Exercise then food or vice versa?

I exercise then eat, but thats because I try and get it done before the kids get up.

A friend of mine who is a big gym bunny says its better to exercise then eat because your burn off fat from your stores rather than what you've just eaten. I dont know how true that its!

I'l be interested to know the answer to this too
xx

I'd be interested to know the answer to this too.

I don't think it really matters. A calorie burned is a calorie burned rather in the morning, evening, or night. Before or after eating. It is still a calorie burned. I workout 4 days a week at 4 in the afternoon. 2 other days I am out for a walk after breakfast. Don't think I could make it through any of that without fuel for my body.

I think it's a more personal matter. I know that if I eat a meal within an hour of going for a run I get cramps. But then if I haven't eaten for awhile I have no energy to perform. I'll usually play the day by ear and keep a decent amount of sugar in my blood before it's time to run.

It also depends on the type of activity you're performing and how fit you actually are, but that really is getting into scientifics. Your body will produce a quick amount of energy by burning up whatever carbohydrates you have in your system more so than your fat stores, but after sustained exercise the ratios even out a little more. Low intensity activities will burn a higher percentage of fat than carbohydrates, but obviously the calorie count will be lower than say running for the same amount of time.

In my experience, I know that calories in vs calories out will give you a good bottom line when it comes to weight loss, but it isn't all inclusive. I'm more concerned about muscle loss related to weight loss rather than burning fat stores or blood sugar.

Obviously it is preference to an extent. The more you get others opinions you will learn that different things work for people. It really depends on the intensity and length of your workout on whether or not your body actually needs food (or nutrition really) to preform at it's full potential. If you are doing a lighter workout, eating after should be fine for most. If you are doing an intense and/or long workout, your body needs fuel, whether you feel the effects from that or not.

Keep in mind, that doesn't mean you need a big meal. It could be as small as a half of banana. Personally, I don't care to eat before I workout, although I know my body needs it since my workouts are intense. I usually have a small protein shake. It gives my body what it needs. More recently I use the new gatorade prime drinks. They are great, the price adds up a bit, but they are really small and full of vitamins, and some carbs to fuel you. I usually do this about 30 to 45 minutes prior to exercise.

Hope this helps... Good luck to you!

The advocates of exercising first thing in the morning before eating say that you will burn more fat on an empty stomach than if you eat. This is technically true but it is the difference between burning 60% fat vs. 65% fat and seriously flawed logic for the desired goal.

1. After not eating all night long the workout may be less effective and burn less total calories and less total fat calories even with the higher percentage.

The advocates will argue that their workout is unaffected and if you eat then you will burn the food instead of the fat. Yes that is true to some extent but what they fail to realize is that there is an impact later in the day that balances it out.

2. If your workout calories come from your body and not the food, when you do eat then your normal everyday activity needs come from the food and not the body. If instead you eat first then your calories come from the food (and body) and later your everyday activity needs from from your body. So by lunch you have balanced out whether you eat before or after exercise.

So whether to eat before or after exercise for weight managment simply becomes a personal preference. Depending on the exercise, eating before may boost effort or negatively impact it (cramps, etc.) so do what is right for you.

Now for muscle building there is a need to eat protein right before or after strength exercises because muscle building can only happen if the protein is available and we can't really store it for later. However if you are on a diet so there is a calorie deficit, it is likely it will simply oxidize the protein for fuel because of the deficit as use it for muscle repair/build. There is one more note on this: The study showing protein increased muscle repair after strength training (up to 20 grams and over 20 the excess was oxidized for fuel) made sure the subjects had not eaten anything in the previous 8 hours. The study was looking for maximum amount of protein that was useful so they made sure the subjects had zero protein availability so it would not interfere with the measurements. What they did not test was whether you need protein supplements at all if you were eating normal maintenance diet high in protein and eating several meals a day such that you would have protein available most of the time and in sufficient quantities.