Pre and post work out food for SL 5X5 and HIIT

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squatsanddeadlift
squatsanddeadlift Posts: 117 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am following SL 5X5 with a bout of HIIT on the treadmill 3x per week.

I am looking for suggestions of pre and post work out food ideas? What do you guys eat? I was thinking of maybe some kind of protein shake but not sure where to start with that?

I work out in the mornings before work so I usually just go on an empty stomach but I am starting to get tired quite quickly.

Thanks!

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  • mcblevins
    mcblevins Posts: 74 Member
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    I am in for what other people recommend as well. I have been doing SL for about 6 months and am trying to change my diet to help with it.

    Right now I am doing MWF SL and T TH I am doing cardio/HIIT or some form of activity be it biking/hiking/climbing. I have been trying to up my protein/calorie intake on weight days as I was also having a problem of being tired. That seemed to help but I think having consecutive days with plenty of sleep seems to help the most (which seems the hardest thing in the world to do)

    Sorry if it is a ramble and doesn't make sense, just trying to type and think.
  • squatsanddeadlift
    squatsanddeadlift Posts: 117 Member
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    bump
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    It doesn't matter what you eat right before or right after. As long as you're getting adequate protein, carbohydrates, and fat, it does not matter when you eat them.

    If you're interested in high-protein snacks, I really like hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, pecans, and other nuts.
  • LetsGetRealWeird
    LetsGetRealWeird Posts: 3
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    Save the protein shake for after the workout, it's not going to give you much energy.

    Just eat something with a reasonable amount of carbs/fat in it (I keep carbs a little higher on training days) and maybe a cup of coffee since you're working out early in the morning. I like to have a Chicken wrap with Flatout light flatbread or eggs and coffee for breakfast. (No carbs in eggs, but lots of good fats. I have milk and creamer with my coffee so that's where the carbs come from)
  • McCloud33
    McCloud33 Posts: 959 Member
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    britishbroccoli wrote: »
    It doesn't matter what you eat right before or right after. As long as you're getting adequate protein, carbohydrates, and fat, it does not matter when you eat them.

    If you're interested in high-protein snacks, I really like hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, pecans, and other nuts.

    Not entirely true...the body is more primed to accept and distribute protein in the hour after a workout. Also, if you're doing a lower carb diet, having some carbs a few hours before a workout can help to replenish glycogen stores in your muscles and help with performance.

    I don't know how much those two factors have an impact, but I know they do have some.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
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    McCloud33 wrote: »
    britishbroccoli wrote: »
    It doesn't matter what you eat right before or right after. As long as you're getting adequate protein, carbohydrates, and fat, it does not matter when you eat them.

    If you're interested in high-protein snacks, I really like hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, pecans, and other nuts.

    Not entirely true...the body is more primed to accept and distribute protein in the hour after a workout. Also, if you're doing a lower carb diet, having some carbs a few hours before a workout can help to replenish glycogen stores in your muscles and help with performance.

    I don't know how much those two factors have an impact, but I know they do have some.

    A lot of impact on performance. Also post carbs with the protein to help protein synthesis.

  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    McCloud33 wrote: »
    britishbroccoli wrote: »
    It doesn't matter what you eat right before or right after. As long as you're getting adequate protein, carbohydrates, and fat, it does not matter when you eat them.

    If you're interested in high-protein snacks, I really like hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, pecans, and other nuts.

    Not entirely true...the body is more primed to accept and distribute protein in the hour after a workout. Also, if you're doing a lower carb diet, having some carbs a few hours before a workout can help to replenish glycogen stores in your muscles and help with performance.

    I don't know how much those two factors have an impact, but I know they do have some.

    My understanding is that the "anabolic window" is a myth. Some studies show that the window is ~6-12 hours after training, but the meta-analysis showed no difference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24299050
    These results refute the commonly held belief that the timing of protein intake in and around a training session is critical to muscular adaptations and indicate that consuming adequate protein in combination with resistance exercise is the key factor for maximizing muscle protein accretion. If you're not into reading journals, google "anabolic window myth" and you'll see it explained by many trainers, scientists, and bro-science-debunkers.

    My understanding about glycogen stores is that, unless you're doing fasted lifting, you would not likely run through your stores. Even with fasted lifting, it would take multiple sessions in the same day to run through the stores. I haven't read any studies on glycogen lately, so I'm happy to look at any research you have on that subject.

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