Lack of energy during workout

I go to the gym 3-5 times a week in the morning before work. When i wake up i am pumped to workout but by the time i do 1-2 exercises i feel like i dont have the energy to do anymore. I usually finish the rest of my routine but dont feel like i am putting much energy into it.

I dont eat anything before the gym. I do drink water throughout the workout. I dont have a workout buddy because all of my friend are slackers and dont want to wake up early to workout before work. And i get 7-8 hours of sleep a night.

What can i do to keep up my energy during the workout? Is there something i should be eating before/during the workout? i would rather not resort to drinking coffee or red-bull.

Also i dont know if this should be in this section of the forum or the diet and nutrition section.

What do your workouts consist of. Perhaps you are not taking enough rest days.

Wake up and immediately eat something You shouldn’t be going to the gym within 1 hr of waking up anyway because of the fluids that buildup in your spine or back while sleeping need to get processed by the body and this supposedly takes approx an hour after waking.

I would suggest something quick and easy. I usually do peanut butter and toast with a glass of water, if I am still hungry I will eat a banana. Play around with what you have so you know what fuels you and gives you energy and what makes you feel bloated and not putting out effort.

Personally I don’t do any excercising within a couple hours of waking, I know I will have no energy so I don’t bother wasting my time. Do you have time in your schedule to eat during lunch or after work.

What kind of workout are you doing? It sounds like you’re doing weight-training exercises, but it may not matter… The crux of the matter is: if you’re doing intense workouts, you probably don’t want to do them fasted. Eat something before you workout. (The exception to this is low-intensity fasted cardio for fat-burning, although it’s somewhat controversial.) I’d recommend something with complex carbs and a little healthy fat, such as a banana and a half-handful of almonds.
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Also, do you listen to music while working out? I can’t do anything without music to entertain me and keep me going.
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Finally, be sure to start drinking water before you start working out, not just while you’re working out.

i will start to eat something before i go. I mostly do weight training mon, wed and fri and will do cardio on tuesday. i like to have one day to sleep in late.

I wake up at 6:45 and usually get to the gym around 7:30. But if i dont go to the gym before work i dont think i would go at all, so i would prefer not to change that. Maybe i will try to wake up a bit earlier. This way it will give me time to eat and drink something too.

I listen to either my mp3 player or the music they are playing on the loud speakers. The problem with listening to my mp3 player is my head phones. When i lie down on a bench or move my head they tend to shift and then i cant hear my music. so i usually just listen to the music they play on over the loud speakers. I looked into getting new headphones and these were the ones i got. not a good choice. Do you know of any good headphones?

I just got some that wrap around the ear as well as having buds that go into your ear. I did my workout, which includes squats, pushups, stability ball exercises, bench press, Romanian deadlift…suffice to say my head moved around a lot…no problems! Stayed in the entire time. The old ones (normal ipod ear buds) fell out so often (especially on my left side) that I usually just let them fall and listened to the gym music.

I can’t tell you the style off the top of my head, because they were a gift, but I found something similar on Amazon that I put on my wishlist when I asked for them.

Sounds to me like you have a nutrition problem,when our diet is properly balanced it provides the neccesary fuel needed to substain us.If not then were probobly not eating correctly.The last meal you consume is the meal that provides the the fuel for the early morning work out so make sure the night before you work out that you eat nutritiously ,plenty of good carbs,navy beans ,black beans ,small red beans,wild brown rice ,califlower whole wheat pasta
just to name a few.

yeah that could also be it. i wast on a very healthy diet. But i am back on it now. Last night i had baked salmon with soy sauce, ginger, garlic and scallions and fried rice made from brown rice with mixed veggies and soy and teriyaki sauces. This morning i had a cup of water and a piece of whole wheat toast with a tbl of peanut butter.

I was able to make it through the whole workout.

Thanks for all of your help.

Sounds delicious, JayUnt. I would agree with eating before your workout. I almost always eat a banana or something right before and it really helps. While I personally do ok with morning workouts, I generally find I have the most energy right after work (read: work stress LOL). Nutrition really does help.

I once ate a couple bowls of greasy chicken noodle before a workout and it wasn’t fun! Will never do that again. :-)

i used to work out around 6am everyday, but once i switched to evenings all of my lifts increased and i had a lot more energy. i think having a few meals in you makes a huge difference as far as strength training is concerned.

I have read that the best time of day to work out is mid afternoon. Early mornings were said to cause more stress to the body with possible heart attacks. As far as diet- I usually have a fruit smoothie- bannana, yougart ,protien mix and frozen berries. I give myself some wait time – 30 to 40 min. before working out….then drinking water during the work out. It helps sustain my energy level for the hour and 1/2 workout.
I also make sure that I give my body repair time- running every other day and lifting the odd days. Usually taking one maybe two days off. I found my burn out rate was less if I tried to exersize in this manner. I found for me that being consistant was the key.

A sub-par early morning workout beats the workout you didn’t do because life got in the way every time!

Sounds like you definitely need to look at your nutrition. Try having a small snack approx 30 minutes before your workout. By ‘snack’ I mean something wholesome, though; maybe a bit of yogurt and almonds, etc.

If circumstances were different for myself, I know I’d be working out in the afternoon/evening instead of first thing in the morning. I run on empty in the gym in the morning too and know my intensity suffers – but as clwilliams1 points out, a less than efficient workout is better than no workout at all.

I used to work out in the morning all the time as well. I found a cup a coffee really helped. Nothing wrong with a little jo.

I work out in the morning as well. Drink coffee without cream and sugar and u will be fine !! Try to switch it up though.. Do strength training for 15-20mins.. Then do 1 1/2 mile etc.. Then do few more sets of strength training.. Then get on treadmill again.. It seems to me that u are gettin bored of the same routine.

Also music helps A LOT !!

I have found a spoonful of peanut butter to be the perfect pre-workout snack, especially early in the morning when you are not really ready to eat yet. Try it, and I think you will be surprised by how much energy it gives you. Good luck!

Its already been said above, but bottom line is you NEED to eat something or take in some source of nutrition, even if its just a couple pieces of toast and a protein shake. I have to eat something before I go in the afternoon in order to have the best workout possible, I can’t imagine waking up in the morning and going strait to the gym without something in my stomach.