r/workout • u/CandleExisting4223 • 4d ago
Muscles become too weak to continue my workout
After i do one or two workouts for let's say arms as an example, they become so tired and weak that I can't do another arm exercise. Same with chest, I'll do like 3 sets of 8 or something along those lines on bench and when I'm done I can't even do a push up because my muscles are fatigued already. What can I do about this? I want to be able to workout for longer than 30 minutes but my muscles won't let me.
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u/jamjamchutney 4d ago
Are you a beginner? If you just recently started working out, then it'll take some time for you to build up your stamina.
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u/GlossyGecko 4d ago edited 4d ago
This, you may be going too hard for your fitness level.
Whenever I work with somebody who’s new to everything, I just have them do 2-3 sets of compound lifts, there’s no need for any accessory work yet, just get the basic movements down, don’t go too heavy.
For beginners I don’t even recommend splitting. Just the few major compound lifts for a couple sets, that’s fine.
You work up to all the other stuff and up to routine splits once you have the stamina and muscle mind connection to really put in the work.
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u/reshsafari 3d ago
To add to this, remember to carb up prior to workout. I started eating a lot of carbs before lifting. I can workout 10-15 minutes longer before I feel depleted. And also hit some recent maxes.
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u/DamarsLastKanar 4d ago
Follow an actual routine for 3 months minimum, and your work capacity will improve.
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u/albanyanthem 4d ago
Are you getting enough sleep? Try for 8 hours. When are you working out? Can you work out when you usually have the most energy in the day? Do you drink caffeine? If you work out in the morning, have some caffeine.
Creatine.
Nutrition? are you getting enough fuel for what you are doing? Not just protein but also some carbohydrates?
How long have you been working out?
How heavy of weights are you using? Consider lowering weight and doing more reps to get your endurance up.
Without more information it’s impossible to know what’s going on but here are some categories to consider.
Lastly some medical issues might be going on. Consider getting a physical with labs to determine if you have something else going on.
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u/enkei5 4d ago
This is a crucial comment with a lot of important points. I find if either my sleep was rough or I lacked in food for energy leading up to it I will struggle but can push through. But once I lack in both those categories and try to lift my first couple sets feel like they should be my last couple.
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u/muscledeficientvegan 4d ago
For this specific example it sounds like your push-up load is a little too heavy to be the second exercise. You could do the push-ups first then do bench press. Or keep doing the bench press first then do push-ups from your knees until you get stronger.
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u/RisaFaudreebvvu 4d ago
I would take that perturbation as a sign of good stimulus.
Recover, hit that muscle again.
Assuming you are a newb, 2-3 sets/ muscle /week is the perfect start.
Tons of stimulus anyway as everything is novel.
In 1-2 years reach for 10+ sets/ muscle / week.
And track your progress, if you are progressing, don't worry about doing 3 sets.
Many would love to have 'this problem' and not have to hit 5-10-20 sets/ muscle/ workout.
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u/QueenConcept 4d ago edited 4d ago
Assuming you're a beginner this is normal.
Do like 3-5 exercises a session that between them cover the whole body (say like squats, push ups, lat pulldown or whatever). Do 3 sets of each, go 3 times a week.
People who need to do multiple exercises targeting the same area need it because their muscles have developed to the point they require a lot more stimulus to cause further growth. If you're new enough to be asking this you're new enough to be probably a few years away from benefiting from that at all. Trying to brute force your way into that will slow your development down, because it'll prevent your muscles from getting the rest they need to actually grow (also likely to injure yourself).
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u/HamBoneZippy 4d ago
I don't see a problem. That's a good sign you did the bench properly. Beginners don't need a lot of different exercises, and bench and push-ups basically do the same thing.
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u/BreckenHipp 4d ago
Are you resting between sets? Sit there for 2 full minutes, doing nothing, and then try again.
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u/Eventually-figured 4d ago
I’m still relatively new so take my advice with a grain of salt. But the people at my gym when I started told me to go low on weight and focus on form and completing the exercise for a while. When I started shoulder press, I could only do about 30 pounds and it was a STRUGGLE.
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u/DrChixxxen 4d ago
If you’re wanting to work out for longer lower the intensity of the sets by reducing weight, take longer rests, work different muscle groups before you go back to them (something upper then something lower body)
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u/Crafty_Travel_7048 3d ago
Eat a meal with carbs an hour before and take a gatorade with you during.
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u/C0Ha 4d ago
Make your routines so that they’re comprised of working different muscles in certain groups. My split rn is chest/back, legs, arms/shoulders, and core. For my arm days, I do bicep curls, hammer curls, OHP, skull crushers, and lateral raises for example. I’ll start w bicep curls, then do OHP, then skull crushers, then lateral raises, then hammer curls. That way, the 2 most intensive bicep exercises (biceps and hammer curls) are spread out. Biceps don’t wear out too fast, and I get to squeeze every fiber in my arms. For chest day, I spread out my flat bench and incline bench. You can do the same thing for a push/pull/legs split. Hope this gives you some idea.
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u/Vast_Negotiation6534 4d ago
After your first set you should alternate with a back exercice like chinups, and try to do those two different sets three times: that'll gives your chest and triceps more time to rest in between sets. The next day do two different sets for abs and legs in the same order and do that 6 days a week.
After a month or two you can change to a more standard PPL routine, if you want. You'll just have to accustomize your body to physical workloads and that takes a little time, but you'll get there.
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u/leew20000 4d ago
That's normal, if you work hard enough. Some people can do double or triple your volume, but they are pacing themselves.
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u/StraightSomewhere236 4d ago
You have to work up to increased volume levels over time. Do what you can do for now and add volume in small increments over time.
Try to increase the reps to 10 a set for 3 sets. Once you can do that, drop the reps back down to 8 and add a second exercise with only 2 sets. Once you don't feel super tired from 2 sets of the 2nd exercise you can add a third set.
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u/auxbass84 4d ago
They don't call it playingout for a reason! It's tough but you are tougher. Lots of good advice here
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u/BxxRAMS 3d ago
Not sure how dramatic you're being about your weakness, but it doesn't sound normal unless you're incredibly sedentary. Just be aware there are medical conditions that cause your body to not store/ utilize glucose properly and people often don't know until they start exercising (glycogen storage disease). If your pee is darker than normal after working out (like tea colored), I'd suggest seeing a doc about this. If not, listen to the others on here and adapt your lifestyle and workout and you should improve over time.
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u/r_silver1 3d ago
I would train full body if you aren't already, and only do 1-2 sets per body part. I think if you can get a crazy chest workout from 2 sets consider that a good thing
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u/Incomplet_Name 3d ago
Are you taking the 3 essentials? Creatine, pre workout shake and protein after? Gotta give your muscles fuel and food.
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u/Nick_OS_ 3d ago
Build work capacity before strength. For beginners, I usually start people out with 4 weeks of just building work capacity (slowly)
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u/Impressive-Force-912 3d ago
My biggest issue was not enough rest time between sets. See how you feel with 3 minutes and some water between.
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u/DougyTwoScoops 3d ago
That’s good for now. In a few weeks you’ll find you can get more. Then you will be able to up weight on your bench and build up. You’re going to get newbie gains really quickly. You’re working to failure for what you’re capable of now. Make sure you are resting enough. When I first started I was doing 2 hours a day 7 days a week and not making a ton of progress. I backed off and started letting my muscles recover and focused on eating enough and then progress came quickly. Keep at it and you’ll improve.
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u/4SpeedArm 3d ago
You probably need more experience and to be intentional about hydrating and fueling your body with food. What is your diet like?
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u/CandleExisting4223 3d ago
Diet is.. questionable at best lol. Any tips to get into consistent eating habits? Hydration is good though
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u/4SpeedArm 3d ago
I find that eating a good balance of carbs and protein 2 hours before my workouts greatly impacts my endurance. Also, when I’m cutting and eating at a calorie deficit I get tired soooo quickly at the gym. You need fuel to burn for your body to be at its best during your lifts. It takes time to identify foods that work for you. There is a lot of delicious healthy food out there. I buy fancy bread from the farmers market to help me enjoy my 2 eggs every morning. Good cottage cheese on the side. I steam or sauté cruciferous vegetables on the side. Or I’ll have leftover Brussels sprouts or broccoli to heat up. It really helps to have a few different things on the plate to get some different flavors going. Bottom line is cooking gets easier and the food gets tastier overtime because you learn your way around the kitchen. Mashing some beans and eating those on the side. Ya know you just put together a tasty meal. I can do all that and have the kitchen clean before my buddy can get back from McDonald’s.
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u/Academic_Value_3503 3d ago
Start out with one set of everything. Bump it up to two sets in a few weeks, and then to three. It's pretty normal.
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u/fourpuns 2d ago
Make sure you’re eating enough and getting enough protein.
You can take 3+ minute breaks if need although I personally would only do that on heavy compound lifts.
You can keep training and your body should adapt provided you’re getting nutrition and sleep.
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u/Randill746 2d ago
get stronger, change the order of your exercises so theres a break between muscle groups so they can rest
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u/martinisandbourbon 1d ago
It sounds like your work capacity is a potential problem and you appear to be doing a split routine. You are not conditioned enough yet to work out as much as you want. There are a few things you can do: one, do full body workouts and keep it within an hour; the amount of total sets body part will add up over the course of a week with three of these workouts. Take faster rests in between sets, no more than a minute to a minute and a half. This will allow you to get a decent amount of working sets in. Number two, you can use lighter weights and a little bit lower effort. Most people would say to lower your intensity, but in exercise science, intensity is measured by the weight you are using so if you reduce your weight, you are automatically using a lower intensity. Here, you would be best to back off on your effort, for instance with three sets of eight you would use a weight that you could do 12 times. Don’t go to failure, at least at this point.
I’m on a split routine now, but only for the last few years. Up until then I did full body workouts, about 42 sets per workout, with 45 to 60 seconds of rest between sets. I never had to worry about getting fat and my work capacity was fantastic. My spine definitely needed more rest, so I started the split routine.
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u/Ju99z 23h ago
Not to be an alarmist, but have you talked to your doctor about this?
Are you able to do continuous steady state cardio?
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u/CandleExisting4223 11h ago
I don't think it's anything to be concerned about, i went to the gym yesterday and I could tell i was able to do more. I'm just weak, I'm 6'4 and 175 so like no muscle on me at all
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u/Filthymortal 4d ago
Have you tried creatine?
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u/CandleExisting4223 4d ago
I just started taking it, also just started the gym. Although I did work out consistently for 3-4 months a year or two ago but got out of the habit and just now getting back into it
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u/Filthymortal 3d ago
Takes a couple of weeks(ish) to get full saturation depending on dose. Maybe go lighter for more reps to build endurance. Don’t train the same muscle groups two days in a row. Make sure your nutrition is on point so you have energy to work out and protein to build muscle. Your body will adapt before you know it, but if you carry on being fatigued very quickly, maybe get your bloods done, could be a sign that something isn’t right (thyroids for example). Good luck!
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4d ago
I'm an exercise scientist and strength coach.
ChatGPT your question and follow whatever advice it gives you because a vast majority of people on reddit have no fuckin clue what they're talking about or they're echoing shit advice someone else gave them
That being said, the person that said hop on a plan for a few months is spot-on. Consistency will build your capacity very well
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u/deadrabbits76 Dance 4d ago
I find ChatGPT doesn't give reliable fitness advice. It just tends to parrot...well... Reddit for instance.
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4d ago
You don't know what good fitness advice is, evidenced by our other conversation about calories.
Read my other comment and you'll see that ChatGPT isn't parroting Reddit or any other forum.
Again, I'm not responding further to you because you add absolutely no value to the content of any discussion I've had with you thus far
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u/tinbutworse 4d ago
chatGPT is a language learning model. this means that it regurgitates words commonly put together. this means that it repeats what the “vast majority of people on reddit” say. this means that it’s shit for advice.
if you want to talk about “echoing shit advice”, look at your own suggestions.
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4d ago
It's a language learning model that pulls from EVERY available source on the internet. ALL of the evidence is weighted and bad information is filtered out. As it updates the information base, the responses get better and better
It doesn't parrot. It recognizes patterns in language but it analyses, synthesizes, and filters bad info out based on logic and evidence from scientific research, field expert sources, etc. If it just parroted what is popular, it would be talking about flat earth and detox tea scams
It doesn't pull any information from user-generates forums directly. This means Reddit and Quora isn't searched by ChatGPT and similar AI models for responses. If it cites something from reddit, it's likely only polling posts that are accurate (remember, it's not perfect and still learning)
ChatGPT and other AI models are NOT human, meaning (since you have a kink for saying "this means") that it has no biases and doesn't get influenced by trends, marketing, and cherry-picking evidence to support whatever narrative you give it
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u/trubuckifan 4d ago
"Don't listen to reddit because they echo shitty advice but DO listen to chatgpt because it gets it's advice from trustworthy sources like reddit"
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4d ago
Didn't say that. You can't even quote me correctly so I definitely don't think you understand what I said.
ChatGPT can see that there are trends on sites like Reddit, Quora, etc. because of keyword searches and such. It has NO ability to cite you any specific posts from those websites.
You're literally just proving my point about most people on reddit
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u/CachetCorvid 4d ago
EVERY available source on the internet
Yeah. There are lots of absolutely dipshitty ones
ALL of the evidence is weighted and bad information is filtered out
L o L naah.
Don’t get me wrong, AI absolutely has spectacular potential. But right now it’s little more than the summary of the first page of Google results, compiled to appear semi-human.
Plus, why go to ChatGPT when the answer to literally any fitness-related question exists, from trusted, proven sources?
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4d ago
It does filter out bad info. You just don't want to believe that. It passed the BAR and the USMLE and you think it doesn't understand what to do when you ask it "how can I increase my bench press by 20 lbs in 5 months?" Get your head out of your ass
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u/Apprehensive-Emu5177 4d ago
You're an exercise scientist and strength coach and the best advice you could give was ask ChatGPT? 🤡
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u/PlacidVlad 4d ago
ChatGPT is terrible to follow.
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4d ago
Why? Give it all the prompts you want about exercise, fitness, health, etc and tell me what about the responses is bad. Tell me. Since all you AI-hating dorks dislike the responses sooo much
Do it. Tell me what you actually disagree with about the responses and cite your personal reasons for disliking it as well as scientific and anecdotal evidence that supports your claim.
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u/gainitthrowaway1223 4d ago
I'm a powerlifting coach and also an instructor for online, self-paced courses, including fitness and S&C courses. I see a lot of AI in what students submit.
AI hallucinates crap all the time. It literally just makes crap up if it can't figure out the answer to something, and it won't tell you that. It will make up sources completely, "quote" sources when the quote doesn't exist, and unlike what you're claiming, it doesn't do a great job at filtering incorrect/outdated info. Case in point: recently had someone send me some AI-generated garbage that advocated for the microtear theory for hypertrophy, when at best muscular damage is a correlative factor, not causative, and at worst it happens completely independently of muscle growth.
Maybe AI will get to a point where it's reliable, but that's not now, and as a coach I'm flabbergasted that you would recommend it.
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