Time between work outs?

[freshin]

I’ve been exercising every other day for around 2 months. I’m wondering if this is too much? I exercised yesterday evening. I keep waking at 4am for some reason. I’m not aching but feel very tired, it’s a different type of tiredness that I had 2 months ago (before starting to exercise) I am losing weight and getting fitter but the tiredness is a struggle.

Three times a week is more than enough for me. I feel shattered. Like you it’s helping me lose and fitness levels but omg I’m exhausted.

I have read that sometimes not getting enough carbs before and after exercise or before bed can lead to dips of blood sugar in the night which can lead to wake ups. Especially if doing lots of cardio.

Some people find a carby supper eg porridge helps, others a high protein snack.

You may also need to increase protein to match what you’re doing.

it’s worth just trying a few different things like that. Eg I have to eat carbs before and after swimming or I can be completely wiped. And I find I need to eat more protein than I naturally used to sustain energy. If I skip breakfast and do too much that day I really feel it the next day.

Rest days are important. Quick google why says:
Rest days are crucial for exercise because
they allow your body and mind to recover, repair, and adapt to the physical demands of training, leading to stronger muscles, reduced risk of injury, improved performance, and better overall mental and physical health.

I’d have 1-2 rest days a week.

I have 2 rest days a week. I sometimes train 4 days back to back. I also sometimes feel tired but that’s because I am because I’ve been training hard. But I don’t see being tired from training as a problem for me. If it feels like a problem try doing less and see if it helps. It’s a very individual thing.

I find exercise helps my sleep.

Rest should be part of your routine, but working out every other day is certainly not too much.

In fact it's fine to work out (to some extent) every day - you just need to make sure you're giving yourself enough time to rest and recover and that some days are less intense.

A "rest day" means different things to different people. For lots of people it's doing no exercise at all. For me it's doing yoga or walking. For an elite athlete it's more likely an easy run or easy cycle. I don't think it's the exercise making you tired, unless you are really pushing it hard.

I think it depends. Someone who is new to exercise, or is carrying a lot of weight, is going to get much more burnt out by exercise than someone accustomed to it and in good shape.

I know fit people who happily exercise multiple days a week and feel fine - in fact they say it gives them more energy. I on the other hand (fat, unfit) am completely drained by my two classes a week! I’ve just accepted it will take time, and I’ll ramp up the number of sessions when I can. In the meantime I try to make sure I’m getting 10,000 steps so at least I’m still moving on non gym days. And I have one “rest day” where I don’t even do that to try to help my body recover.

Did you go from nothing to every other day, or did you ramp up? If the former it might have been a bit of a shock to the system.

I generally train 6 days a week, but do completely different things each day, and make a point of not training the same body part two days in a row. It usually translates at arm day, leg day, cardio and abs, repeat. I never train for longer than 25-30 minutes either.