Client getting headaches and feeling tired...

He's a very thin, small guy who wants to gain. I have him on a four day resistance training split and a conditioning day on Saturday.

I understand it likely to be dehydration. He's drinking even under 50 oz of water a day. And the last I had seen him, he hadn't eaten a lot plus it wasn't clean. He also eats a load of bananas a day. 4-6 somedays. Sugar too high?

He tried cancelling the last session but came in because he didn't want to lose it...he had been physically drained all day. He hadn't slept at all the night before. He said he has to take pills to go to sleep sometimes. He developed a bit of a headache though I made the workout fairly easy. It was gone directly after he drank some water. He had gotten a headache during the previous session as well.

I'm wondering if I'm working him too hard. I really think its dehydration. But I want to hear from you guys. When they come in drained, be it dehydration or something else, do you provide a different strength program for the day? Change the weight, sets, reps? The previous sessions weren't too terrible at all intensity wise.

 

Client getting headaches and feeling tired...

have you addressed his nutrition at all?

How is his breathing during sets?

Sleep patterns?

Other stress in life?

 

Client getting headaches and feeling tired...

Thin guy. It'll be food. You need fuel for workouts.

That and sleep.

 

Client getting headaches and feeling tired...

Last edited by KyleAaron; Yesterday at 01:27 AM.

 

Client getting headaches and feeling tired...

I'd tell him to drink? It seems like classic dehydration.

 

Client getting headaches and feeling tired...

Alright. I've addressed the food/drink intake already as a probable cause. Maybe I need to provide a printout for him though to fill out through the day whenever he eats and drinks.

But what do I do when he comes in and isn't 100%? Do you go with the workout you had planned?

 

Client getting headaches and feeling tired...

You just do whatever they can manage on the day. If they're bad enough and can't manage anything, send them home. Emphasise to him the importance of good rest and nutrition. If he's consistently so bad he can't do anything at all... well...

People's lives are in a green, yellow or red light situation. They can go hard, keep going or slow down but not speed up, or must stop. Sometimes it'll be a red light situation, people have some drama to deal with and until that's dealt with they can't really do anything else. This red light situation may be illness, etc, but can be something good like getting married or having a child. Sometimes you can't help a person.

 

Client getting headaches and feeling tired...

How long have you been working with him? Sounds like he wants to make gains but doesn't want to do anything right with his nutrition, hydration or eating. Which means he's wasting his time.

If he isn't 100% you obviously have to modify the workout. But it also means that he isn't getting everything out of the session he could be. Normally with chronic problems like this where the client refuses to change I give them a couple of chances, and then tell them that the next time they come to a session in that state (due to their own neglect of something as simple as drinking water) I'm sending them home and they are going to pay for the session.

 

Client getting headaches and feeling tired...

Don't rule out that there might be something going on that is not as simple as dehydration or insufficient caloric intake. You know that his diet sucks, but is it primary (he is lazy and/or not putting in the effort), or secondary to something else - lack of appetite, fatigue, headaches caused by an illness or disorder. Those are all very common signs and symptoms, so it is just important to not underestimate them. Obviously we are limited to questioning, but I would get down to why he isn't drinking or eating enough. Talk to him about the thirst mechanism and how eating insufficient calories will greatly reduce his gains.

As far as the bananas, unless he is diabetic, or at risk for being diabetic, I couldn't see bananas increasing blood sugar to the point of inducing hyperglycemia. He'd be have more problems with pastas and all the refined goodies.

If it persists, tell him to go to the doctor.

 

Client getting headaches and feeling tired...

Plenty of people have sht diet and rest simply because they have never got their sht together to make them decent, they've never had anyone tell them to do it. We generally don't require complex physiological and psychological explanations for these things. Sometimes, but usually not.

First eliminate the obvious, only then pursue the obscure.