Hi, just wondering if anyone knows about the effect of exercise on thyroid hormones. I have started to feel a bit more energised so this week I did three quite intense resistance (weights) work outs. Today I feel like I'm suddenly having hypo symptoms, tired, brain foggy, mood dropping. Have I buggered up my thyroid hormone levels by throwing myself back into intense exercise? Even as I type that I'm guessing that's a 'yes'.
Michael
Sounds a bit drastic ! Maybe yoga would be better and conserve your T3 !! - or something gentle first - walking or swimming !
Good idea. I've gone from yinn yoga (basically lying down and stretching a bit) to weight lifting circuits after feeling s bit more with it. Stupid, stupid me.
I think most of us have been there and done that!
Important to pace yourself
Yep, it was a bit like, wow I'm feeling more energised so I'll go right back to everything I used to do..... Well it's a
Lesson learned
It’s so hard not to do that when you’re feeling great because it happens so rarely 😁
Interesting. I'd like to know more about this too
It is a yes. Every cell in your body uses t3. If you work your body hard you will use more. If you have a limited supply of t3 in your body and it cannot compensate by converting t4 quickly enough then you will get symptoms of low t3 or hypo if you want to call it that.
Interesting question - can you build up slowly to more intense exercise or is it just better to stick to gentle exercise? I like the intense stuff but have also found too much can break me and set me back. Also get bad doms!
I cannot do stuff like HIIT (the real deal, not interval training) because it wipes me out. So I stick to treadmill at walking pace on various inclines and build up slowly.
I'm also royally knackered if I do any kind of super-setting, it becomes cardio from hell but what I find does work for me to get strong and doesn't involve endless sets is Wendler 5/3/1...... I can do my "prescription" and be out of the gym in half an hour if I want and all based around squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press. I follow my progress and prescription for the exercises and logging on an iPod app.
If I ever feel tired or the mojo flags I take a weeks break. I absolutely love it and feel loads better when leaving the gym, especially after a sesh in the sauna or steam room and the obligatory cold shower which I really think helps alleviate any DOMS and is also apparently good for the immune system, though sometimes they creep through and noticeable the next day.
lift.net/workout-routines/w...
Thanks for that. I'll check it out
What does DOMs mean ??
Delayed onset muscle soreness. Basically if you’ve overdone it & you’re not used to it. It’ll hit you hard
Hi wescone, strangely not much muscle soreness but a return of low but energy, depression out of no where and foggy brain.... felt like hypothyroid symptoms noticeably increasing. I'll stick to gentler exercise from now on.
Funnily enough I’ve been the same the last 2 days. Only very occasionally do I a have ‘good days’. And sometimes feel just awful, like you’re describing. I’ve been under a lot of stress of late & for me, it seems my bodies telling me I need to rest, physically and emotionally
I exercise five times a week, but generally do 30-40 minutes of squats/sit ups/etc or 45 min jogs. Spreading it out through the week works well and doesn’t leave me flagging.
Hi Mike
Everything I’ve read (medical advice and learned research, not on this board) suggest intense exercise is not good for thyroid sufferers.
This is because our metabolism is out of whack. It takes us far longer to recover and can actually cause us damage. So really, better to forget going for the burn. It’ll be more like going for the burnout.
All we need is raising the heart rate for short bursts. To make sure everything flows well. That’s like 5-10 mins of intense cardio a few times a week.
Better to gradually build muscle strength, slowly.
Am slim myself and was an athlete at school/college. I know I cannot overdo it now though.
Good luck
So to clarify, I aim to do 40 mins to an hour 3 times a week.
That’s 5-10 mins intense cardio and the rest weights- per session
That sounds like very sensible advice.
Crazy cardio isn’t a good idea for thyroid sufferers. Things like yoga are great for keeping supple. A very controlled level of strength training is great, but the main thing is not overdoing it. I know what my limits are now. & I know when I need to fully rest.
Rest. Absolutely! I do not go to the gym two days on the trot, I need a day to recover otherwise I pay for it dearly. We all have differing limits and boy does hypothyroidism give you a crash course in it 
Quality sleep is something that can elude some of us as well and that is so important, it's when our bodies do repairs whilst in a deep sleep cycle. That is the time when the body produces the most human growth hormone for repair, much more than in our awake hours.
Again we all have differing protocols.
I take my levo when I go to bed around midnight so it's well after my evening meal, which is also when I take magnesium citrate.
At bedtime I make a herbal sleep infusion (that tastes pretty pants but hey-ho!) with a small teaspoon of inulin (a prebiotic) which apparently the gut flora simply loves and apparently aids sleep if you keep the gut happy.
I work with a personal trainer one day a week. She told me up front that to see improvement I need to come in 3 days a week, but that I need to take a day off between sessions to allow my muscles to heal. She records the exercises she wants me to do and then uses my phone to take a photo of the workout. I use the photo on the other 2 days I go to the gym to guide my workout.
It is interesting to see another person who takes Inulin. I take it in my porridge as a pre biotic to act with my probiotic yoghurt. I have been feeling really well but suddenly ended up with diverticulitis and a perforated bowel. I put it down to constipation from doing the Sl****** Wo*** diet but I am wondering if the pre/probiotic combination has caused bowel problems. What do others think?
Think you’ve overdone things, but as your u say you’ve figured that out for yourself.
I would do what Marz suggests and go for more gentle exercise.
Although saying that I felt dreadful when my Graves’ disease was at its worst I was incredibly tired but I resented giving up life as I knew it. I couldn’t walk long distances as I had done before but I didn’t want to give up my gym and Pilates.
So I turned down everything I did at the gym, basically I went to see my gym friends and do a little bit of very low key work. So that really I was just ticking over. My wonderful Pilates teacher is a qualified physiotherapist and she adapted everything for me so I kept that up too. Eventually one day I felt as if I wanted to walk and off I went.
I know exactly why you did what you did though, you could still go to the gym but definitely cut right back on the intensity.
Thanks Fruitand nutcase, I'll have to keep my all offer nothing tendencies in check.
Hi Mike
I'm a hillwalker and weekly climb Munros in Scotland and that is usually enough exercise for me however became concerned about upper body so therefore started weightlifting.
I have learned that when my thyroid is out of whack at all, I can't handle intense exercise. Especially in winter, when my thyroid hormones drop, I find it is a lot harder. I started weightlifting recently, and can only really handle an intense session every two weeks - that's more the functional stuff plus a lot of progressive overload to really build up muscles. When doing this, I really have to eat a lot of protein as that helps me build those muscles and repair after weightlifting. I've also found since being on T3 (I'm on combination T4 and T3) that I also need to eat a lot of protein and good fats - and also that there would be no chance of hillwalking/weightlifting without the added T3.
I think that having more space between workouts would be better, give yourself more time to build up T3 in your body. Flat walks help to keep you limber, swimming, cycling etc to reduce impact on legs - these all help too. Good luck
Helen
Thanks Helen
Hi Mike, try increasing your carb/calorie in take for energy even people without thyroid issues have this, stick with it if you enjoy it I work out hard 4 times a week day on day off then 2 days off it works for me and have raised my calorie intake to about 3000 a day, do what works for you but don't stop as exercise can help with thyroid issues along with depression. Best of luck
I would say high intensity exercise for Hashimoto’s patients is a bit of a no no unfortunately. Maybe on weights session per week and then a couple of more average sessions like the old yoga Pilates and then maybe a swim. That way you’re also getting the stretching and joint care work in, which is valuable for the joint pain, tightness and inflammation which characterises the disease. Topped off by regular deep tissue sports massage!
Thanks, Hashifedup, I'll try something like you suggest.
I train with a Masters type Swimming squad for my local Swim Club. I’ve found T3 is key in being able to do the hard Swim training - I’m on a combo of NDT (5x grains) and 10mcg T3 daily and take all of that in the mornings other than 5mcg T3 I take before bed on non-Swimming days or about an hour before training instead on Swimming days.
When I first returned to training after a couple of years off, I was very unfit and cramped up real easily in the pool. I found taking the T3 before training helped avoid cramping up and gave me more energy in the pool for the period training. Now I’m pretty fit and fastest in my squad after around 4x months or so pushing myself hard when I train. So you can push yourself even as a Hypothyroid person but T3 is key to be like a ‘normal’ person in the case of being able to push yourself. I’ve gotten much stronger and fitter in a relatively short space of time with having a decent amount of T3 in my body between the NDT and Liothyronine.
Before diagnosis, muscle cramps were one of my main symptoms and as a bloke have really seen benefit from changing from Levo only to T4+small amount of T3 combo treatment which sorted the cramps right out and I soon realised it’s really about the more muscle you have, the more T3 you need to be like a normal person with that amount of muscle doing that amount of exercise so I switched to NDT + T3 combo. I track heart rate and basal body temps along with generally listening to my body to understand if my dosing is correct.
Hi, I’m a masters swimmer also. I haven’t trained for a while as I just haven’t been up to it. I get a lot of cramp too. Interesting that you take T3 before training. I will do this too whenever I’m able to return
I think you are right, my post exercise crash felt like coming off T3
You may need to up your dose a little if you’re doing heavy weights rather than giving up. I lift heavy for a lady and your body just gets used to it. There is a huge benefit to weight training so don’t sack it off just yet
You really can’t tell someone to up theirs dose. Thyroid medication isn’t something you can just work off!
Erm yes it is that’s the point. Your requirement for extra T3 when training hard is justified. Do you train hard / have experience with this?
There are many reasons for feeling tired after exercise ...that’s the nature of exercise. If thyroxine was ‘used up’ through exercise the people with no thyroid probs would benefit too. People use thyroxine to lose weight .. that’s not advisable either.
I self medicate so have to be very much in tune with my body. I also train hard at least 4 times a week. If my dose isn’t right as other people I get severe DOMS but also sleep disturbance and a strange smell in my nose. I’ve exercised all my life and even my endo trusts me to self medicate so I think my advise is quite valid. Furthermore it’s echoed by several others on here.
My t3 level definitely tanks after hard exercise. Had it up at top of range, trained for a run, it dropped to 4.3 so yes I do up my dose on hard training days if I’m struggling.
How do you know? And what exactly do you mean by ‘ranks’? Do you have a blood test straight after?
Hi yes I have had blood tests very often to see what my levels do. Sorry ranked should be tanked. Predictive text or fat fingers. Xx p.s. I have no thyroid so am reliant on conversion.
Ah right. I have no thyroid either but would not risk boosting my energy levels by increasing meds. It’s not like using up sugars and carbs etc. And unless someone has a Bio-chemistry PhD I’d go for standard ways of recuperation!
It’s more about facilitating the use of sugars (from carbs or otherwise) whilst training - what I and others who have experience of hard training with Hypothyroidism have described is more about malaise (and cramping!) whilst training. Additional T3 is required on days where you have such activity. It makes sense that your Thyroid - when working properly - would produce more Thyroid hormones in response to your body’s increased demand when trying to burn more energy during exercise - especially intense exercise.
Well nobody has said anything that has convinced me that hormones are ‘used up’ or converted like starches and sugars by exercise. I used to cycle fast many miles in my thirties but that was when my thyroxine levels were optimum and I was back to pre hypo/hyper condition. Any scientific papers on it.? Hormones are surely about equilibrium. What other hormones do you think are used up through exercise.? Happy to be convinced but still sceptical.
I am not convinced that you should look at T3 like starches and sugars.
But I am convinced that T3 does reduce after exercise in at least some circumstances:
Decreased serum T3 after an exercise session is independent of glucocorticoid peak.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/239...
Thanks for that ...though study very small, unreplicated and on rats!!
Rats AND humans.
The rats were killed after the exercise to get immediate results but then killing something produces reactions too.
Mike77, Because T3 is needed for and used up in all activity, increasing your activity level is very roughly equivalent to reducing your dose. This is in addition to some of the other mechanisms that have been mentioned in the thread.
Because muscles use T3 both to work hard and repair, it's not great to be asking a lot of them while you may not have enough T3 in your body.
I think a hard part of this is the psychological. Realising it's not just a case of bouncing back and returning to what you could do before you got sick. Doing exercise is now just one part of the practice of managing your illness.
Personally I think the most reasonable thing to do is go right back to square one, pretend you've never exercised before, and start from nothing with things like walking, very gentle swimming, maybe going to the gym and lifting bars with no weight on or go to so minimal it makes you laugh. Then build up very slowly, 5% or less per week. This way you'll figure out what you can do, and learn some of the tips and tricks others have mentioned learning about themselves.
I was quite fit before, and one of my early struggles was that where I needed to start was with things I didn't consider to be exercise at all! I was very angry and frustrated about it for a long time.
Hi Mike 77, Have just had a little skim through your older posts and seen that you're probably quite a long way away from your ideal dose.
I wanted to add a little bit to what is said before, I think most people commenting in the thread about their success with strenuous exercise will be people who have either been on their ideal dose for a long time or some of the lucky ones who get on a good hormone dose very quickly and don't have much of a period of illness. Pushing hard at exercise or lifting weights are really only things that can be done once dose is optimal and very stable.
Personally I used to lift weights before I got sick, and I don't think it's very suitable for hypo people unless they're extremely well - by definition it's about overloading muscles to encourage growth and attempting to increase the metabolism. Many hypo people may not be capable of dealing with any part of their body being overloaded, or able to grow new muscle.
I also wanted to mention that in my own experience of trying to introduce exercise I had a couple of times where I started something new and coped with a given activity level for a few months before I finally had a crash - it's something to take very slowly and look for a lot of evidence a certain level is okay before increasing the amount.
Thanks Silveravocado, sounds like wise advice
Silveradvocado, good advice. Did you see actual reduction in T3 levels from blood tests following increase in exercise? I was going to post a similar question to Mike as I'm training to run my first marathon (aged 57!) I've completed 5 half marathons over last 3 years and struggle beyond 11 miles, I know I wouldn't have got that far without self medicating T3 (12.5mg) plus 100mg Levo prescribed, I've noticed my FT4 have dropped to low in range too. My resting heart rate is 48-53bpm so I don't worry about over medication but GP as always panic about almost zero TSH. I'm wondering if I should take T3 in 2 doses or increase when increasing my running distances?
Anyone else here run on T3?
I've wondered whether it reduced my freeT3, as I increasing my T3 dose consistently for three years, and my freeT3 often didn't rise with it (as I constantly increased activity because symptoms reduced). But I don't think it's quite as simple as that. It only roughly works out as a dose reduction because you're using up hormone that your body might otherwise use to run your digestion, heart, brain, allow you to stay awake till evening and do household chores, etc, etc.
I think most people commenting in the thread about exercise success are taking some T3. With regard to dose splitting all you can do is experiment, it's all trial and error for what works for you. If you're wondering about raising your T3 I suggest making a brand new post with any blood tests you have and full history, and members will advise.
I don't know your age, sex or exercise history so I would say you should (almost) always exercise slowly if you've been resting for a few days (or more) and only do intense workouts maybe 3 or 4 times a week depending on your routine. Generally, workout with weights, walking, biking or stationary biking for 30-60 minutes and harder exercise long distance running, with 100-yard sprints once or twice in 30-minutes, skipping rope or speed-bags, heavy bags, sparring or wrestling if you are capable less often. You train so you can run in a marathon or other such contest. What, exactly, did you mean by "intense" exercise? Peace be with you on these holidays.
Exhausted just reading these posts! I was told to give up karate in my late twenties but now reckon because sexist doctor didn’t approve. I think it’s as individual as we all are. Some of us at peak condition and stable meds will shun the gym ...others can’t wait to pump whatever it is you pump. I think the advice is same as for anybody ... with or without thyroid problems.
Exercise is what keeps me sane! Even when I was hypo, I still exercised. I guess I have a strong mentality. I train like a demon! I’m on 125mcg Levothyroxine and I always feel better! I love what exercise does for my body and my mind. Keep at it, there are no excuses.
BTW, I do three HIIT classes a week. You’re welcomed to stalk my insta: @ascot_fit
I never exercise unless you call walking up 3 flights of stairs with shopping bags because I don't like lifts after being stuck in a hospital one for hours when I worked for NHS. This weekend we were at my husband's Christmas do which to my horror was on the 17th floor but I gritted my teeth and got in one and was amazed at how quick it was ... woosh and we were on the 17th floor in a jiffy ... fantastic views from the floor to ceiling windows.
I don't exercise because I can have bad palpitations which is caused by my Graves' disease ... I have however lost over a stone in a couple of months from eating too much and walking everywhere to burn off my excess energy. Last night I did not get to bed until 12.30am and I slept until 6am which was because I was dancing to the disco which seemed to wear me out for a change.
Shouldn’t be having palpitations and losing weight once Graves is treated.
mind you I would have them if on the 17th floor ..or stuck in a large crowd!!!
I am not being treated because all is normal according to NHS guidelines.
Right...but how do you know you’ve got Graves? I wasn’t diagnosed with it until after years of yo-yoing between over and under on a two year cycle except when I was skinny and super active that was seen as fine and the sweating and weight loss not picked up on but when I put on weight (half a stone of fluid) and lost appetite, warmth and hair, it didn’t look like much to the doctor and symptoms just put down to ‘well you women are always tired/worried about weight’ etc! 40 years of post RAI later I’m now over medicated according to my TSH but feeling fine. Hope you do get treatment if needed as undertreated hyper can lead to osteoporosis.
High Thyroglobulin antibodies of 4000 and a multi-nodular goitre my Consultant Endocrinologist diagnosed me 10 years ago. That is rubbish about it leading to osteoporosis btw I will also never have my thyroid destroyed because I am now in my second remission and feel great except for the lack of sleep because of excess energy.
No seriously it can lead to osteo if left untreated for periods. The science is there and links have been found. I don’t like to use personal examples much but my brother, aunt and daughter all with thyroid probs have had breaking bones and osteoporosis. I have osteoarthritis ...nowt broken yet!
Suggest you find the point between your index finger and your middle finger and use the pressure points to give it a bit of a press to activate all the Thyroid glands. On YouTube & YouTube Go you can find a number of accupressure and related videos. Suggest Baba Ramdev or similar reputed ones. Good luck.
I used to run a lot did London Marathon and several Great North Runs. Now, if I do more than 2 x 5Ks a week I'm totally exhausted. My last Great North Run I gradually built up to it with an extended training schedule. That seemed to help a lot in all areas of my health.
I've been very busy recently so not run out as much as I could/should and I'm feeling the effects of not training.
For me, graduated exercise helps a lot. So that is my New Year resolution - get back o n the road to build up - slowly - for another Great North Run.
"Have I buggered up my thyroid hormone levels by throwing myself back into intense exercise? Even as I type that I'm guessing that's a 'yes'."
Yes 
But only temporarily I hope
Exercise is essential for life, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Use pain as you guide as to how much. If it hurts slow down, if it doesn't you need more. Re Thyriod meds - take a little more if you feel you are burning up your current dosage.
Hello,
I am a Personal Trainer and "Spinning" Instructor. I have had Hypothyroidism for 18 years and have been a PT and Group Exercise Instructor for 10 years. I also do, and teach, HIIT. I studied Human Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at University. I am also 45 years old.
I have read the research on this subject. It is very challenging for us to to get fit but not impossible. We have to start slow and build up our training longer than a Person whom is Euthroid which is normal thyroid function. By building our training slow gives our bodies less adaption to the new demands we have placed on it before we demand more.
The trouble with having Hypothyroidism is that it can impair oxygen uptake by the cells of the body, all of them. When we exercise, we are increasing oxygen demand. This is extremely crucial if you are doing endurance exercises like running for any lengthy periods of time. Alternatively, HIIT training uses very short durations of high intensity intervals combined with recovery intervals.
Actually, HIIT training can be the solution where reduced oxygen uptake exists because the working intervals are anaerobic, which means it's at an intensity that is too high and too short to have time to use oxygen to make energy. The body recovers the oxygen deficit after the interval. The key to training someone with hypothyroid is in the recovery intervals. The recovery intervals should allow for time for full oxygen recovery which means it might not be a set time.
A Heart Rate Monitor is a great tool for showing if you have fully recovered and are ready for the next high intensity interval. You can do a set of intervals and then fully recover after the set or you can recover fully after each single interval. Your heart rate should recover to 60% of the age predicted maximum. You should also start with small intervals and sets to see how you feel before increasing the time of work or number of intervals in the set.
An example would be 15 seconds working and 30 seconds recovery three times and then a two minute recovery as long as there is a full recovery to at least 60% of maximum heart rate. For the very beginner, 60% heart rate recovery after each 15 seconds then a two minute recovery. This can be repeated 10 -15 minutes for a respectable beginners HIIT workout. Any other HIIT session would just need to apply the 60% of age predicted heart rate recovery. Then build from there while always listening to your body and not trying to build the fitness too quickly. Good luck
Hi Reginacrz, thanks for that thorough reply, you sound very fit and inspiring. I wish I had 10% of your energy. I will take your advice and go slow and maybe give HIT a go.
Michael
I wouldn't have half the energy if I didn't keep fit. But, I know I can't thrash myself the way lots of people do in gyms. I am kind to myself. If it doesn't feel good, I don't do it no matter what the instructor is shouting. Honour your body and it will pay you in dividends!
Hi Mike
I began lifting weights last November and it is the best thing I have ever done!
I bought a second hand multi gum and have some free weights too.
It is a practice that enables me to move slowly without knackering myself up; yet I am seeing improvements in my muscle tone.
Lifting weights has also changed the way of my thinking; often I can feel quite fragile and vulnerable, yet lifting reminds me of my power.
Slow lifting is best for me.
I hope this helps,
Would adding T3 to T4 help me with exercise tolerance - anyone have any experience of this?
Will it ever be possible to play sport, exercise fully when taking T3? Need hope
Reactive and exercise-induced hypoclycaemia
Hypothyroidism and Exercise
