Shakiness During Work-out (How do I get around this problem?)

[Carter]

Hi,

Do you experience or have you experienced being shaky, weak, and/or losing focus while working out? Most especially when lifting weights?

I experience that when attending core strength training classes, and after my first set of weight training.
I do not experience that however when doing cardio.

I am aware that it is because of dropping blood sugar levels. But I make sure that:

(1) I eat about 700 calories 45 to 60 minutes before working-out.
(2) Included in my breakfast are cereals, milk, eggs, turkey/ham slices, and wheat bread.
(3) I sleep well the night before.
(4) I eat at least 5 meals a day, evenly spaced as much as possible.

I am worried that if I had to take in sugary drinks like gatorade, I will increase my calorie intake and that in turn it will make me go beyond my quota for the day, and gain body fat. I am trying to lose body fat, and gain muscle (NOT AT THE SAME TIME though) through planning my diet and work-outs.

What do you usually do to address the problem?

Thank you very much.

[Eyeball Chambers]

Potassium might help.

[lilbg]

Only time I shake is when im on caff. or its been a LONG time since I lifted. 

[The Dream]

are you new to lifting? if so i think your nervous system may just need to get accustomed to the stress. 

[GoneAway]

I suggest taking in that extra sugar and counterbalance it with more cardio/aerobics.

Do you get shaky even when not training? If not, you can lower the carbs/sugars in your meals to aid fat loss even more.

[Carter]

I suggest taking in that extra sugar and counterbalance it with more cardio/aerobics.

Do you get shaky even when not training? If not, you can lower the carbs/sugars in your meals to aid fat loss even more.

Hi, thanks.

I only get shaky everytime I do weight lifting and when I work out my abs and back for 30 minutes (it is through a class), I've been lifting for more than a year. And I have been more shaky when I work out twice a week for every muscle / muscle group i.e. 6 days a week. I don't get shaky when I do cardio. I don't get shaky when not traning, but I get very very weak in the afternoon.

Sometimes I don't get very shaky but just weak and I couldn't focus well, feel irritated, lazy and unmotivated...

I took in gatorade while workin out, i guess it helped a bit...

But if you got any more infos, kindly help me.

Thanks a bunch

[GoneAway]

Hi, thanks.

I only get shaky everytime I do weight lifting and when I work out my abs and back for 30 minutes (it is through a class), I've been lifting for more than a year. And I have been more shaky when I work out twice a week for every muscle / muscle group i.e. 6 days a week. I don't get shaky when I do cardio. I don't get shaky when not traning, but I get very very weak in the afternoon.

Sometimes I don't get very shaky but just weak and I couldn't focus well, feel irritated, lazy and unmotivated...

I took in gatorade while workin out, i guess it helped a bit...

But if you got any more infos, kindly help me.

Thanks a bunch

I'm not a specialist in this, so I was just going by your first post and some basic knowledge.

Please post your diet and include the protein, carb and fat intake in each meal (if possible.) Also, what is your weight, height and bodyfat %? This helps for us to make some more informed advice.

[Carter]

I'm not a specialist in this, so I was just going by your first post and some basic knowledge.

Please post your diet and include the protein, carb and fat intake in each meal (if possible.) Also, what is your weight, height and bodyfat %? This helps for us to make some more informed advice.

Kindly try to figure out the protein carb and fat as I am not sure, but I guess the list will explain itself...

Breakfast: around 8:00AM

40 g corn flakes (frosted)
4 slices wheat bread (not whole wheat bread)
1 egg
5 slices of deli style ham and turkey (about 10g protein as far as I remember i.e. 60 calories)
1 cup non-fat milk
2 tsp sugar free chocolate syrup


Lunch: around 12:00AM or later, depending on time of arrival from gym
1 cup white rice (lately I changed to brown rice)
2-3 oz of chicken breast lightly fried in olive oil (w/o skin)
1/2 cup mixed veggies steamed (i.e diced carrots, corn, sweet peas, etc.)

PM Snack: 3 PM
3 slices wheat bread
5 slices of deli style turkey (10 g protein around)
1 slice non-fat cheese (around 30 calories)
1 slice of tomato, onion, bell pepper.
1 tsp of sour cream

Dinner: around 6PM
Same as lunch, or variation... sometimes with 1 serving of dannon, nonfat yogurt.

PM Snack: 9 PM
Same as PM Snack at 3PM or sometimes 40g of cereals and 1 cup milk


All meals except breakfast may be accompanied by diet soda... or any other non-caloric drinks

Other Information -------------------


Weight: 131.4 pounds on last assessment
Height: 5'3"
Body fat: 16.9% on last assessment

Average daily activity: Wearing my pedometer all day,
the average of last weeks survey was around 11200
(daily pedometer readings were multiplied by 0.93
for every cardio session done for 30 minutes, 800 steps are added to estimate
more activity, no steps added to estimate weight lifting efforts.)

(Pretty obsessed huh?)


Thanks

[The Heckler]

I hate to say it, but you are exhibiting symptoms of early onset Multiple Sclerosis.  Get checked out by a neurologist.  ASAP.

[WhiteHulk4]

I think it sounds like your endurance is pretty weak right now.  And, especially during that class you spoke of, you're working your muscles to exhaustion, and then you keep going!  Any time you work a muscle to exhaustion, it's going to feel like Jell-O, and it's going to shake a bit when you try to do more work with it.

So what I would focus on is shortening your workouts.  Make them intense, but brief.  Work your way up to doing more and more work.  But as soon as the shakiness starts, back off.  Your body is trying to tell you that it's exhausted - and you need to start listening to it!

The only time I experienced something similar is back in 1998, when before entering the EAS Spokesperson contest, I laid off of training for over 3 months (thinking it'd make my "before" pictures look really bad!).  And when I hit the gym again, I found myself getting very shaky, because my muscles weren't used to weight training anymore.

So give your body a break, work with it - not against it, gauge your progress carefully, and don't think that drinking Gatorade during a weight-training session is just going to immediately refuel your exhausted muscles!

Also, don't work a muscle group again until the soreness has gone away from the previous workout.

One more, you sound like a pretty small person, and I'm guessing your trying to push more weight than you can handle (we all did that when starting out) - which can not only cause injury, but can really wreak havoc on your central nervous system!  So make sure your form on every single exercise is absolutely perfect.  And don't go to failure on your early sets either, that could be playing a role in your whole problem as well.

[dontknowit]

Male - female ?

If you change your routine it's normal to show some kinds of adaptionsymptoms. Increase carbohydrates and don't be afraid to exceed your quota. Try to listen more to your body.

[Carter]

I hate to say it, but you are exhibiting symptoms of early onset Multiple Sclerosis.  Get checked out by a neurologist.  ASAP.

From Wikipedia:

MS can cause a variety of symptoms, including changes in sensation, visual problems, muscle weakness, depression, difficulties with coordination and speech, severe fatigue, and pain. The initial attacks are often transient, mild (or asymptomatic), and self-limited. They often do not prompt a health care visit and sometimes are only identified in retrospect once the diagnosis has been made based on further attacks. The most common initial symptoms reported are: changes in sensation in the arms, legs or face (33%), complete or partial vision loss (optic neuritis) (16%), weakness (13%), double vision (7%), unsteadiness when walking (5%), and balance problems (3%). Fifteen percent of individuals have multiple symptoms when they first seek medical attention.[3] Most people find their initial MS symptoms occur over a period of hours to weeks. For some people the initial MS attack is preceded by infection, trauma, or strenuous physical effort.



...

dude you are making me nervous... anyway I only feel weak, other symptoms do not appear (just yet I guess)...
Pray that this is not the case dude, I would be in deep deep brown sh*t.

[WhiteHulk4]

Carter - the Heckler is just being a jack-ass!  Don't start getting nervous about something as rare and as serious as MS.  My Uncle has MS and it's absolutely horrible.

You said that you only experience the shakiness while weight training.  That's not MS, that's your muscles getting exhausted!

[Carter]

I think it sounds like your endurance is pretty weak right now.  And, especially during that class you spoke of, you're working your muscles to exhaustion, and then you keep going!  Any time you work a muscle to exhaustion, it's going to feel like Jell-O, and it's going to shake a bit when you try to do more work with it.

So what I would focus on is shortening your workouts.  Make them intense, but brief.  Work your way up to doing more and more work.  But as soon as the shakiness starts, back off.  Your body is trying to tell you that it's exhausted - and you need to start listening to it!

The only time I experienced something similar is back in 1998, when before entering the EAS Spokesperson contest, I laid off of training for over 3 months (thinking it'd make my "before" pictures look really bad!).  And when I hit the gym again, I found myself getting very shaky, because my muscles weren't used to weight training anymore.

So give your body a break, work with it - not against it, gauge your progress carefully, and don't think that drinking Gatorade during a weight-training session is just going to immediately refuel your exhausted muscles!

Also, don't work a muscle group again until the soreness has gone away from the previous workout.

One more, you sound like a pretty small person, and I'm guessing your trying to push more weight than you can handle (we all did that when starting out) - which can not only cause injury, but can really wreak havoc on your central nervous system!  So make sure your form on every single exercise is absolutely perfect.  And don't go to failure on your early sets either, that could be playing a role in your whole problem as well.

So you think...

If I took a 2 week to 1 month break it would help? (I have been religiously going to the gym 6 days a week with 3 a week cardio...

And Lately I;ve been doing progressively heavy sets like 12, 8, 6, (optional 4th set of 4 reps) w/ 45 sec break,
so would it be recommendable to do like 3 sets of 12 with a lighter weight such that at the 3rd set and last 3 reps I would have a hard time completing the movement?

If I took a break? How do I keep the fat in check? Or how much muscle would I lose? Or basically, how would It affect my progress?


Thanks

[GoneAway]

Seems like you're just doing too much work. I used to be on a 6 day a week program, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours of weight training a day. Never got 'the shakes' but still that was just too much for me, and unless you're on steroids, I feel it's too much for anyone. Let alone adding 3 sessions of cardio and core strength classes ontop of of that.

Like Hulk said, be more intense over a shorter period of time. You use the weight room to maintain muscle, right? Intensity is the key for that. If you feel like you're getting a little dizzy during the workout, go home and make it shorter for next time. I advise taking a week or two off every few months to relax the body and mind.

[WhiteHulk4]

Yea Carter, no need to take month off, but if you've been really working out like that - 6 days a week for a full year now, you're body MOST DEFINITELY needs a break.  One full week of no strenuous activitiy should be plenty.  Just make sure you stick to a clean diet for that whole week.

Then when you get back at it, cut your workouts in half.  Train THREE days a week, hitting every major body part once.  If you feel you need to workout more often, spread your workouts out, and still only hit each muscle once per week.

Another thing to consider is your rest between sets - you said you're only resting for 45 seconds.  That's good for intensity and cardiovascular fitness.  But if you really want to improve your strength, I'd at least double that to 90 seconds to 2 minute between sets.  And ONLY go to failure on your final set.

[Cavalier22]

describe shakiness a lil more?  what eactly do you mean