And no it doesn't have to do with sex!! shame on you people ;p

Anyway, what exactly is the "bonk"? Is it when my muscles have been worked to exaustion where I just can't lift another time? Is it if they giv eout on me suddenly? Is it when I can't lift even once more, but my muscles aren't sore at all and I'm left wondering if I got a good workout or not?

It may be the low carbs, but I no longer get sore muscles as much. I think I'm lifting to level 10, and I may get some shakyness right after, but no soreness later in day or next day.

Also i had a weird thing in my legs today (which I exercised). I ate lunch and went to pick up the kids. While driving inn the car my legs were all tingly. It wasn't bad like they were going to fall asleep, it was more like being cold and tingling. It wasn't only in my legs but in my stomach as well. Hehe, maybe I can actuly feel the fat burning ;p

Doh, and here I thought you had found a really fun way to burn calories!



Well, I'm not sure if my understanding is right, but here is what I think of as bonking. There where a few times when I was not taking in enough carbs and I couldn't finish all the reps in my last sets. My hands were shaking on the way home. When I got home all I felt like doing was crawling back into bed and pulling the covers over my head. But instead I ate some carbs and felt better a few minutes later.

Like I said, I'm not sure if that's what other people mean by bonking, but that's what comes to my mind when I hear the term.

Arnie

Right on, Arnie...some folks call it "hitting the wall" or "crashing". I like the bonk term better b/c it denotes a solid thud when you're simply "cashed". Or down here, we just done plumb run outta steam.

badgoat

I was doing Lyle McDonald's suggested weight program on 25-30 carbs/day, and had frequent bonks of the type you describe. It felt like suddenly my muscle strength would go and I absolutely could not do another rep...although I was fine on the rep immediately before the bonk. It was especially scary on the bench press, but fortunately the Gym Goddess smiled on me and I never had any accidents.

Just began "trial runs" of the BFL workouts and no bonking so far, but horrible muscle soreness instead. Was not prepared with glutamine...oops

Emily

I had this happen last week but my carbs are moderate. I thought it was from a really good workout, pushing myself to the absolute limit. Is that the same thing or does it have another name?

Wanda

In my experience the no-carb bonk feels slightly different than the fatigue from pushing myself to the limit. When I bonk, it hits suddenly, there's no warning at all and suddenly my muscle strength drops to ZERO. That's why I was a bit scared of it happening on the bench press--didn't want to drop the thing on my neck! But when I'm pushing the limit, the drop in strength is less steep and I can make a better assessment of how much I can lift.

Not sure if that helps....

Emily

Hi Emily:

Yes, that helps immensely. So what's the terminology for what happened to me. Gotta get the lingo down.

Wanda

Just to add to what Emily has posted; bonking usually includes nausea and dizziness when you get very depleted - it usually happens when you go beyond that ultimate fatigue. I have experienced it but not when lifting heavy - you just end up really tired and can't go any further. When you're doing circuit training or high volume training you lift lighter and it's very aerobic (a la CKD depletion workout pre carb up) - it's designed to deplete you completely and it leaves you not just shaky and tired, but feeling very close to heaving.

Nat

I think I definetly bonked today, at least on chest. FOr some reaosn I could only lift half of what I normally could. My muscles just wouldn't cooperate. And I know it's a weight level I can do because I was doing it last week.

I chugged my after workout shake way to fast too. I ended up sick. I think it was from chugging the shake and not the workout. Maybe I'm coming down with a small bug and that would explain the lack of strength and nausia.