Tired, weak, unmotivated, and lack of energy??? Don't know why?

[DrogbaT90]

Sorry for the long post, but I feel this isn't a simple answer which is why i'm reaching out to the bodybuilding.com forum community for help If you skip some of what i've written, you might have a suggestion that I've already considered...so keep that in mind. And thanks for reading.

History:

So I went through a bulk with lots of time off last year (due to injuries) and went from 13ish% bf to 18%.(Off and on lifting) I recently (beginning of february-end of march) went through a cut. I cut calories, did more cardio, and kept strong in the gym. After about 10 weeks of cutting, I got down to 12% bf at 194 (i'm 6' 1''), from about 207 at 18%. Anyways, I felt great after the cut, I had more energy, I was running about 15 miles a week, and lifting 5 times a week. I wanted to start another bulk so I started for a week and tried to get my appetite/metabolism back by eating more. One week later, I realized I went through something extreme, and perhaps I should give my body and joints (i have lots of tendonitis) a break for a week, still eat mostly healthy, and just jog 2 or 3 times. So I did.

First week back (we're now at the middle of April) I started to eat more and lift more. I went back to the same routine from when I was bulking in the winter.
This consisted of;
Monday Chest, back and abs and a short jog if i had energy afterwards
Tuesday Legs and some abs (no squats or deadlifts as my knees have been hurting lately)
Wednesday rest
Thursday Arms, and cardio (usually 10-15 of intervals or jogging)
Friday shoulders, abs, jog
Saturday and sunday rest

I would do 4-5 exercises of 5 sets, mostly high reps. 10-15reps

I never had a problem with this before, and honestly, in the past years, i've had much, much more difficult workouts than this. I was eating 4500 cal/day, my bmr is 3500, but this time around I couldn't eat that much so i'm eating about 3500cal/day.

Now here is where I start to illiminate certain go to assumptions as to why i'm not only tired, but weak.

1. Caffeine(preworkouts) have been a significant help since i started taking them 5 years ago. I switch between 4 dif pre workout drinks every week. In the past year ive had a harder time getting a good "high" from them, but was always able to maintain a good pump. I also run for 5 min before every workout to get the blood flowing.

2. I have depression, and i've been dealing with it for 10 years...The only difference is recently I went off my meds (yes correctly) in january and have felt better since then (until the past few weeks). If this was a factor, then it should have affected me by early january when I stopped taking the last pill. It's out of your system within a week of not taking it.

3. I'm healthy, athletic, and never had issues with being active. I've never had more than a few months of sedentary lifestyle and have been eating healthier each year since I was about 14 when I cut out most sugars and fast food.

4. I don't overwork, i work as a valet for 20 or less hours a week. In between semesters, so no school. I am spiritually healthy, emotionally (that could be argued either way because of the depression), and physically healthy.

5. I will admit that when i lifted form 18-21 yrs old I had a bounty of energy and moreso STRENGTH. I've taken this small step down in strength, energy, recovery, and hairloss (haha) with a grain of salt and have tried to make appropriate adjustments with that.

6. My diet is healthy. Eggs/egg whites, eng muffin, steel cut oats, and a scoop of whey for breakfast.

2 hours later i'm at the gym.

Then a scoop and a half of whey with whole milk

Then a spinach salad with oil/vinegar, and 10oz chicken

Then half a peanut butter sandwich (natural pb, and healthy whole wheat bread)

Then 10oz of chicken

Then a scoop and a half of casein before bed with water.

I drink a gallon and a half of water every day.

I sleep 9ish hours every day

I take multivitamins and fish oils every day


MY CONCLUSIONS

The one particular feeling i've noticed recently in todays work out of chest and back which I wasn't able to finish was i had an impossible time getting a pump which is my go to answer that i'm overtraining. Thing is, i've only trained last week before i had a break and I did partial workouts to ease my way back into it.

I'm 23 now and I'm feeling the effects of loss of general loss of strength. I can't rep out 225 on the bench anymore or rep out 350 on the squat. I go light and focus on a pump and i'm happy.

Not sure what's going on but anyone who's read all this I appreciate it! and if you have any thoughts let me know.

My only conclusion is a partial combination of overtraining (though I don't see what's wrong with the routine) and I wonder if i'm overworking my liver with supplements? Caffeine has very little effects anymore.

By the way, I've never been a daily coffee drinker...

[Agabekov]

maybe you should go back and see what made you start doing all this?
set the priorities and make a simple pros and cons chart.
+ I know it from my experience, about nutrition, you dont need to eat entirely healthy dude...why dont you enjoy foods while just hittin your macros and micros? (look up for IIFYM). This all clean eatin BS can really make you sick of routine and boring diet, whereas if you eat "clean" and incorporate foods you enjoy as well that might keep you motivated and keep the taste of good life so to say.

[Agabekov]

also, i would suggest to drop pre workouts...they are addictive and when used in the long term lose their effects+when you get too used to them you cant workout normally anymore...my pre workout is just a cup of good coffee in the morning.
Look for external factors that could affect your take on lifting and question yourself more

[DrogbaT90]

also, i would suggest to drop pre workouts...they are addictive and when used in the long term lose their effects+when you get too used to them you cant workout normally anymore...my pre workout is just a cup of good coffee in the morning.
Look for external factors that could affect your take on lifting and question yourself more

Thanks, i've already decided to limit my supplements in some way to give my liver a break. I can start with staying off preworkouts. I've given it a lot of thought but I am so aware of everything that my body does out of the ordinary, its hard to know when i'm being sensitive to something insignificant (indigestion, lack of sleep, etc) or when i'm actually falling into something bad...ie overtraining.

As for the clean eating, i incorporate certain foods that aren't clean but aren't junky. For example, i have 3-4 servings of peanut butter every day. On occasion instead of just having chicken breast, i'll have a chicken and cheddar quesadilla (so basically extra fats and carbs and the same amount of protein)

Unless i come across better advice, i'll take your suggestion of skipping the preworkouts for a while.

I'm definitely going to change my workout, perhaps something more intense but shorter. Like a dropset workout?

And i kind of want to experiment with a cleanse whether its something from GNC and adding a bunch of vegetables to my diet and skipping completely the supplements.