Why eat with exercise?

msarro

Just curious why exactly we eat with exercise? It would seem, especially with cardio, our primary goal is to burn fat. If we carb pack, our body will store the excess carbs as glycogen to be burnt quickly. This is good if you're in a competetive race. However, its bad if you're trying to lose weight because you're not actually burning fat.

It makes more sense to me to NOT carb pack, so you have less glycogen to burn before your body is forced to move over to fat as a fuel source. It'll make the cardio harder, but more effective.

Am I wrong? I'd like to know if I'm thinking about this incorrectly.

msarro

Just curious why exactly we eat with exercise? It would seem, especially with cardio, our primary goal is to burn fat. If we carb pack, our body will store the excess carbs as glycogen to be burnt quickly. This is good if you're in a competetive race. However, its bad if you're trying to lose weight because you're not actually burning fat.

It makes more sense to me to NOT carb pack, so you have less glycogen to burn before your body is forced to move over to fat as a fuel source. It'll make the cardio harder, but more effective.

Am I wrong? I'd like to know if I'm thinking about this incorrectly.

TRLTAMPA

I never understood that idea either. Whatever you're doing must be working. You've come a long way!

may_marie

thats the kind of reasoning i make in my mind all the time and have no way to answer it

would like to see an answer to that !!!
(now that i've had my dinner and will head to the gym in about 1 1/2 hours ... lol)

jdelisle

Me too.

Good thing I have an appt. with a nutritionist this week. I will be posting her suggestions!

AJCM

Long story short....

With cardio, empty stomach (and preferably first-thing-in-the-morning empty stomach) will indeed trigger the body to go most directly to stored body fat.

Cardio after lunch say, goes first to fuel in transition (what you've recently eaten), then glycogen stored in the body (muscles, etc) and then to body fat.

Men (and women) who's primary goal is increasing muscle mass definitely eat before a work out (try it sometime - the energy difference can be INCREDIBLE) as the added fuel in the body allows for a more powerful workout, and therefore more muscle gains.

Do what works for you! I love cardio first thing in the morning, empty stomach, and I tend to try and get to the gym on an empty stomach if mid day.

Good luck!
:flowerforyou:

songbyrdsweet

Actually it really has nothing to do with whether your stomach is empty or full.

It has everything to do with the length/intensity of your workout and whether your glycogen stores are empty or full. You will never have empty glycogen stores in under 90 minutes of work if you're eating as many carbohydrates as MFP has us eat. Even after a night of sleeping, they don't run out.

We always use every energy system, and we always use carbohydrates first. They're easy to break down, ATP production is quick, and they're always available--our body will make its own if it has to. Plus we can make ATP from carbohydrates even when oxygen isn't available.

We use fat for energy later in the game, along with carbohydrates. Up around 60 minutes you'll see more fat oxidation because there's ample oxygen available and we usually aren't working very hard at that point, so there's time for ATP production.

If your stomach is empty and blood sugar is low, your body will just get more glucose from the stored glycogen. If your stomach is full, nothing's being digested anyway, and your body will just get more glucose from the stored glycogen.

So, it's all been a big fat lie. Sorry!

TRLTAMPA

So Songbyrd, you don't take protein powder or any supplements?

songbyrdsweet

So Songbyrd, you don't take protein powder or any supplements?

Nope. I take a multivitamin. I drink milk or soymilk after I workout. I used to be big into protein powder, but all it did was give me gas. :laugh: Protein is protein...some is digested more quickly and causes a larger insulin response, like whey, and some is digested slowly, like casein. Milk has both. Soymilk doesn't, but it's cheaper than milk and I'm lactose intolerant.

I do usually eat an hour to two hours before I work out, but that's just because I don't like feeling hungry when I'm working out. Less than an hour and I feel sick while I'm working out. But the nutrients I'm really using are from the meal prior to that meal.

AJCM

Actually it really has nothing to do with whether your stomach is empty or full.

It has everything to do with the length/intensity of your workout and whether your glycogen stores are empty or full. You will never have empty glycogen stores in under 90 minutes of work if you're eating as many carbohydrates as MFP has us eat. Even after a night of sleeping, they don't run out.

We always use every energy system, and we always use carbohydrates first. They're easy to break down, ATP production is quick, and they're always available--our body will make its own if it has to. Plus we can make ATP from carbohydrates even when oxygen isn't available.

We use fat for energy later in the game, along with carbohydrates. Up around 60 minutes you'll see more fat oxidation because there's ample oxygen available and we usually aren't working very hard at that point, so there's time for ATP production.

If your stomach is empty and blood sugar is low, your body will just get more glucose from the stored glycogen. If your stomach is full, nothing's being digested anyway, and your body will just get more glucose from the stored glycogen.

So, it's all been a big fat lie. Sorry!

Bill Philips of "Body for Life" claims you go straight (or more quickly) to body fat in the morning, as according to him, glycogen stores (when on a calorie restricted diet) should be used up by morning, and this method has worked for me!
:flowerforyou: