adrenaline .
For training if you have bands you could use them and if you have weights at home since all of us are at home you could use lower weights and just go through the movements the split you laid out are good take your time at rest and just go through the motions and very low impact movements lower volume approach train for only 30min not more
As someone who has been dealing with adrenal issues for some time, here’s my advice:
Stop working out for a couple months. Do only yoga and walking. It seems like an eternity but you’ll healthier in the long run.
Get some Adrenasense and take two a day.
Take a ton of vitamin C. Get liposomal vitamin C because it absorbs way better than ascorbic acid.
Take a good b complex with active b vitamins. It should have plenty of vitamin b5 and make sure the b12 is in the form of methlycobalamin and not cyanocobalamin.
Take good zinc and magnesium supplements (not magnesium oxide).
For sleep try cbd oil and time released melatonin. I also rotate between valerian root, 5htp, and the theanine. Alteril is probably the strongest sleep supplement I’ve taken over the counter so give it a try too.
Make sure your diet has enough carbs and plenty of good fats.