Eat before or after you exercise?

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  • charny164
    charny164 Posts: 175 Member
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    What I do before cardio first thing in the a.m is I eat a hard boiled egg. I am never hungry after I work out so I wait about 2 hrs and then have something to eat. It works for me anyway. I am not a breakfast eater (I know,I know - I do force something down though) so I am not the best person to reply on this.
    My only really good advice is:.......to get the best out of your workout, eat something, anything! If you go for a run on a very empty stomach - just like a gas tank - you will run out of gas really quickly!
  • xccoach07
    xccoach07 Posts: 9 Member
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    My son is a weight trainer/body builder, so I asked him. He tells me that Cardio should be done on an empty stomach or right after a strength training workout. then high glycemic food should be eaten and a protein. somehow that works best for cardio. it gives you the most benefit from it. don't know why. there were bunches of reasons. but...well, after awhile all the words jumble together and I hear circus music. :bigsmile: on the other hand, a protein and a low glycemic should be eaten 30 mins to one hour before a weight training work out and the appropriate protein and glycemic after as well. he recommended bodybuildingdotcom website. I went there, and there is tons and tons of information. sifting through it all and then trying to apply it to my life was very daunting. lots of good exercises tho.

    That's exactly right! In the AM, if you're going to perform resistance training, go ahead and have something small--a protein and a low GI carb, a small amount of fat if you like--before. If you're just doing cardio, there's really no need. After your workout, if you've done cardio, you can wait to eat or eat another low-GI food with a protein. However, if you lifted, do consume a high GI carb and protein; that's very, very important for recovery.

    I'm a member of bodybuilding.com flachix :D There is a great wealth of information there!


    I do the same thing every morning...I do drink water before I go run and then I eat when I get home. I love working out in the morning too. I work out at 6:00 am and love it!!
  • flachix
    flachix Posts: 256 Member
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    My son is a weight trainer/body builder, so I asked him. He tells me that Cardio should be done on an empty stomach or right after a strength training workout. then high glycemic food should be eaten and a protein. somehow that works best for cardio. it gives you the most benefit from it. don't know why. there were bunches of reasons. but...well, after awhile all the words jumble together and I hear circus music. :bigsmile: on the other hand, a protein and a low glycemic should be eaten 30 mins to one hour before a weight training work out and the appropriate protein and glycemic after as well. he recommended bodybuildingdotcom website. I went there, and there is tons and tons of information. sifting through it all and then trying to apply it to my life was very daunting. lots of good exercises tho.

    That's exactly right! In the AM, if you're going to perform resistance training, go ahead and have something small--a protein and a low GI carb, a small amount of fat if you like--before. If you're just doing cardio, there's really no need. After your workout, if you've done cardio, you can wait to eat or eat another low-GI food with a protein. However, if you lifted, do consume a high GI carb and protein; that's very, very important for recovery.

    I'm a member of bodybuilding.com flachix :D There is a great wealth of information there!

    hey, song, so, is that right about the carbs burning first? so do cardio in a depleted (for lack of a better term) state?
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    My son is a weight trainer/body builder, so I asked him. He tells me that Cardio should be done on an empty stomach or right after a strength training workout. then high glycemic food should be eaten and a protein. somehow that works best for cardio. it gives you the most benefit from it. don't know why. there were bunches of reasons. but...well, after awhile all the words jumble together and I hear circus music. :bigsmile: on the other hand, a protein and a low glycemic should be eaten 30 mins to one hour before a weight training work out and the appropriate protein and glycemic after as well. he recommended bodybuildingdotcom website. I went there, and there is tons and tons of information. sifting through it all and then trying to apply it to my life was very daunting. lots of good exercises tho.

    That's exactly right! In the AM, if you're going to perform resistance training, go ahead and have something small--a protein and a low GI carb, a small amount of fat if you like--before. If you're just doing cardio, there's really no need. After your workout, if you've done cardio, you can wait to eat or eat another low-GI food with a protein. However, if you lifted, do consume a high GI carb and protein; that's very, very important for recovery.

    I'm a member of bodybuilding.com flachix :D There is a great wealth of information there!

    hey, song, so, is that right about the carbs burning first? so do cardio in a depleted (for lack of a better term) state?

    Mostly. In reality, unless you're sprinting, you'll be burning both carbohydrates (namely glucose) and fat, but once you're depleted you'll be burning ketones (which is something made from fat to save you when you're carb depleted). You won't always be entirely depleted in the AM though...that depends on your activity level and how many carbohydrates you've eaten. So there's not danger to doing cardio depleted as long as you're not diabetic. Lifting, however, should be done after you've eaten a balanced meal...so if you're doing that in the AM, definitely eat breakkie.

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