Eat before or after workout?

I have been known to eat, before, during AND after..... Once I ran a 29 minute 5k while simultaneously eating a half dozen glazed donuts ha ha. (It was a silly challenge).

But seriously, it depends on a lot of factors. What types of workouts you are doing and with what goal? How long and how intense and how many calories burned? Are they usually timed so that you are hungry before starting (like working out after work but right before dinner) or at a time when you are full or neutral (in the morning after breakfast)? How does your body react to eating food before/during exercise? Do you experience any weakness/dizziness during your workout or stalled progress that might indicate your nutrition needs tweaking?

In general, you want fuel your body sufficiently for your activity level and get plenty of macro and micronutrients in your day. Bodybuilders tend to give more attention to optimizing protein intake in general, especially in the period after the workout, to support muscle growth. Runners and cyclists and other cardio obsessed types like myself tend to pay special attention to carb intake in the hours before and during long training runs in order to make sure we have enough fuel to sustain high intensity activity for a long period of time and not wilt midway. And of course have a nice balanced meal after, to replenish. For just regular walks and hikes and short runs and medium intensity workouts I don't even worry about doing anything special for my nutrition beyond just preferring to not exercise while at either extreme--very hungry or very stuffed--due to personal comfort. Some people are more sensitive to pre/during workout eating and will have nausea or stomach cramps after even a small snack. Me...not so much, I wasn't even affected by the half dozen donuts other than sucking a few fragments down the windpipe due to trying to chew and breathe simultaneously ha ha.

Both. I eat something one hour before, and protein within 30 minutes after the workout.

I eat a banana or apple, usually a banana, before working out. I performance better with something in there, but I very specifically have go eat something small and...squishy. if the exercise involves any bending ocer, being upside down, squashing my belly like yoga positions or some core exercises, then I'll get vomitous. So bananas work best.

I try to eat protein afterward. I also go crazy with water. I can't drink much water during ir before, same reason as above. Makes me nauseous.

If it's a performance-type workout (intervals, race pace, etc.), I eat about 150-200 cal of carbs and protein before and after. If it's just moderate cardio, I work out fasted, and eat afterward. Experiment on yourself and see what works.

Matter of preference. For me, I work out fasted. Then I'll eat like an hour or so after working out.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

TanyaHooton wrote: »

I eat a banana or apple, usually a banana, before working out. I performance better with something in there, but I very specifically have go eat something small and...squishy. if the exercise involves any bending ocer, being upside down, squashing my belly like yoga positions or some core exercises, then I'll get vomitous. So bananas work best.

I try to eat protein afterward. I also go crazy with water. I can't drink much water during ir before, same reason as above. Makes me nauseous.

Yeah, this too.

Whatever you prefer as it doesn't really matter. Personally if I am doing anything strenuous, I can't have eaten any time soon or I'll feel it.

I fuel throughout the day.

Breakfast
Snack
Lunch
Snack
Snack
Gym
Protein shake
Dinner
Snack

Ideally, I like to workout 2 hours after a nice hearty breakfast, then eat lunch within an hour of finishing the workout. I used to only workout in a fasted state but can no longer tolerate that, i find my performance greatly suffers.