need advise on how to not be so tired from workouts

[croissant]

Hi

im new here. I am seeking advise on how to not be so tired all the time from bike riding. I ride my bicycle about 70-100 miles a week but i seem to be tired all the time from it! Its affecting my everyday life and im trying to figure out a way i will not feel constantly fatigued. the muscles in my legs and butt feel sore and like they are recovering but then i just feel exhausted and mentally groggy.

I ussually drink a whey protein drink after a long ride. on average I consume 50-80 g of protein a day. I eat a fairly balanced diet, fruits and veggies everyday. I consume about 1800-1900 calories a day. Im 5'7" 170 lbs and im trying to loose like 20 lbs.

I was looking into supplements and was considering getting some:
bcaa's------------------------for faster muscle recovery
l-tyrosie---- for more energy and the dopamine epinerphrine regulating
actyl-l-carnitine---- for muscle recovery and heart brain function
gaba------ stress relief and hgh
rhodiola rosea---- for energy and antioxident
testofen---------for more test
horny goat weed----for more no2 and libido
L-Citrulline Malate-----for muscle fatigue
l-arginine---------- for no2 and vascular health
ginkgo-----------for more brain focus and circulation
and a daily multi----so i dont have any shrotages

and was thinking of detoxing my body with some:
french green clay-to detox my intestines
Psyllium Husks----to detox my intestines and colon and healthy digestion
hawthorne berries---for my heart and veins
milk thistle---------- to detox my liver
triphala--------------to keep my digestion healthy

it seems a little crazy to me looking at this list since i only take some protein as a supplement now. I often have trouble digesting and feel bloated. So I was thinking of just doing a detox and taking that long list of supplements since it seems to that altogether they will keep my body functioning optimally even if i stress it. I was thinking of perhaps incresing my protein intake to 80-100 gs a day also.

my goal is to feel healthy happy energetic focused and centered and to look good naked. I would like to increase the amount of working out I dop as well.

advice and opinions would be appreciated

[samiisbe]

I just signed up here too but i've working out on and off for a long time. I'm interested to see what everyone else has to say but heres my opinion. First off i'd try a different protein if your feeling bloated with trouble digesting, something definitly without lactose. Isopure is awesome after workouts because its so refined, i'd take that right after your bike ride, its all whey isolate so it'll digest real quick. then i'd get something slower with a casein for other times when you feel you need some protein. I'd suggest muscle milk but if your trying to lose weight its alittle heavy on the calories. But either way i'd look into some of the more quality proteins first and the rest of the supps after that.

[croissant]

hey samiisbe yeah i was thinking it wise to increse protein intake. Its not that im reacting specifically to the protein sup I take but more like my diet in general. I notice I feel a lot better when I eat a lot of black beans (not canned) and some rice, oatmeal, and a lot of fruit. Any meat especially red meat, soy milk, milk product, some veggies, many starches, and fried food is hard for me to digest.
It seems like the high fibers of a good variety made my digestion go a lot smoother which gives me a lot more energy rather than it spent on indigestion. Thats why I included the psylium husks on the list as they are a great source of high quality fiber without too many calories.

[samiisbe]

Yeah, i used to eat red meat often, mostly 93/7 ground beef but wow did make me gassy. I usually just eat alot of chicken now, the individually frozen ones in a bag are nice and convienent, breasts and tenderloins. Make sure your rice is brown rice too . I dont have much experoence with those supplements you listed though, hopefully someone else does

[tubbednova]

It sounds like your overtraning (im going though it right now)Im taking a 1week break mybe 2 depending on how i feel after this week will tell.So either eat more to fuel your rides or take a break.The muscle pain isn't going to go away without a break more then likely.Rest=recovery!

[bluehealer]

Endurox R4

[samiisbe]

Yeah, maybe overtraining. You might consider doing some other exercises during off days too while cutting down alittle on the biking (how often and about how much time are your rides?) Like the last poster said some recovery time is needed too. Your legs are awsome calorie burners but the muscles still need some recovery time. If you dont have a gym membership maybe just a good push up and crunches routine, also a pull up bar because you wouldnt want all push and no pull exercises, the more muscle you have the more calories you'll burn just sitting. And this will help with your looking good naked goal.

[croissant]

thanks fellas I will look more into what you all mentioned.. I rest too much that is the problem... its fine when I take it easy but I feel like sleeping 10 hours at a time a couple days a week and If i dont I feel mentally foggy. Which I currently use coffee to curtail the fog, and I feel like its not such a healthy cycle. I bike 15 miles a day 3 times a week as a commute... on top of that I do a 30-35 mile joy ride once a week. and add 5-10 miles running errands throughout the week. yeah I guess I do around 200 pushups total randomly through out the week and spend around 1.5 hours stretching throughout the week. All this and I only loose like 1 lb a week.

If its overtraining I guess I am pretty weak as many people bike like 200 miles a week.

I want to wake up feeling ready to tackle the day not like i awoke from a coma.

[CoorsLight126]

Here is exactly what's going on with you. Between riding so much, little caloric intake including protein, and weight training to boot, your body has gone the other route and has gone catabolic (it's eating at itself for energy and breaking down constantly) This state of overtraining/catabolism has caused your system to have a lack of appetite rather than fire your metabolism like it should. You can reverse this rather quickly if you do the following.

#1- cut down the rides to 2-3x/wk max, and your better doing shorter and more intense rides than long,drawn out ones (I'm a cyclist myself, mountain bikes)

#2- Bring your protein intake up to about 200 grams day or twice what your getting

#3- Mix some sort of powdered BCAA's into your water to drink during your rides (Xtend BCCA powder is excellent, get watermelon or grape) also get some glutamine for recovery purposes

#4- Start training heavier and in a more intense fashion/lower rep range, 6-8 reps for the next couple months, only lift weights 3x/wk for now

What you want to do if your goal is to drop bodyfat, is to use the cycling as a means just to stimulate your metabolism and keep it hungry, not overdo it. Good luck bro!!

[croissant]

so increase protein ok will do.
im running out of whey and thinking of cutting out soymilk and redmeat im also lactose intolerant so no milk for me. I guess ill eat more chicken, tilapia and cook up some beans n brown rice

bcaa's is it better to take eaa's or bcaa's? and how much in addition to whats in whey protein?

[ZiR RED]

Coorslight gave you some pretty good advice.

I would suggest only a few other things.

First, take a week to recover. Eat around 2500 kcal a day during that week, and keep exercise to light activity. Stretch. Let your body recover fully - let your muscles heal, your CNS 'recharge', your adrenal glands return to baseline, etc.

Second, eat more calories. You're working hard, and while the goal is too decrease body fat, you also don't want to trigger the "starvation adaptation" again.

Br

[tubbednova]

You also might want to eat the same and take a day and eat mybe 250-500cal more once a week to kick up thyroid gland and boost energy up some(not junk)like throw in a sweet potatoe with half a bannana at lunch something on that line.

[snuggy]

Be mentally strong and determined about your goals. Positive thoughts have immense power in building healthy mind and body. Visualize the following - you are leading a happy life achieving the optimum weight you desired. You are eating healthy food and exercising regularly. Your body is accustomed to your new diet and exercise regimen. You are feeling young and healthy.

[croissant]

It sounds like your overtraning (im going though it right now)Im taking a 1week break mybe 2 depending on how i feel after this week will tell.So either eat more to fuel your rides or take a break.The muscle pain isn't going to go away without a break more then likely.Rest=recovery!

Yeah I looked up over training and I suffer all of the symptoms... cyclists are ,ore highly predisposed to it because it is not too difficult to keep pushing yourself past your limits. I hope it heals soon but could take up to 12 weeks! the thing that really sucks is my bicycle is my main mode of trasnportation so I have to take bus when I can and cycle slowly to get around. Low carb diets and cycling more than 70 miles in a week dont work well.

The past week I upped my protein intake to 90-120 and my callorie intake to 2500ish. I have like a pound in doing so. I think I will lower my calorie intake to 2200 and start doing more upper body exercise. My legs and glutes feel much fuller now and heavier! I think I gained at least a pound or so in each leg since the last month so I hope I keep that.

[croissant]

Be mentally strong and determined about your goals. Positive thoughts have immense power in building healthy mind and body. Visualize the following - you are leading a happy life achieving the optimum weight you desired. You are eating healthy food and exercising regularly. Your body is accustomed to your new diet and exercise regimen. You are feeling young and healthy.

well thats exactly how I felt untill I overtrained and my legs felt like led and had the day after a long workout soreness all the time and just kept getting worst everyday untill its so painfull I cant sleep and my mind is foggy and when I do sleep i I dont want to get up. Denial of overtraining and continuing is dangerious and is considered a disorder like bulimia by some. I am passed my denial now and wish I would have listened to my body earlier rather than thinking I could just push through it.

[tubbednova]

Yeah I looked up over training and I suffer all of the symptoms... cyclists are ,ore highly predisposed to it because it is not too difficult to keep pushing yourself past your limits. I hope it heals soon but could take up to 12 weeks! the thing that really sucks is my bicycle is my main mode of trasnportation so I have to take bus when I can and cycle slowly to get around. Low carb diets and cycling more than 70 miles in a week dont work well.

The past week I upped my protein intake to 90-120 and my callorie intake to 2500ish. I have like a pound in doing so. I think I will lower my calorie intake to 2200 and start doing more upper body exercise. My legs and glutes feel much fuller now and heavier! I think I gained at least a pound or so in each leg since the last month so I hope I keep that.

Before you lower any cals.take a body fat % if lower you gained muscle then i wouldn't change your diet.I only use a scale to see if im losing muscle and go by mirror and % to adjust cals.

[croissant]

thanks tubbanova, I feel like I gained a bit of both, probably a lot of it being glycogen, I have no real way to measure my BF% but I have really become a lot less active than I was before. Besides transporting myself I dont really do much that would raise my metabolism. I have even taken some days off from doing anything from feeling so crappy. The thing is its hard for me to consume that many callories and that much protein without resorting to eating complex carbs and or junk. I ate pasta, rice, cookies and even a couple sodas to consume that many calories... I am simply going to cut the junk back out of my diet, because I know it will make me fat.

Like an idiot before I looked up overtraining but started taking advice I felt much stronger on my bike and rode up a big hill. Big mistake! thats going to set me back a few days at least.

I dont think its too popular here But I have increased my intake of fruit, beans, veggies, oats... I must say these have always seemed to make me feel much healthier the more of these I consume. Considering my exercise was more endurance based they were probably more important.

I am really looking foreward to adding in some HIIT and cardio in the upcoming weeks!

I have also started supllementing with rhodiola rosea, alcar, and gaba at night. The rhodiola seems to really help get the day going in the sense that my legs dont seem to drain so much of my energy after I take it. The rhodiola seems to ballance out the nervous energy of the alcar and help me to feel centered. The alcar really seems to get the brain activated, too high a dose can lead to headache, but needs either caffeine or deep breathing to get me past the fatigue and able to focus it. WHen I took the alcar too late then took gaba I crashed then woke up 3 hours later unable to go back to sleep then I crashed and slept very deeply but at a time I should have been productive.

Rhodiola, alcar, and caffeine help me get past the mental fog of the overtraining if I do some deep breathing now and then. My method to consuming the rhodiola and alcar are to mix it in water, then coat my tounge with honey and down the concoction. Kinda like how homer ate those super hot chillies in that simpsons episode but he used candle wax.

[Chico222]

Your daily calorie intake is barely enough to power a turtle, give me a break and eat! The body needs a MINIMUM of 1200kcals just to function properly. And where are your carbs? Your glycogen stores are depleated, so eat some carbs. Good carbs eaten at the right times will not make you fat, especially at your active level. If you want to lose weight, you better up your cals,by starving yourself your body is going into starvation move, that is, holding on to every calorie it possible can due to your malnutrition. Forget supplements, you have no business taking supps when your diet is crap. Supplements compliment a solid diet plan. Give the body good food and adequate amounts of it, and it will thrive all by itself.

[croissant]

Your daily calorie intake is barely enough to power a turtle, give me a break and eat! The body needs a MINIMUM of 1200kcals just to function properly. And where are your carbs? Your glycogen stores are depleated, so eat some carbs. Good carbs eaten at the right times will not make you fat, especially at your active level. If you want to lose weight, you better up your cals,by starving yourself your body is going into starvation move, that is, holding on to every calorie it possible can due to your malnutrition. Forget supplements, you have no business taking supps when your diet is crap. Supplements compliment a solid diet plan. Give the body good food and adequate amounts of it, and it will thrive all by itself.

thanks for the contsuctive critisism chico! I appreciate it but ive gotton over my denial and have corrected my diet to a large extent at this point. I have been pretty inactive lately resting a lot. A lot of eating until I feel like Im gonna pop!

my diet is something like this now...
3 eggs
english muffin
1 cup of beans
bowl of oat meal
bannana
2 apples
a cup of rice
a sandwich
chicken breast/tilapia
2 cups of veggies
a potato
2 cups soy milk
a scoop of whey protein
5 slices lunch meat
a slice of cheese

[tubbednova]

Just hang in there buddy!Im still laying around alot and im still losing fat at the same time,don't ask me how cause i dont know but almost 1%in a week without doing anything is awesome!Still feel like crap though which sucks but i keep praying.As for your diet its odd (oatmeal and beans)?but if it works and you dont vomit over it your good to go.If i find something that helps me with my overtraining i'll let ya know,and vice-versa.Good luck!