Exercise Induced Negative Mood

[psheehan]

While we wait for Vickie to give you a more informed answer, I'll hazard a guess....you are over training. The workouts you are describing are pretty rigorous for a 1st year powerlifter. I wouldn't do max effort every workout, I'd get on a cycle training type of workout until I've given my body some time to adjust to heavy lifting. Limit myself to 3 work sets (as many warmups as necessary) and cycle from light to heavier every 6 to 8 weeks. Max effort maybe once every 3 months. Westside is absolutely great but you need a better base and some training history before you jump deeply into it.

I'll share some personal issues. In college (I'm 61 so that was before anyone knew what training was like) I assumed more was better and worked out like a fiend...every christmas break I'd come back having lifted nothing more than beer for 2 weeks approx. and my bench would pick up 25 lbs. magically ...squat about the same. But I never picked up on it. When I was in my early 50's and benching 250-260, down 100+ lbs from my college best days (I weigh 180) I spoke to Kevin Farley, who trains natural power lifters and competes himself. I described my workouts (at the time included roughly 6 sets of very heavy lifting for each exercise ) and he said Whoa! you're an injury looking for a home. When I did less I got up to 315 in 2 yrs. after being stuck at the same wt. for about 10. Your body, or at least my body needs rest and when you are lifting near max effort your NERVOUS system needs rest, since what you are doing is training the central nervous system to simultaneously fire all the muscles involved. Listen to your body, it is giving you a warning....'work that intensely and I'll make you miserable, keep it up and I'm just gonna hurt you.'

[GPStyles]

again, consider this a laymans piece of advice and I would defer to Vickie when she posts.

Like the advice above I'd say you are doing too much. Take a break, freshen up your program and rediscover your enjoyment factor.

[Bigwill]

Make sure that you're eating enough calories, and enough of the right stuff. Check out www.elitefts.com , www.musculardevelopment.com , and www.t-nation.com .

[mrodock]

Make sure that you're eating enough calories, and enough of the right stuff. Check out www.elitefts.com , www.musculardevelopment.com , and www.t-nation.com .

I gained 25 pounds in the first 3 months and then have stayed about the same ever since I decided I wanted to go into powerlifting, so I'm not operating at a caloric deficit. I'm probably in the 3500 calorie range.

I take 1600 mg EPA, 800mg DHA per day
5 grams of creatine per day
about 150-175 grams of whey protein per day
30-35 grams of BCAAs
about 26 grams of glutamine
a multivitamin.

[mrodock]

While we wait for Vickie to give you a more informed answer, I'll hazard a guess....you are over training. The workouts you are describing are pretty rigorous for a 1st year powerlifter. I wouldn't do max effort every workout, I'd get on a cycle training type of workout until I've given my body some time to adjust to heavy lifting. Limit myself to 3 work sets (as many warmups as necessary) and cycle from light to heavier every 6 to 8 weeks. Max effort maybe once every 3 months. Westside is absolutely great but you need a better base and some training history before you jump deeply into it.

I'll share some personal issues. In college (I'm 61 so that was before anyone knew what training was like) I assumed more was better and worked out like a fiend...every christmas break I'd come back having lifted nothing more than beer for 2 weeks approx. and my bench would pick up 25 lbs. magically ...squat about the same. But I never picked up on it. When I was in my early 50's and benching 250-260, down 100+ lbs from my college best days (I weigh 180) I spoke to Kevin Farley, who trains natural power lifters and competes himself. I described my workouts (at the time included roughly 6 sets of very heavy lifting for each exercise ) and he said Whoa! you're an injury looking for a home. When I did less I got up to 315 in 2 yrs. after being stuck at the same wt. for about 10. Your body, or at least my body needs rest and when you are lifting near max effort your NERVOUS system needs rest, since what you are doing is training the central nervous system to simultaneously fire all the muscles involved. Listen to your body, it is giving you a warning....'work that intensely and I'll make you miserable, keep it up and I'm just gonna hurt you.'

All very good advice. By the way, huge bench!

I am gaining in strength every week so I really don't think I am doing way too much. I might back off on the maximum effort work a little and take every 4th week easy. I have read some more on post-workout recovery and also on mineral deficiencies in negative mood disorders. The big glaring one is magnesium. I am taking in a shitload of calcium from the whey protein (calcium gets in the way of magnesium absorption) and I'm not taking in nearly enough magnesium to combat this, my multi-vitamin contains only 25% of the daily value. Plus, athletes tend to be low in magnesium so I have quite a bit of faith that increasing my magnesium will help a lot. Christian Thibaudeau of t-nation recommends taking an epsom salt bath (to increase blood magnesium) a couple of times a week to help recover from high-intensity workouts. I think I'll give this a try and see if it helps. Also, instead of a weekly cycle of workouts (4 times a week) I will do my 2 speed and 2 maximum effort workouts every 8 days. That will give me 1 day between each workout which working out on back to back days really kills me. Another thing I read is that supplementing with tyrosine right after the workout can really help after high intensity work. I'm also going to give this a try.

I am confident that I am on the right track. What I am doing now workout wise is quite a bit easier on the body than what bodybuilders do (high volume has much quicker burnout than high intensity according to the research noted strength coach Eric Cressey has seen). A lot of the lighter weight powerlifters use a much higher volume program than I am using but lower intensity. I think I just need to take it a touch easier, and use better supplementation.

From what I can tell, I handle high-intensity work better than high volume work.

Either way, I am going to keep pushing myself to see what I am capable of and be certain not to back off too far and become complacent. I am very new to the sport and have one opportunity to make huge gains and that time is right now. The body can adapt to huge amounts of stress if given the chance and the proper tools it needs. I'll keep changing the variables around until I figure it out. I'm not arrogant enough to think I can be extremely competitive in this sport while doing a lot less than the best.

Matt

[Yoda]

I'm callin' Vickie now!

[Bugler Smiley Face] . . . Sorry, this is the best I could do!

[mrodock]

I'm callin' Vickie now!

[Bugler Smiley Face] . . . Sorry, this is the best I could do!

haha

[GPStyles]

A book you might also want to check out is one called "The Mood cure" by Julia Ross.

[mrodock]

A book you might also want to check out is one called "The Mood cure" by Julia Ross.

This looks like an excellent recommendation. I read some reviews and immediately ordered it, thank you!

[Vickie Lake]

Your workout program seems to allow for enough recovery but double check your sleep schedule and naps are a real plus. Also try to take off four to five consecutive days every six weeks and a full week every three to support your recovery capabilities.

I think you hit the nail on the head with nutrients. Just remember that supplements are great but calories are number one as Bigwill suggested. If you aren't getting the appropriate quantity of macro-nutrients your can't properly absorb your micro-nutrients. Calories not only provide the energy to support your work but also the resources to repair the micro-trauma you experience during your quest for superior strength. Also double check your complex carbohydrates. It has become a popular consensus that carbs are bad. Not true. You can cut your carbs when you are trying to decrease bodyfat but during a program of this caliber you need the calories. All power and body builders raise their carbs during the building phase. Remember that your muscles burn primarily sugar so be sure to eat as soon after your workout as possible, you have a real window of opportunity to efficiently uptake the nutrients. Waiting a couple of hours leaves you depleted after a hard workout and your digestive process adds more time for your body to run on empty. Keep it to sweet potatoes, red potatoes, brown rice, rice pasta but don't be afraid of the baked potato; it's always the topping that ruins these good foods. Also don't skrimp on your fats and be sure you are getting plenty of omega 3. I use flax in my protein shakes and take a fish oil tablet at night. FYI, if you keep these in the fridge they won't smell so bad. Protein goes without saying.

I'd be happy to figure your caloric intake if you like. Be sure you are eating meals every 3-4 hours, You need a lot of fuel but your carbs have limited storage so don't burn out your glucose and use up your glycogen reserves before you replenish your tank.

Finally, but really primary, be sure you getting enough water. Both headaches and fatigue are often dehydration. When I am training heavy I drink a gallon per day and 3/4 of a gallon otherwise. When you have a lot of muscle you hold more water. This is not water retention from a negative sense but the effeciency of your body to maintain itself at the level you create. You will get some fluid in your food but high respiration both during your workout and for hours after. This also insures that you don't get toxic (a sure precursor to fatigue and mineral imbalances) with all of your self inflicted free radical activity.

So, water, high calories to match your high level training, and full, uninterrupted night time sleep and a 20 minute nap during the day.

FYI: I intentionally didn't get into individual mineral supplementation, exercise elevation of cortisol, blood sugar levels or adrenal fatigue because it's so individualized and variable throughout the day. If you don't recover in a couple of weeks with all the suggestions get these factors checked for your own piece of mind. You can order saliva tests online and a blood glucose meter can be purchased in the drug store; this can be useful to allocate your caloric intake and would be especially interesting to see what's happening after your workouts.