T Nation

Very Tired After Fullbody Workout

Beginners
#1

I’, 18, I’ve been lifting for about a year, im doing 5x5 madcow, i lift three times a week.

I use post activation potentiation (PAP) with the 3 basics, i will go like 8xbar, 5x30 kg, 5x40kg, 3x46 kg ,3x50 kg ,1x57 kg (in this last set i lift heavier than my last set of the 5x5, to over activate my muscles, so i can lift faster and actIvate those fast twitch fibers better), after that i start my effective sets.

MONDAY WEDNEDAY FRIDAY
HANG CLEAN 4x5 SQUAT JUMPS 4x3 HANG CLEAN 3x5
SQUAT SQUATS SQUAT
B.PRESS M.PRESS B.PRESS
ROW DEADLIFT ROW
HIP THRUST 3x6 WEIGHTED CARRIES GLUTE HAM RAISE 3x6
DIPS 3x6 PALLOF PRESS 3x10 CHIM UP 3x6
AB WHEEL 3x10 AB WHEEL 3x10

I DO ALOT OF BAND PUL APARTS DURING THE WORKOUT, FACE PULLS AFTER THE MAIN LIFTS AND ROTATOR CUFF WORK TO WARM UP.

After the workout i feel very tired, my muscles feel good, so think it might be my SNC, after working out i get home and fall asleep, i’m out of energy.
i’m an ectomorph, maybe that is one of the factores, my body don’t assimilate weel all the work.
Even after the main lifts it’s difficult to end the workout cause im tired

I eat well, a lot of calories, i take whey protein, creatine, and count my calories, i eat about 3,200 kcal a day.

THOUGHTS, RECOMMENDATIONS.

#2

[quote]joaco34 wrote:
I’, 18, I’ve been lifting for about a year, im doing 5x5 madcow, i lift three times a week.

I use post activation potentiation (PAP) with the 3 basics, i will go like 8xbar, 5x30 kg, 5x40kg, 3x46 kg ,3x50 kg ,1x57 kg (in this last set i lift heavier than my last set of the 5x5, to over activate my muscles, so i can lift faster and actIvate those fast twitch fibers better), after that i start my effective sets.

MONDAY WEDNEDAY FRIDAY
HANG CLEAN 4x5 SQUAT JUMPS 4x3 HANG CLEAN 3x5
SQUAT SQUATS SQUAT
B.PRESS M.PRESS B.PRESS
ROW DEADLIFT ROW
HIP THRUST 3x6 WEIGHTED CARRIES GLUTE HAM RAISE 3x6
DIPS 3x6 PALLOF PRESS 3x10 CHIM UP 3x6
AB WHEEL 3x10 AB WHEEL 3x10

I DO ALOT OF BAND PUL APARTS DURING THE WORKOUT, FACE PULLS AFTER THE MAIN LIFTS AND ROTATOR CUFF WORK TO WARM UP.

After the workout i feel very tired, my muscles feel good, so think it might be my SNC, after working out i get home and fall asleep, i’m out of energy.
i’m an ectomorph, maybe that is one of the factores, my body don’t assimilate weel all the work.
Even after the main lifts it’s difficult to end the workout cause im tired

I eat well, a lot of calories, i take whey protein, creatine, and count my calories, i eat about 3,200 kcal a day.

THOUGHTS, RECOMMENDATIONS.
[/quote]

You’re tired after training. Sounds pretty normal to me. I’d be wary of buying in to the "I’m an [insert x/y/z] so I don’t respond well to…’ thing. A lot of the time it usually ends up being something else.

I have a suspicion what you’re experiencing is down mostly to two things:

  1. you aren’t eating enough. You’d be surprised just how much you need to eat to recover from training that is hard enough to get you stronger, let alone bigger. I’d recommend adding in some more starchy foods (potatoes, rice, etc) and a bit more protein and seeing how that goes. Nothing extreme, maybe an extra potato or 100-200 grams of rice and another protein shake or two per day.

  2. you’re not actually doing Madcow. You’re doing Madcow PLUS almost another entire program’s worth of work so while you might only train three days per week, there’s enough work in there for five or six days’ worth of work. Combine that with not quite eating enough and you are almost certain to be under-recovering pretty much constantly.

If the weights you outlined for you ‘PAP’ are the actual weights you use, I’m not trying to be mean but you’re weak. After a year of training you should be MUCH stronger. That alone should tell you that something isn’t right.

You’re trying to add in all this cool sounding stuff when you’re still very inexperienced and not in a good position to determine what you could usefully add to an already proven program. Follow Madcow as it is set out. That’ll be hard enough for you without adding in a bunch of - for you - useless and counterproductive extra volume.

Don’t try to be clever. Just stick to the program and eat quantity and quality.

#3

thank you bruh, i will try that, and just keep it simple. I will tell yaa how i go in a month or something.

#4

I agree with removing the PAP work and sticking with the program. If your work sets are less than the 57kg that you’re working up to, chances are your warmups are adding too much work. The warmups shouldn’t take that much effort and the top single would actually be considered part of your working sets if you took that training approach. Stick to the program as outlined and don’t add in so much banded shoulder work that it affects your main work.

If you’re struggling to hit the prescribed reps session after session then try starting over and using a training max that allows you to hit your 5RM at about 6 weeks out instead of 4 weeks. The light work will be easy during the first few weeks but keep it that way. Just because you aren’t fatigued after each session does not mean you aren’t progressing.

Set yourself up for success down the road by starting off too light instead of way too heavy. You’ll make progress regardless if you start off too light.

It seems like you are using close to the same weights that you started off with when you first started weight training. Pushing close to failure all the time will not make you stronger faster. Sometimes feeling fresh after a workout is a good thing. There are times to push to failure with heavy weights and it definitely shouldn’t be all the time.

#5

I’d say you feel very tired after workouts because you aren’t actually doing Madcow.
The guy that designed Madcow did it a certain way for a reason. You are suppose to stick to program for the progressive overload to work. It is very demanding so doing a heap of other stuff on top of an already challenging program is counterproductive.

Stick to it and reap the rewards of a well designed program.
If you’re not sure if you have the original Madcow program then do a search and have a read. There is a website that actually has posts written by Madcow himself. I wont put it up here but it’s easy to find.

The proper Madcow program will have the correct percentages, sets and reps to use and will tell you which days to use them.
This is important to follow.

#6

I have ALSO feLT rather tired after a Stronglifts session plus maybe 2 assistance lifts, and I usually have to go to work after my workout. I’ve found a few handfulls of Fritos and some whole milk keeps my natural energy up throughout the workout and afterwards.

I don’t subscribe to the 6-small-meals-a-day mantra, but a non overbearing intra workout snack does wonders for me.

#7

Take MAG-10/hydro whey/Surge Recovery (depending on budget) immediately postworkout

#8

You probably know that you are supposed to be tired after lifting, so I suspect you feel abnormally tired and you are concerned.

Here is what I have found as worked:

  1. Eat more carbs. I used to eat a high protein, high fat diet with low carbs (30,40,30), and found once I ate less fat and more carbs (even shit like icecream) I felt better

  2. Do cardio, 5-10 minutes after lifting makes a difference in the long run. I saw my BP, resting heart rate, and energy levels improve after ust two weeks

  3. sleep better. Are you getting a good nights sleep? I used to have sleep apnea and since I got this problem taken care of I have more energy for everything

  4. Workout less. I prefer doing 3-4 exercises/workout, with one lift balls out, the rest assistance. Deadlift day might look like
    DL - work up to max reps and heavy weight (usually something like 2-135, 2-185, 2-225, 2-275, 1-315, max reps-365)
    DL - sets of 5 at lower weight
    Grip work
    Lower back work
    cardio

It all depends on my goals for the day and how I am feeling. If I am doing particularly shitty, I might skip the day or just do the main lift, if I am feeling good I might do extra DL cool down sets

  1. eat better. Ive found eating better, high quality food (especially veggies) leads to an overall better feeling of the body. I particularly like broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, beans and beets.

  2. take a week off. You might just need some time off to recuperate.

#9

[quote]joaco34 wrote:
thank you bruh, i will try that, and just keep it simple. I will tell yaa how i go in a month or something.[/quote]

My pleasure. Try starting a training log. It’s kind of fun, and a good way to get advice because what you’ve done day by day is already there.

EDIT: I mean a training log on this site, there’s a tab in your hub. If you aren’t keeping a hard copy training log already, that is an absolute must.