I work out an average of 3 - 4x per week. My typical workout is 20 minutes of weight training and then 20-30 minutes of treadmill/elliptical trainer.
I find that I don't have a lot of energy, particularily on the aerobic side of my workout. Any suggestions?
My boyfriend thinks I should have a cup of coffee before I workout, but I hate coffee!
REC gave lots of good suggestions. If this is a morning fatigue issue, I can understand why the suggestion of coffee might help. I would be dangerous if I had to operate heavy equipment (like a treadmill) without my morning cup of coffee.
If this is a recent development, it could be many things. I've had anemia several times in my life, and that definitely affects exercise endurance. If it continues, go to your physician to get it checked out.
It could also be something as simple as your body just wanting a few days off. I've been exercising regularly for a while now, and it seems like there are a few days every month where my body just wants a few days of downtime.
Are you eating properly, getting a good balance of foods? It's really important. My worst workouts follow a day of poor eating (whether too much or too little food).
I hope this helps and that you figure out what's going on.
I usually workout at night, and did a morning workout the other day due to schedule conflicts. I was doing a tape that I consider easy, and I could barely get through it!! I was so TIRED! It wasn't that I hadn't woken up, but that I hadn't eaten anything or had enough water yet. I think I was underfueled + dehydrated, which left me feeling drained towards the end of the workout. Perhaps you need a light snack, like a piece of fruit, and some extra water before your workout?
Also, I would recommend doing the cardio before weight training. By the time you get to cardio, your muscles are fatigued from the weight training and not happy to be doing the extra work! Plus, your weight training will be more beneficial if your muscles are warmed up first.
Finally, one more suggestion -- perhaps you're simply bored! When I don't like my workouts anymore and feel like they're really a chore, the mere thought of working out makes me tired -- and makes it hard for me to get through a workout! Maybe it's time to mix it up a little! Try a new class, or do an outside activity a few days a week!
I agree with copperblu's great suggestions except one. You should NOT do intense cardio before ST; you should do a warm up (5-10 minutes), then ST, finally cardio. The whole purpose of ST is to fatigue (tear) the muscles so they repair and get stronger. You shouldn't go into ST pre-fatigued from cardio; they'll be TIRED, but not torn. If you're muscles are tired when you start ST, you won't be able to lift as heavy to tear them, which will ultimately get you stronger.
However, she has a great point that perhaps you do such a good job fatiguing your muscles during ST (which is what you SHOULD do), that you don't have enough in you do to cardio afterwards. Perhaps doing them on separate days or separate them into am and pm workouts might help.
REC has made a very good point -- I'd do light cardio before weight training, but certainly not heavy cardio. I don't think a 20 minute walk on a treadmill or elliptical would be enough to seriously fatigue your muscles, but a 20 minute run would be -- you didn't specify what intensity you're working at, so that could play a factor. Additionally, both of the cardio workouts you've mentioned basically use only the lower body -- perhaps you can focus on upper-body strength training after such a workout, and save the lower-body strength training for the next day.
