So when I workout, usually I feel a consistent fullness in my muscles.
However, there are times when, after working out, if it was a 'bad' workout, I actually feel worse, sometimes much worse, in terms of size, fullness, pump then before I worked out.

Like if I have a workout where I lack the mind muscle connection, or where maybe I don't push myself as much as I need to, or maybe I am tired, I can tell right during the workout it's going to be a crappy pump afterwards.  Within an hour I notice it, and it gets progressively worse as the day goes on.  The next morning when I wake up, I feel fine.

This drives me nuts, first I can't really pimpoint the best way to describe what I am feeling and what is going on besides how I did here, but second, it makes no sense that basically, working out, makes me feel worse in terms of size and fullness then if I sat on my ass on the couch all day.  

What is going on?  It seems paradoxical.  Is it something to do with glycogen?

@bluecountry It's probably not as complicated as you think. If you can tell from the moment you start your workout, after a few sets, that's it's going to be a bad workout, you posibbly don't push yourself as hard for one thing, but the main thing is the mind-muscle connection. You said yourself you have workouts where you lack it and that's what causes you to feel 'worse' after your workout. If your MMC is garbage and you can't really focus on the muscles you're trying to hit, then you're just going through the motions without really achieving much and a lot of your secondary movers could be taking over.

To put it in simple terms.. If your head's not in the game, your body is going to find it hard to get in the game too.

Also remember, pumps don't last forever and when you're at the gym, you're breaking down the muscle. So once the pump is gone after a workout anyway, that muscle has to recover and re-build which is another reason you might not feel so hot sometimes.

Couple points:

1) It’s not so much that I feel a pump, it’s more like I feel a consistent amount of fullness in my muscles, sometimes for weeks, but then I have a workout where the mind muscle connection lacks..EVEN if the weight and volume I lift is the same or higher

2) So this happened again on Thursday. Thought I had a good workout. Then 2 hours later I felt much worse, no fullness, softer. You know what though...I had lunch...and after lunch for about the next hour I felt MUCH better...much fuller. Then an hour after lunch it came back.

What I’m wondering...could this poor fullness feeling be from not eating enough pre workout? My macros are fine, but if late, I workout in the morning. Usually I have a big snack in the middle of the night around 3 AM so I don’t have much of a breakfast...not hungry. But of late my snacking at 3 AM is much less. Wondering if that is the issue? If so, why/what’s going on?

@bluecountry Yeah man it could have a lot to do with your eating. Particularly if you're not carbing up before training, that can sometimes hinder your pump (or at least it might mean you don't feel as full without carbs, as you would with carbs pre-workout).

And then obviously when you have food post workout, that's the start of your recovery so that's why you will be feeling good after eating. But again, it doesn't last forever. Unfortunately we are never as big as our pump haha.

Hey I’ve had it where I’ve felt fullness consistently for weeks.

im not talking pump, just a consistent state of fullness.

so in the last week I have been making sure to eat more pre and post workout and what do you know, it’s worked. So few questions:

1) Why is it then when I would lift without proper carbing, I’d feel much less full in my muscles? Almost like lifting Hurt!

2) What’s the rule in terms of carbs/macro timing pre and post workout to avoid this stuff?

@bluecountry 1. If you didn't have enough carbs, then you probably wouldn't have as much glycogen in your muscle tissue. That's why you wouldn't feel as full.

2. There's no exact rule because everyone is different. In terms of timing, eating about 30 - 60 minutes before training (so the food has time to digest) is good. Post training, try to get a good meal in around an hour after training. But as long as you hit your macros and calories each day, that's what matters.

For quantity, again, there's no exact rule. But 50g - 100g is a good target post training. Pre-training, more like 50g. But play around with it and find what works for you.

1) So...to the question "What is going on".......you think this is a clear case of a lack of glycogen? Could it be anything else?

1A: Do you have any videos explaining glycogen? Maybe you should do one!

2) If it was due to glycogen....then what can I do to prevent this? Aside from diet, would sleep impact glycogen?

You know Scott, I'm pretty sure my macros have been consistent throughout.

The only thing that has changed is that I don't snack as much in the middle of my sleep.

Usually I go to bed around 10, and have been known to wake up and snack 2-3 times before I workout at 6 AM...so I usually have not had breakfast.

So I'm wondering if, not only do you need to hit your mascros, but should you have some rule such as "Within ___ hours of your workout, have X amount of carbs/protein...and within ___ hours after the workout, likewise."

@bluecountry

1. Given what you said about not eating enough carbs and then actually eating more and it making a difference, that would be my guess. No videos yet solely on glycogen, so maybe I could cover that in a future video!

2. In terms of glycogen, it's mostly going to come down to your diet like we already talked about.

And to an extent, you're right, it's good to have some rules about eating before and after your workouts, because those are probably the most important times to focus on getting enough protein and carbs to help fuel your workout (pre-training) and then start the recvoery process (after training). However, it's not always possible to get perfect meals in before and after you lift. Sometimes you have to make do with the situation you're in and what you do (or don't) have available. Which is why the MOST important thing is hitting your macros and calories each day and each week.

BUT, in an ideal world, yes, we would always hit our numbers pre and post training.