Eating in the am before working out?
Montepulciano
Posts: 845 Member
I am moving my workout earlier and earlier, and wondering how people feel about eating prior to working out. I grew up with the myth of not swimming until at least 2 hours after a meal, and I know it is not true...but would appreciate other people's thoughts.
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Naw, I think that is really kind of a myth. I grew up the opposite actually, in the summer we would have picnics by the pool or at the beach and we would jump right back in the water as soon as we were done eating.
As long as you don't have a heavy meal you should be okay. I always have a snack about an hour/half an hour before practice. I can't swim properly if I have hunger pains and sometimes you just need the fuel....
I might have a sandwich, some crackers, a banana, something like that.
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My mother always told us we had to wait after eating but she was a big one on myths and superstitions. I swear she told us that just so she could get a rest!
I always swim early and I always eat before swimming. Like aliciamariaq said, I need the fuel. I usually wait about 20-30 minutes but that is about how long it takes me to get to the pool and get in. I can't eat just anything though and I don't like to be really full. On swimming mornings I find that eggs work better than oatmeal or cereal and I wait for my coffee until after.0 -
Yeah, if you need a small snack before your swim, go for it. I do swim fasted most of the time, myself, but I notice a SIGNIFICANT performance difference in my workouts that I have later in the morning after breakfast and a cup of coffee!
I'm with @mpeters1965. Eggs do a lot better than oatmeal for me before a swim when I do eat. I suppose it'd be easy enough to have boiled eggs in the fridge and have a couple before swimming.0 -
Thanks all, I will start grabbing something small to eat before I head off to swim, and save my breakfast for after.
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I drink a shake with 2 scoops of Combat at 4:25AM before swimming at 5AM. It is just not practical to get up at 3AM to eat a 'meal' before swimming at 5AM.
Never had a problem. Granted, I'm often quite ready to chow down 3 eggs by the time I get to the office at 8.0 -
Started eating a protein bar and that seems to have helped and then I get a second breakfast when I am done. 0
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I don't eat before swimming in the morning. I usually don't eat breakfast anyway so even if I don't get to the pool until early afternoon, I typically have not eaten anything. Not because of old myths and wives tales but because I like swimming on an empty stomach. For a few reasons. One, especially when I was trying to lose weight quickly, I like to use up the fat stored in my liver and enter (or remain) in a state of ketosis to burn fat more directly. Two, I want to train my body to do this more efficiently so that it is not such a shock to my system when I am swimming long distances. I've read of English Channel swimmers doing their long morning swims on an empty stomach to train in this way. Three, I do not like the hassle of drinking or eating while swimming. And, finally, the less I eat early in the day, the more I can eat later!1
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I never train in the morning. But if I have a meet, I will eat Oatmeal with protein powder about two hours before, then have a bottle of Xtend during the next few hours. Usually I find even with my 2pm trainings, I prefer to swim fasted then eat after.0
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Personally, I have to avoid eating anything for at least an hour before I swim or I end up urping and burping up whatever it was I ate prior to getting into the water. Even something small like a handful of nuts or half a piece of toast will come back to haunt me about 6 laps into my swim. I usually wait to eat until I get out of the pool.1
