Eating before early morning workout, help please

jimmyshaw93

Due to my class schedule and work, I recently had to change my lifting schedule to lift at 4:30 or 5:00 in the morning. I usually am walking into the gym about 35 minutes after I get out of bed. However, I need some help with my preworkout nutrition.

What should I eat before lifting, if anything? Since I am going to the gym so soon after waking up, I don't have a lot of time to eat anything, but I also don't want to not have anything because I'm trying to bulk up, and plus I cannot train when I'm hungry. I am just worried that if I go straight to the gym right when I wake up, I will end up losing weight/muscle because I have nothing in me.

Should I just eat a larger meal or good amount of carbs the night before or a large bedtime snack or something?

tinyfitchick

Unless you are doing fasted cardio first thing in the morning you should absolutely be eating before working out. Because your body would be working on a deficit you would most likely lose some muscle mass/weight (that's why people really only do fasted cardio when cutting down, not bulking up). I suggest 4-6 meals a day if you can do it, that's most effective for the body. First thing in the morning you can do a scoop of protein, oatmeal, eggs/egg whites. The amount is all going to depend on your body though. Keep in mind your body is still working as you sleep.. so eating a big meal before bed doesn't mean your body will have those carbs to work with in the morning.

jimmyshaw93

tinyfitchick wrote: »

Unless you are doing fasted cardio first thing in the morning you should absolutely be eating before working out. Because your body would be working on a deficit you would most likely lose some muscle mass/weight (that's why people really only do fasted cardio when cutting down, not bulking up). I suggest 4-6 meals a day if you can do it, that's most effective for the body. First thing in the morning you can do a scoop of protein, oatmeal, eggs/egg whites. The amount is all going to depend on your body though. Keep in mind your body is still working as you sleep.. so eating a big meal before bed doesn't mean your body will have those carbs to work with in the morning.

I am not doing fasted cardio. 4:30 in the morning is the only time I have to train, and I don't want to wake up at 3am every day just to wait for my food to digest before working out. I am usually at work until 10pm and don't get to bed until nearly 11pm, so I really want to sleep as much as I can. Like I mentioned before, I am usually in the gym 30-45 minutes after I get up, but I just don't know what I should eat that soon before lifting, and what the macros should be like. I don't want to over-do it, but I also don't want to short-change my gains or lose any weight. I am only 135 pounds, so I cannot lose any weight.

pinggolfer96

tinyfitchick wrote: »

Unless you are doing fasted cardio first thing in the morning you should absolutely be eating before working out. Because your body would be working on a deficit you would most likely lose some muscle mass/weight (that's why people really only do fasted cardio when cutting down, not bulking up). I suggest 4-6 meals a day if you can do it, that's most effective for the body. First thing in the morning you can do a scoop of protein, oatmeal, eggs/egg whites. The amount is all going to depend on your body though. Keep in mind your body is still working as you sleep.. so eating a big meal before bed doesn't mean your body will have those carbs to work with in the morning.

Meal timing is irrelevant. If he's training that early in the morning, there's nothing wrong with having a big meal before bed. Training fasted at 5 am is perfectly fine. The body isn't going to spare muscle if he's in a constant caloric surplus.

Just make sure you're in a weekly or daily surplus, hitting your calories and macros and you'll be fine. Meal timing is only a preference. If you feel better with a meal before a workout then do that. If you feel better on an empty stomach then hitting your macros later in the day, you will not lose your gains.

jennifer_417

Usually eating before a workout (or not) comes down to personal preference. Some people get ill if they eat before, some if they don't. For me, it doesn't seem to matter either way. I'd say to try it both ways and see which you prefer.

JJLive

I leave for work at 0430 so I can use the gym next door at 0520 so I feel your pain. I do feel like it is a bad idea to weight train on an empty stomach but I am only speaking from personal experience. I like eating some greek yogurt when I first wake up. It is light, kills the morning hunger and I don't feel lethargic as I would with a big meal. Plus you can mix in some protein powder if you want.

jurple132

Hey from my own experience working with swimmers who do intense training in the early morning I'd suggest a small snack before your workout and then something more sustaining straight afterwards. For example, a banana, piece of toast or small smoothie beforehand and then afterwards have something high in protein to help recovery; like porridge with nuts or yoghurt, protein shake etc. This way you will have enough energy for your workout but won't feel too heavy or nauseated. Make sure you consider the nutrition of your meal the night before you train too.

jurple132

Muesli bars are a winner when you're in a rush too

bobclapp18

Overnight oats with whatever you want pre workout

gmallan

If you have a big meal with carbs and protein before bed you should be fine to lift fasted. Add some BCAAs and sip on them through your workout as a bit of an insurance policy if you like. If you're bulking you'll probably want to have a big meal post-workout (within a couple hours). Meal timing is largely irrelevant provided you have enough energy to get through your workout and provided that your overall daily intake is on point.

myaminals

my friend has a slim fast shake as a snack to get some protein and not exercise on an empty stomach. she works out at 430 also. oatmeal might also be an option or a small protein shake just to get something on your stomach?

chrismwpcs

Prepare a nutrient dense shake the night before and have that before you walk out the door. Lifting on empty will hinder your performance. Your body will want energy on demand. Admittedly it takes around 30 minutes for your food to start digesting but it will keep you steady for your workout. Also when you finish try and eat something to start the insulin spike to shuttle nutrients to your muscles. I hope this has helped and happy lifting.

StealthHealth

I assume the people posting "You have to eat before a work out or your performance dips" really mean "I have to eat something or my performance dips".

In terms of fat loss or muscle gain - short term meal timings (within a day) are irrelevant.

There may be some solid (scientifically proven) advantage to being fueled up prior to lifting but, in your instance OP, you need to consider if this advantage outweighs the disadvantage of either:

• Getting up earlier and eating, allowing enough time to digest that food.
• Getting up slightly earlier and eating but lifting with a full stomach.

My own experiments on this tell me that, when taking bulking or cutting cycles into consideration, when lifting first thing in the morning, being fasted or being fed has zero effect on my lifting performance. But, what has a massive effect is how tired I am (practically every poor early morning performance in my training logs has "tired today" written in the notes section).

chrismwpcs

Everyone's mileage may vary. I have worked out fasted and fed and personally I perform better with pwo nutrition. Maybe the OP should try doing a week with and one without nutrition and compare his results. I totally agree with being tired impacting on performance. I find it worse after a 14 hour day at work and I train badly after those. Thankfully that's once a week on shift change to nights when I generally train as soon as I get up and get going on my session.

angelwowings23

Lifting in a fasted state is not going to be detrimental to gains, unless it's a serious fast. Just going without food during sleep and waking up early to knock out a workout...this isn't a serious fast. If you really want to get something in your system (which I do believe to be helpful if you are trying to put on mass), I really like the ease and accessibility of overnight oats. You just throw some old fashioned oats together with some milk (dairy, almond, soy...whatever you prefer), can toss in some protein and whatever ingredients you want (I used to regularly add chopped pecans, some cinnamon and raisins...so delicious). You mix everything together, toss it in the fridge overnight and it's ready to consume in the morning. This is actually a great pre-workout meal. Great amount of carbs and protein to work with right off the bat. That's my 2 cents anyhow.