Energy levels in the gym: depleting

[ChocolateShake]

I've been cutting for a while now (used to be fat as ****), and I have a craving to be ripped, even though I'm sixteen and should be buildin' muscle :P.

So what I've been noticing is my energy during the gym being depleted fairly quickly, and even though I've maintained all my cuts, I just hate the feeling. Anyone else feel this way? How do I stop this ****?

BTW: Eating ~2000 cal. a day, and I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I think my bodyfat is ~14% (Would be great if someone gave their input on this)

tl;dr: How to stop low energy on a cal. deficit?

[JMotiv8]

If you're looking for a quick fix, and plenty of energy and focus during your workout, try an espresso or double espresso 5 minutes before you start working out.

It works really well for me because I don't drink coffee apart from right before my three muscle building workouts each week. For me, the caffeine kicks in about 15-25 minutes in and gives me a great boost. Only thing to watch is the crash you might get after.

This is just what works for me, might not be for you.

[cnatboy]

I started noticing the same thing when I got around 13% BF... above that I felt fine and dandy but my energy levels started to drop below that.

Bought C4 (Good preworkout), due to the lighter body weight it hits even harder and problem = solved (srs). Felt like a fuarkin beast in the gym yesterday (was 1st day on it), and I was feeling drained, lazy, and tired prior to taking it.

If you're 14% and stay consistent you should be done cutting in ~6 weeks so buy a preWO and it'll last you through til you are done cutting. It's worth it IMO.

[ChocolateShake]

I started noticing the same thing when I got around 13% BF... above that I felt fine and dandy but my energy levels started to drop below that.

Bought C4 (Good preworkout), due to the lighter body weight it hits even harder and problem = solved (srs). Felt like a fuarkin beast in the gym yesterday (was 1st day on it), and I was feeling drained, lazy, and tired prior to taking it.

If you're 14% and stay consistent you should be done cutting in ~6 weeks so buy a preWO and it'll last you through til you are done cutting. It's worth it IMO.

I'll look into this, I ****ing hate feeling this feel at the gym, it's demotivating as fuark

[Serpentarius]

Its something else, not needing a preworkout. If you are getting at least 7 hours of sleep on top of having good macros, you should maybe feel weak on lifts, but not actually TIRED. A preworkout may be fine, but its putting a band-aid on a broken arm.

So which one?

energy=losing strength
energy=lack of motivation and feeling tired

[Mike32125]

craze = ******* like preworkout

[cnatboy]

Its something else, not needing a preworkout. If you are getting at least 7 hours of sleep on top of having good macros, you should maybe feel weak on lifts, but not actually TIRED. A preworkout may be fine, but its putting a band-aid on a broken arm.

So which one?

energy=losing strength
energy=lack of motivation and feeling tired

With me it was more feeling tired... Less willing to push it to the max every set so I suppose a lack of motivation to that extent but not due to me not wanting the results. Just got worn down later in the workout and felt a bit more sluggish before the workout. Never lost any strength, actually, just felt less mentally focused/engaged which the preworkout helped a ton with.

That said, my deficit has been fairly aggressive at around 800 cals or so per day, but regardless no strength has been lost and I've been making solid progress towards my goal of a lower BF%. Not sure which it was for OP.

[ChocolateShake]

With me it was more feeling tired... Less willing to push it to the max every set so I suppose a lack of motivation to that extent but not due to me not wanting the results. Just got worn down later in the workout and felt a bit more sluggish before the workout. Never lost any strength, actually, just felt less mentally focused/engaged which the preworkout helped a ton with.

That said, my deficit has been fairly aggressive at around 800 cals or so per day, but regardless no strength has been lost and I've been making solid progress towards my goal of a lower BF%. Not sure which it was for OP.

Im with this guy, I just feel like my mind is foggy and I cant really hype myself up for a lift like I used to be able to. Hope this clears stuff up.

[Serpentarius]

Most of it is mental, knowing you arent going to make significant strength or size gains (very little if lucky;not noob gains) due to the deficit. If you save most of your calories in the day for at the end of the day, it can be a mental reward knowing if you worked your ass off that you deserve that food (regardless if you were going to eat it).
Changing exercises up, putting different songs on your ipod or whatever you use, and socializing beteen sets with gym buddies are good ways to keep things fresh. Lastly, if you need a week or so off from the gym to keep yourself sane...do so since you have the rest of your life ahead of you to be lifting and dont want to burn yourself out. I spent a year of my life in a deficit, it sucks, but go in with a positive attitude since a self defeating attitude can bring you down.

[ChocolateShake]

Most of it is mental, knowing you arent going to make significant strength or size gains (very little if lucky;not noob gains) due to the deficit. If you save most of your calories in the day for at the end of the day, it can be a mental reward knowing if you worked your ass off that you deserve that food (regardless if you were going to eat it).
Changing exercises up, putting different songs on your ipod or whatever you use, and socializing beteen sets with gym buddies are good ways to keep things fresh. Lastly, if you need a week or so off from the gym to keep yourself sane...do so since you have the rest of your life ahead of you to be lifting and dont want to burn yourself out. I spent a year of my life in a deficit, it sucks, but go in with a positive attitude since a self defeating attitude can bring you down.

Well said, thanks for the input man, you have no idea how much I appreciate it

[nondualism]

What does your volume look like? When I cut, I'm going for sets of 5 at heavy weight and not too many. I too feel zonked and have to psyche myself up for lifting sometimes. How frequently are you lifting?

When my body fat gets even lower, I know that my endurance will suffer. For instance, fasted training (with 10g BCAA) is fine at the beginning of my cut. Near the end, I need SOMETHING to get me through.

Just know, it's worth it. How's your sleep? How's your libido? Supping with DAA and DIIM has helped me with both of these things. Arctic Root might help as well. I also use EC and just caffeine in general on a cut.

[Riffo]

My cheap fix has always been drinking a huge coffee or popping some Sudafed before a workout.

[coolio5]

You don't list your weight, but typically low energy = low carb. At 2000 calorie, You should probably be getting about 250 grams carbs/day. Anything less than that and you'll be draggin butt! Remember too, that carbs are muscle sparing.

I've been cutting for a while now (used to be fat as ****), and I have a craving to be ripped, even though I'm sixteen and should be buildin' muscle :P.

So what I've been noticing is my energy during the gym being depleted fairly quickly, and even though I've maintained all my cuts, I just hate the feeling. Anyone else feel this way? How do I stop this ****?

BTW: Eating ~2000 cal. a day, and I'm not sure if this is relevant, but I think my bodyfat is ~14% (Would be great if someone gave their input on this)

tl;dr: How to stop low energy on a cal. deficit?

[kizza121]

In my opinion, the reason you are lagging in the gym and with lifts is because you lose muscle glycogen when you are in a calorie deficit and this can make your reps shorter and make you lose a bit of strength at times. Just my opinion though. You could try upping your carbs and see if that works for you. If not then just stick it out until the end of your cut man.

[ChocolateShake]

You don't list your weight, but typically low energy = low carb. At 2000 calorie, You should probably be getting about 250 grams carbs/day. Anything less than that and you'll be draggin butt! Remember too, that carbs are muscle sparing.

Im about 140, and I don't think I'm going low carb, I probably get 160-200g carbs daily.

[ChocolateShake]

What does your volume look like? When I cut, I'm going for sets of 5 at heavy weight and not too many. I too feel zonked and have to psyche myself up for lifting sometimes. How frequently are you lifting?

When my body fat gets even lower, I know that my endurance will suffer. For instance, fasted training (with 10g BCAA) is fine at the beginning of my cut. Near the end, I need SOMETHING to get me through.

Just know, it's worth it. How's your sleep? How's your libido? Supping with DAA and DIIM has helped me with both of these things. Arctic Root might help as well. I also use EC and just caffeine in general on a cut.

I have a pretty high volume workout, it tends to work best for me, but do you think this is a problem?

[cnatboy]

Call it what you want, but a preWO has worked wonders for me. I went through the same lack of energy issue when cutting once I got below ~13% BF.

[nondualism]

I have a pretty high volume workout, it tends to work best for me, but do you think this is a problem?

High volume on a cut will murder your recovery. Higher weight, lower reps, less volume. You're trying to preserve muscle and strength on a cut. Your lift isn't to burn calories or gain mass or strength (difficult or impossible on a deficit) - you're trying to preserve muscle.

What's your split and can you give us an example of your normal day - whatever that is?

[Voxmusculus]

I don't usually care much for supplements, but I have found that having a scoop of the Beachbody P90X post workout shake before/during and another one after the workout works wonders.

http://www.beachbody.com/product/sup...ery_formula.do