3 ms·

> Everybody should do it. 34 years old male, not overweight, eating healthy. I kept reading that exercise is the best thing you can do and that everyone should

> Everybody should do it. 34 years old male, not overweight, eating healthy. I kept reading that exercise is the best thing you can do and that everyone should do it, so I started running and cycling. Very short distances, very slowly and very gradually. It made me feel horrible. Each time it would take me a few days to recover, feeling dizzy and mentally exhausted. I thought that I was just a bit out of shape so I kept going. Big mistake. A few weeks ago I completely crashed with the dizziness and mental exhaustion staying constantly, leaving me unable to do basic things like standing for more than a few minutes at a time. Complete rest helped, after a few weeks I finally start to feel like myself again. Currently seeing doctors and doing a lot of checks, nothing obvious found so far. The only reason I kept pushing is that I was reading everywhere that exercising is this amazing thing that is good for everyone. So at the moment I feel that this messaging should be toned down a bit. PS: Long time HN user, using a throwaway as I don't want health stuff to be tied to me.

sfn42 9mo ago
That's not normal. I'm sure your doctor's told you that too. My first thought is that it may just be a severe case of being out of shape, I think you might be able to push through it. You didn't specify how long you kept it up but I would expect it to take at least a few weeks, maybe a few months before you really get up and running. I would suggest that you keep trying, and taking it slower. Maybe instead of running and cycling just walk/hike. I find it much more comfortable to hike. It's also useful to keep track of your pulse. There's a type of training called zone 2 training where the goal is to keep your pulse in "zone 2". That's quite low intensity training, but it's also very effective and much less taxing. Zone 2 depends on your resting and max pulse but it'll be something like 130-160. I can also recommend rock climbing, particularly bouldering is very approachable. And of course weight lifting if that's more to your liking. You don't have to do cardio, there are many ways to be active. I have had some issues with nausea while weightlifting, towards the end of a session I would get really nauseous. However that's just me being out of shape, after a week or two it subsides and it just feels good. I like the feeling of sore muscles. Also, for me, activity is essential. When I'm not active I fall into a deep depression where everything feels harder. When I'm in shape I feel like myself, I have more energy, motivation and discipline, life feels easier. I don't think it's like this for everyone but I do think everyone benefits from exercise. Even if you have to fight through some bad feelings to get going.
- throwaway849830 9mo ago
  I kept pushing running and cycling for a couple of months. I had to stop because it was making me feel too bad. I replaced it with hiking, walking and some misc exercises like stairs stepper. I kept that for another couple of months but eventually crashed even with this lighter effort. Zone 2 while running and cycling was absolutely impossible for me. A light jog would make my heart rate climb to 190 bpm immediately. A small couple of percent incline on a bicycle, straight to 190 bpm. Obviously feeling horrible afterwards. These last few weeks my resting heart rate went from ~60 to ~100. I saw two cardiologists, none found anything out of the ordinary. Got some beta blockers for the heart rate, which do work so at least I got that working, but no indication of what the actual problem is. Which is too bad because besides feeling like shit afterwards, I actually enjoyed these activities a lot.
  - sfn42 9mo ago
    This really isn't normal at all, just for the record. There is definitely something seriously wrong
  - ytoawwhra92 9mo ago
    I hope your doctors clear you for exercise again and you feel comfortable giving it another go (after sufficient rest and recovery from this experience). I had a similar - but less extreme - experience in my early 30s when I decided to start exercising after 20+ years of highly sedentary living. I somehow convinced myself that my heart rate being >160 while in "zone 2" was normal for me. In truth, what seemed like impossibly light exercise (5-10 minutes of "zone 2" every day) was too intense for me at the time. I burned out after about two months. It was very humbling to realise that the elderly people who jogged in the park near my apartment were more physically fit than me, and it took me a while to accept that. When I eventually started exercising again I began with an intensity roughly equivalent to walking on a flat surface (HR around 105-115bpm) and stuck to a simple rule of thumb: if I didn't feel fully recovered 15 minutes after finishing a workout I had pushed myself too hard. From that baseline I was able to occasionally do a more intense effort, paying close attention to my heart rate during the workout, and being very mindful of what my body felt like during the effort as well as 15 minutes after, later that day, and the next morning. Over time I was able to ratchet up the intensity of 2-3 efforts per week and still feel fully recovered. After about a year I could do 3-4 genuinely hard workouts a week with a low risk of overtraining or burnout. What I would point out is that in your original comment you said: > I started running and cycling. Very short distances, very slowly and very gradually. So from your perspective these were appropriate efforts. But then you go on to say: > It made me feel horrible. Each time it would take me a few days to recover, feeling dizzy and mentally exhausted. > A light jog would make my heart rate climb to 190 bpm immediately. A small couple of percent incline on a bicycle, straight to 190 bpm. Obviously feeling horrible afterwards. These are really strong indicators that you were pushing far too hard. That a light jog would be far too hard for a 34 year old is very confronting. It's a huge blow to the ego. I've been there, and worked my way out of the hole. Assuming there's no underlying medical condition I think you can too.
iammjm 9mo ago
Have you looked into Long Covid? Post-exertional_malaise is something a lot of people are reporting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_COVID https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_COVID https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-exertional_malaise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-exertional_malaise

sfn42 9mo ago

That's not normal. I'm sure your doctor's told you that too. My first thought is that it may just be a severe case of being out of shape, I think you might be able to push through it. You didn't specify how long you kept it up but I would expect it to take at least a few weeks, maybe a few months before you really get up and running. I would suggest that you keep trying, and taking it slower. Maybe instead of running and cycling just walk/hike. I find it much more comfortable to hike. It's also useful to keep track of your pulse. There's a type of training called zone 2 training where the goal is to keep your pulse in "zone 2". That's quite low intensity training, but it's also very effective and much less taxing. Zone 2 depends on your resting and max pulse but it'll be something like 130-160. I can also recommend rock climbing, particularly bouldering is very approachable. And of course weight lifting if that's more to your liking. You don't have to do cardio, there are many ways to be active. I have had some issues with nausea while weightlifting, towards the end of a session I would get really nauseous. However that's just me being out of shape, after a week or two it subsides and it just feels good. I like the feeling of sore muscles. Also, for me, activity is essential. When I'm not active I fall into a deep depression where everything feels harder. When I'm in shape I feel like myself, I have more energy, motivation and discipline, life feels easier. I don't think it's like this for everyone but I do think everyone benefits from exercise. Even if you have to fight through some bad feelings to get going.

throwaway849830 9mo ago
I kept pushing running and cycling for a couple of months. I had to stop because it was making me feel too bad. I replaced it with hiking, walking and some misc exercises like stairs stepper. I kept that for another couple of months but eventually crashed even with this lighter effort. Zone 2 while running and cycling was absolutely impossible for me. A light jog would make my heart rate climb to 190 bpm immediately. A small couple of percent incline on a bicycle, straight to 190 bpm. Obviously feeling horrible afterwards. These last few weeks my resting heart rate went from ~60 to ~100. I saw two cardiologists, none found anything out of the ordinary. Got some beta blockers for the heart rate, which do work so at least I got that working, but no indication of what the actual problem is. Which is too bad because besides feeling like shit afterwards, I actually enjoyed these activities a lot.
- sfn42 9mo ago
  This really isn't normal at all, just for the record. There is definitely something seriously wrong
- ytoawwhra92 9mo ago
  I hope your doctors clear you for exercise again and you feel comfortable giving it another go (after sufficient rest and recovery from this experience). I had a similar - but less extreme - experience in my early 30s when I decided to start exercising after 20+ years of highly sedentary living. I somehow convinced myself that my heart rate being >160 while in "zone 2" was normal for me. In truth, what seemed like impossibly light exercise (5-10 minutes of "zone 2" every day) was too intense for me at the time. I burned out after about two months. It was very humbling to realise that the elderly people who jogged in the park near my apartment were more physically fit than me, and it took me a while to accept that. When I eventually started exercising again I began with an intensity roughly equivalent to walking on a flat surface (HR around 105-115bpm) and stuck to a simple rule of thumb: if I didn't feel fully recovered 15 minutes after finishing a workout I had pushed myself too hard. From that baseline I was able to occasionally do a more intense effort, paying close attention to my heart rate during the workout, and being very mindful of what my body felt like during the effort as well as 15 minutes after, later that day, and the next morning. Over time I was able to ratchet up the intensity of 2-3 efforts per week and still feel fully recovered. After about a year I could do 3-4 genuinely hard workouts a week with a low risk of overtraining or burnout. What I would point out is that in your original comment you said: > I started running and cycling. Very short distances, very slowly and very gradually. So from your perspective these were appropriate efforts. But then you go on to say: > It made me feel horrible. Each time it would take me a few days to recover, feeling dizzy and mentally exhausted. > A light jog would make my heart rate climb to 190 bpm immediately. A small couple of percent incline on a bicycle, straight to 190 bpm. Obviously feeling horrible afterwards. These are really strong indicators that you were pushing far too hard. That a light jog would be far too hard for a 34 year old is very confronting. It's a huge blow to the ego. I've been there, and worked my way out of the hole. Assuming there's no underlying medical condition I think you can too.

iammjm 9mo ago

Have you looked into Long Covid? Post-exertional_malaise is something a lot of people are reporting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_COVID https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_COVID https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-exertional_malaise https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-exertional_malaise