Fueling an early morning workout

_Valisha

I go to an early Bootcamp 3x a week at 6am. Normally I go on an empty stomach and eat breakfast about 30-60 min after my workout. I'm starting to wonder if I should be eating something before I go.

The class is pretty intense. Focusing on HIIT, lots of weights, tabatas etc. I wear a HRM and my burn is anywhere from 500-600 calories.

I'm thinking it should be something small and not too heavy in carbs. Would love some ideas.

christianneworksout

I think fluids will be more important and that's what I struggle with befire early workouts.
If you find you can get through without food then do but if not a banana or yogurt might be a small and healthy early workout snack

slucki01

I usually have a banana before a morning workout

Curtruns

my pre-workout meal for a run or race is typically a slice of wheat bread with a tablespoon of peanut butter. But I have been known to run on an empty stomach too. If what you are doing is working, I wouldn't necessarily change it unless you are feeling completely drained early in your workout.

dixiewhiskey

You could either do a small carb load the day before or eat something like what has been suggested above.

_Valisha

Curtruns wrote: »

my pre-workout meal for a run or race is typically a slice of wheat bread with a tablespoon of peanut butter. But I have been known to run on an empty stomach too. If what you are doing is working, I wouldn't necessarily change it unless you are feeling completely drained early in your workout.

There are some days when I feel sluggish. But I usually blame the fact that I got up at 5:40 and I'm not a morning person. Figured I can try this and see if I have more energy.

barryplumber

Eating to close to the workout could cause cramps and that would ruin your day

canary_girl

I run at 4:45 for 20 minutes, then cycle at 5:15 for an hour. I eat when I get home after. I feel sick if I eat before.

AlisonKTrader

I do a Bootcamp consisting of the same type of workouts as yours 5x's a week starting at 530am. I do a protein shake before I go. I feel a lot better when I do a shake and I have a better workout. I'd give it a try and if it doesn't work out for you then just keep doing what you're doing. Everyones body works differently and yours might not need anything before a workout like mine does.

_Valisha

barryplumber wrote: »

Eating to close to the workout could cause cramps and that would ruin your day

I thought about that. I would probably get up at 5:30 and eat so it has some time to settle.

_Valisha

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to try something this week and if it doesn't work out then I'll go back to what I was doing.

Spyer116

The food you eat isn't being used for energy for what you do after you finish eating. It takes time to be digested, and broken down into the usable energy for your body. Alot of what you use is glycogen stored in your muscles, and stored fat (which then gets replenished at some point later once your food is digested.
Needing to eat before a workout isn't necessary. no matter how intense it is.
It wouldn't make a difference at all unless it was a long exercise, or workout, such as endurance training, marathons, etc etc. Then having some quickly digestable carbs is helpful.

But most likely, no matter what sort of food you ate pre workout (20-60mins in duration), would have minimal if any noticeable benefits at all.

Although certain supplements, caffeine, or amino acids, could give you a noticeable boost to a workout. But aren't necessary in the slightest.

MeanderingMammal

_Valisha wrote: »

I'm starting to wonder if I should be eating something before I go.

You're mainly talking about psychological rather than any physiological benefit. I'm at the stge where I can do 10 miles fasted, so burning about 1000 cals without the need for fuel. You're not accesing the fuel that you've just consumed, it takes time to process, so you're accessing existing stores.

If you were to be training for in the order of 2hrs to 2:30 then you may be approaching depletion and need to replenish.

_Valisha

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

_Valisha wrote: »

I'm starting to wonder if I should be eating something before I go.

You're mainly talking about psychological rather than any physiological benefit. I'm at the stge where I can do 10 miles fasted, so burning about 1000 cals without the need for fuel. You're not accesing the fuel that you've just consumed, it takes time to process, so you're accessing existing stores.

If you were to be training for in the order of 2hrs to 2:30 then you may be approaching depletion and need to replenish.

Thanks, that makes sense.

livingleanlivingclean

I don't usually eat if I train early - i will have a coffee with coconut oil (because I like it like that) but that's it. I eat a meal afterwards though.

I usually eat most of my carbs at night, so figure I've got plenty of energy to train in the am without a meal beforehand

charlesmauch

I have never noticed that eating in the morning would affect my training sessions one way or the other. Well, there's the obvious stuff like eating a huge meal prior (makes me sluggish) or chugging coffee.

My best morning workouts always tend to be when I pig out the night before. When I chow down on hamburgers or pizza the night before a workout I tend to feel like a monster and just kill it in the gym.

ckspores1018

I have a hard time eating before a morning workout (especially an intense one); I'll have all kinds of gastrointestinal issues. Part of the reason I work out in the mornings is because there isn't anything in my stomach or intestines to become upset. Big glass of water, little bit of coffee, trip the the bathroom, and I'm ready to go. I just eat after and feel fine.

tomatoey

If you feel like you need energy or are feeling not your best, eat something! Experiment and see how you feel. Things I have eaten shortly before working out - cottage cheese with almonds, a couple of pieces of ham with bread, 1 egg and bread, a banana. Everyone's different, of course.