Concentration for training/time management

[TheRocketeer]

One thing that I've noticed over the years is that I have a big problem focusing on my studies/work/etc. after I do morning workouts. It's almost like my reserve of concentration and focus is depleted for the day and it takes me a few hours to rebuild it. Same thing is true in the evening. If I work out in the late afternoon/early evening, I can't bring myself to dial back into studies/work/etc. for several hours, and by then it's bedtime.

As you can imagine, there aren't enough hours in the day for this to be a sustainable situation. Any ideas?

[Gammmmo]

get an easier job?

[TheRocketeer]

Nah, this has been true for literally more than a decade. It started in college, and continued even afterwards through non-demanding jobs. I should also mention -- it tends to get worse after really long workouts. And I'm nowhere close to overtrained right now.

[Anth_F]

Get more sleep/ or better sleep.

[Gammmmo]

evening workouts especially intense ones will always be more likely to disrupt sleep because of all the physiological changes. what are your morning sessions looking like?

[TheRocketeer]

They are usually about an hour to an hour and a half, and run the gamut from high-intensity intervals to long and slow steady state. The biggest factor in the concentration problems appears to be the duration of the workouts. Anything longer than about 30 minutes seems to trigger it.

[G-dub]

Is it a diet or dehydration thing?

[Gammmmo]

are you carbing adequately before/during/after? why dont u just have a coffee after your morning session?

[TheRocketeer]

Coffee's not a problem -- I drink it at breakfast and once again in the morning. Whether I'm adequately carbed is one of the questions, I guess. I'd have to take a look...

[Shawn Baker]

Go 2 months very low carb- get "fat adapted"- typically most say they have much improved concentration via less glucose swings

[Tim K.]

QFT

Go 2 months very low carb- get "fat adapted"- typically most say they have much improved concentration via less glucose swings

Personally, I have never been able to train in the mornings, until I started following a ketogenic diet. Now I train almost every morning for 30 min at almost full capacity, I go steady state the whole time and ending HR is ~175, so its 160 in the first 5 minutes and slowly climbs from there.

I have been clinically diagnosed ADHD. I have always had difficulty maintaining focus, or focusing far too intensely and ignoring everything else around me. Drugs have limited therapeutic effect and only for about 2 weeks, then require an increase in dose or change in drug. Diet and rowing have been a life changer for me.

Will this work for you or will you be willing to make the commitment? Those are the only questions?

[Shawn Baker]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/15123336/

Beta hydroxy butyrate and cognition

[left coaster]

opinions are like... well, you know, everybody has one

Personally, I think it's more important to keep the glucose pathways of the brain healthy and functioning well. keto supplementing people with AD works because the glucose energy systems of their brains are already dysfunctional, not because ketones are a superior or more stable energy source for the brain.

My question would be if you are taking on adequate carbs in the first 30-45 minutes post workout. Your brain becomes glycogen depleted during exercise and is a greedy consumer of glucose post-exercise. Recent animal studies indicate areas responsible for higher order cognitive skills take up 50-60% more glycogen by volume than do our muscles (think hippocampus, per-frontal cortex).

I'm the opposite, I use exercise to regulate my arousal state and am better able to focus in the hours after. I do intermediate intensity work though, not max efforts. Save those for when I need to shut down and check out from stressful life events

[Shawn Baker]

I'd say endogenous ketones >>>> than exogenous ones- interestingly many people will state improved mental clarity after a period of time on LCHF diet- that was also my experience

[lindsayh]

It could be related to the lack of balance between exercise and nutrition but maybe it is just a lack of time management?
(not judging here of course) Have a think about your time management - read the TM part of Covey's 7Habits.?
Warning possible gratuitous advice ahead.

Work out what is really important to you and use the quadrant matrix to spend your time as much a possible on important but non urgent things and as little time as possible on things that are not important. A personal mission/values statement sounds very clunky and 20thC but may help to get to the stuff that you really want to do.
Write it down and diarise, delegate and learn to say no. Spending a lot of time in Q2 will mean much less in Q1 because you stay ahead of the game.

Quadrant 1: Important and Urgent Only crisis activities should be in here. If you have included budgets and board-papers here, you are
probably not allowing yourself enough time to fully prepare. If you continue at this pace you could burn yourself out!

Quadrant 2: Important and Not Urgent This is where you define your priorities. What’s important in your life? What will keep you
balanced? For example, you may know that good nutrition, sleep, recreation, and maintaining healthy social relationships are important but do you consciously make time for them in your daily or weekly routine? Managing your life and the lifestyle will help you manage your time.

Quadrant 3: Not Important and Urgent While you may feel that activities, such as instant messaging need your attention right away, too
much time spent on Quadrant 3 activities can seriously reduce valuable study time. This may leave you feeling pulled in too many directions at once.

Quadrant 4: Not Important and Not Urgent If you’re spending many hours on Quadrant 4 activities, you’re either having a great deal of fun or
spending a lot of time procrastinating! Remember, the objective is balance.