What to eat before cardio & weightlifting?

nmmom2

I'm sure this question has been posed before, but here it is again. I keep hearing conflicting information on what to eat before cardio and before weightlifting. Some say do cardio on an empty stomach, others say eat carbs before cardio and protein before weights.

What is the correct thing to do?

GetSoda

The correct thing is to try your options and see how you feel.

Some people I know -have- to protein shake before a workout.
Me? I prefer working out about 90 minutes after I wake up, before I eat.

grantdumas7

I lift first thing in the morning and I have tried protein drink with milk, fasted training and carbs only. The carbs only approach works beIst for me. Because protein takes time and energy to digest, I felt a little tired at the gym even if I took a pre-workout energy booster.

h9dlb

I have nothing because if I ate before a work out I would be sick.

It's more important what you eat after that matters, i.e protein to replenish muscles and carb to cause an insulin spike to get the protein working properly.

Alphastate

Everyone so far has been correct. I would add that a greek yogurt about an hour before I lift helps me because of the high protein content, and the simple sugars help fuel my workout. If you are doing cardio first thing in the morning, doing it on an empty stomach forces your body to use stored fat as fuel.

lj8576

usually I have coffee and a banana

sally_jeffswife

I usually just workout about a half hr after a meal. If I feel like my muscles are sore from the day before I might have a protein shake before I work out but I don't do that always. Usually after my workout for a snack I'll have a Breakstones 100 calorie Cottage Double that helps my muscles not get as sore if I'm lifting alot.