What to eat before/after workout?

plc765

Ihttp://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/23058659/ns/today-today_health/


Good article, even though it is a few yrs old. I am wondering if anyone can help me out here....I am exercising in the AM doing mostly strength training, and doing my cardio in the evening. I think I pretty much have my evening pre/post workout meals down, however, I need a little help with my am routine. I basically wake up and get right to exercising, so my question is, what can I eat before the workout that would be quick and give me what I need? I workout at 5am, and eat breakfast at 8:30, after I get to work, so I know I need something before and after, but what?? It seems like too much if I eat something before, then after, then breakfast at 8:30, but I could be wrong?? My breakfast normally consists of multi-grain cheerios and a banana or ezekiel bread and veggie protein sausage. So I just want to make sure I am eating the right things at the right times, even though I am short on time. Thanks for any advice!!

shanolap

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jaybaileys

When I work out that early I dont eat typically. But I almost always have a recovery drink after anything except yoga. You could try fat free chocolate milk and then eat your breakfast later. Or some people have said a bagel is a good recovery drink/meal. I personally use P90X recovery drink and some extra glutamine scoops in mine.

polo571

For me personally I think fasted cardio does alot of good and I dont eat before I work out. Just my opinion

jlewis2896

I generally don't eat prior to working out if I am lifting, but if I'm doing cardio I'll eat a packet of sugar-free oatmeal and it never upsets my stomach.

After, I generally do something light like chocolate soy milk -- you need a combination of protein and carbs, but you don't need a ton of either.

MsScorpio67

When I work out that early I dont eat typically. But I almost always have a recovery drink after anything except yoga. You could try fat free chocolate milk and then eat your breakfast later. Or some people have said a bagel is a good recovery drink/meal. I personally use P90X recovery drink and some extra glutamine scoops in mine.

What is Glutamine? And how does it help?

Sigra

This morning I got up at 6am and made myself 1/4th cup of Oatmeal, and last week I ate a Banana! It was enough to get my metabolism going and to not make myself sick while doing the workouts.


Normally I work out during the evenings, but the boot camp that I'm doing starts at 7am.

FatBastard6135

I have also heard that fasting prior to AM cardio is better, and afterwards something like a EAS Myoplex Protein Drink afterwards would in your recovery. IMO

gameovergt

interesting

v_addison

My trainer informed me last week that the perfect pre and post workout snack is a banana (greener is better) and low fat chocolate milk. I've been trying it this week and it really does work. Hope that helps.

halejr23

I work out at 5 am so I get up at 4:30 and throw a scoop of chocolate protein powder in my cup of coffee. Helps me wake up and gives me some energy to get a good workout in.

snowflakelaia

I never eat at 4.30am in the morning. Sip some water during the cardio water and afterwards. I wait about 30 minutes before eating breakfast. Sometimes I have a protein shake with my breakfast also many times.

For the evening workout, my last meal is about 2 hours before I do it. If I don't wait enough I can barely move at all and feel sick...

dave4d

I like doing fasted cardio too, that's why I do cardio first thing in the morning. If you do weights, you do need some food to fuel your workout. You could always do a protein, or meal replacement shake for your pre, and post workout. You definitely need some carbs post workout for your strength training though, so Maybe add a banana, or other fruit to your post workout meal.

Chicka_Boom

There are a lot of different opinions on the subject, but I personally think that it's good to eat a little something before a workout. I exercise first thing in the morning as well, and I like to eat a banana beforehand - I've heard quite a few times that it's the ideal pre-workout food. Ideally, you would eat the banana about an hour to 45 minutes before the workout, but that isn't really possible with an early-AM routine.

After working out, you want to eat again while you're still in the "golden hour," so I try to eat breakfast within about 30 minutes. My goal is to get a good mix of complex carbs and protein in my breakfast. My usual choices: rolled oats (I make them in big batches, refrigerate, and reheat in the morning) with cinnamon and frozen blueberries, instant oatmeal (if I'm in a hurry), a slice of whole grain toast with almond butter, or a slice of whole grain toast with a scrambled egg. I generally have a glass of skim milk as well.

You pretty much just have to listen to your body. If eating pre-workout makes you sick, don't. If not eating leaves you sluggish, eat. If you could go either way, have a banana.

plc765

When I work out that early I dont eat typically. But I almost always have a recovery drink after anything except yoga. You could try fat free chocolate milk and then eat your breakfast later. Or some people have said a bagel is a good recovery drink/meal. I personally use P90X recovery drink and some extra glutamine scoops in mine.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I am glad some of you said you don't eat before the workout, b/c that is what I would like to do, but I keep hearing "eat something before working out!" I really like the idea of the protein shake or low fat choc soy milk!
Would it be ok if I did the protein shake or milk after my workout, say 6-6:30ish, then had my breakfast at 8:30? That wouldn't be overkill on my protein so early in the AM, would it? I know going over on protein isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I didn't know if say a decent amount at one meal was too much? Please forgive me for my lack of knowledge in this area!

jaybaileys

Glutamine is a supplement that supposedly helps with muscle soreness. I put 2 scoops about 10grams in my recovery drink. The scoops are really small. I got mine at GNC.

jaybaileys

I think the theory behind the recovery drink/meal is to feed your body with good stuff to replace what you lost during your workout. They say to take it within an hour of working out, and then let it do its thing for say 45 minutes to an hour before eating anything else. That's what Ive been told anyway and have done that for the past 2 1/2 years and it seems to work good for me.

lily1972

Personally, I do 5 mins light cardio before some weight lifting (dumbbells, at home) on an empty stomach. Perhaps I would eat something beforehand if I were to spend a lot of time at the gym, like a banana ;-) But apparently, 5 mins of cardio is enough to use up your blood sugar without your body going into "panic" mode for fuel and not interfere with using up the fat stores - yay!!

Anyway, this has been working very, very well for me so far! Good luck! :flowerforyou:

Brittney24

In my Human Metabolism class we were discussing whether or not to eat in the morning before a workout. Usually free fatty acid levels are the highest after sleeping, which is going to aid in weight loss and burning the extra fat in the blood stream after a "fasting" period during sleep. Our professor said that for the most part, people who are not world class athletes can get by without eating before working out in the morning, especially if it's just a jog or something not too strenuous for hours.

If you eat a meal before exercise insulin levels rise which not only aid in glucose transport into tissues but also impacts fat negatively. Usually if you eat you want to allow a break between eating and exercising so as to prevent hypoglycemia due to both insulin and exercise stimulation of transporters to the cell membrane.

If you don't like to not eat eat something low in carbohydrate, and higher in protein to avoid the insulin problems.

Jonesie1984

Yup Brittany that's what I heard. If I get to do my cardio in the morning its fasting...followed by post workout protein shake.

chrisdavey

If you eat a meal before exercise insulin levels rise which not only aid in glucose transport into tissues but also impacts fat negatively. Usually if you eat you want to allow a break between eating and exercising so as to prevent hypoglycemia due to both insulin and exercise stimulation of transporters to the cell membrane.

If you don't like to not eat eat something low in carbohydrate, and higher in protein to avoid the insulin problems.

Except that if she is doing resistance training an insulin spike around training time is a good thing.
Info on this here.
http://www.drclay.com/2011/02/new-article-the-insulin-advantage-how-to-bulk-cut-in-the-same-day/

Different types of exercise require different fuelling IMO.

Re your question, as you are doing resistance training in the am I would be making a protein shake the night before and have half of it before and half after. That is how I normally do my pm resistance training sessions.

Having said that, there have been studies done showing good results of fasted resistance training (and supplementing with BCAA's to prevent catabolism)

http://www.leangains.com/2010/05/fasted-training-boosts-endurance-and.html

http://www.leangains.com/2010/09/fasted-training-insulin-sensitivity.html

http://www.leangains.com/2009/12/fasted-training-boosts-muscle-growth.html

So in the end, I think it is a personal choice. If you want to eat something and you think it will provide you with more energy for a workout then go ahead and eat something. (Around training time is the best time to indulge in something sweet IMO, as well as something with some protein) If you don't think there is any benefit to eating before then don't

Post workout, you want to get some protein and some carbs. Some people get into the nitty gritty of high gi vs low gi carbs and how quickly the nutrients can be utilised but this could be majoring in the minors really

wake up
5am:exercise
6am:post workout protein shake with some fruit or oats for carb source
8:30am: breakfast (some studies say that this should be around .4g/kg protein and .8g/kg carbs, depends on carb tolerance IMO)

sound ok?

plc765

If you eat a meal before exercise insulin levels rise which not only aid in glucose transport into tissues but also impacts fat negatively. Usually if you eat you want to allow a break between eating and exercising so as to prevent hypoglycemia due to both insulin and exercise stimulation of transporters to the cell membrane.

If you don't like to not eat eat something low in carbohydrate, and higher in protein to avoid the insulin problems.

Except that if she is doing resistance training an insulin spike around training time is a good thing.
Info on this here.
http://www.drclay.com/2011/02/new-article-the-insulin-advantage-how-to-bulk-cut-in-the-same-day/

Different types of exercise require different fuelling IMO.

Re your question, as you are doing resistance training in the am I would be making a protein shake the night before and have half of it before and half after. That is how I normally do my pm resistance training sessions.

Having said that, there have been studies done showing good results of fasted resistance training (and supplementing with BCAA's to prevent catabolism)

http://www.leangains.com/2010/05/fasted-training-boosts-endurance-and.html

http://www.leangains.com/2010/09/fasted-training-insulin-sensitivity.html

http://www.leangains.com/2009/12/fasted-training-boosts-muscle-growth.html

So in the end, I think it is a personal choice. If you want to eat something and you think it will provide you with more energy for a workout then go ahead and eat something. (Around training time is the best time to indulge in something sweet IMO, as well as something with some protein) If you don't think there is any benefit to eating before then don't

Post workout, you want to get some protein and some carbs. Some people get into the nitty gritty of high gi vs low gi carbs and how quickly the nutrients can be utilised but this could be majoring in the minors really

wake up
5am:exercise
6am:post workout protein shake with some fruit or oats for carb source
8:30am: breakfast (some studies say that this should be around .4g/kg protein and .8g/kg carbs, depends on carb tolerance IMO)

sound ok?

Thank you all for your help!! Chrisdavey, the above helps me out tremedously!! :bigsmile: I had a glass of choc soy milk after my workout this morning, and plan on picking you some protein powder this weekend, and mixing it with fruit/oatmeal and having half before, half after, like you suggested. I am going to try this and see how it works for me. Thank you so much for the insight. Oh, and BTW....100 burpees in 7 min??? WTG Superman!! Burpees are def not my fav thing...lol

Chicka_Boom

Post workout, you want to get some protein and some carbs. Some people get into the nitty gritty of high gi vs low gi carbs and how quickly the nutrients can be utilised but this could be majoring in the minors really

Kinda off topic, but.. It's actually really important to pay attention to low GI vs. high GI carbs. Recent studies have shown that subjects placed on low fat diets failed to lose weight, while subjects placed on diets that cut out high GI foods (refined carbs, starches, sugars) experienced significant and sustained weight loss. The developing theory is that the quality of our carbohydrate intake may have much more to do with our health than previously thought - more even than our fat intake. High GI foods cause insulin levels to spike, resulting in energy crashes in the short term and type two diabetes in the long run. Yikes.

dave4d

Here's an interesting article on the subject.


http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/3_tricks_for_faster_fat_loss

NOLA_Meg

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