I do my exercising first thing in the AM, before work. Therefore, I’m in the gym or on the trail about an hour after waking up. Some days, it seems that I just run out of steam too quickly. What’s the best thing I could do with respect to eating and/or drinking to get the most out my workout? Specifically, how do I keep my energy level up? Admittedly, I’m not as up on nutrition as I should be.
If it matters any, I do about 30 minutes of running or some other cardio type of exercise, then 20-45 minutes of various strength exercises.
So what say you - protein shakes? raw eggs? 3 Red Bulls and a bunch of steroids*?
[sub]*That is, of course, just a joke. I would never recommend, condone or consume more than two Red Bulls at one time[/sub]
Before I do morning workouts I usually eat a granola bar and drink a little bit of juice, too much might make you nauseous, but you should try to eat/drink a little something.
After 20+ years of getting up and working out at 6am in the morning (in 4 time zones, 10 different states), I’ve grown into a pattern of eating starchy carb dinners and high protein desserts (Mmmmmmmm. Peanut Butter). I drink water before training with weights 3x a week during the week. On weekends, I typically have a cup of coffee (or two) before running. I run for between 6 and 20 miles (1 hour to 3 hours).
It seems to work for me. Plus, I burn all the stuff that didn’t digest in my sleep and go straight to burning stored fat.
Of course, I eat like an Ogre all day long after that! I am perpetually hungry!
I’ve started to make sure I eat some fruit or some yonghurt if I’m getting up to go to the gym in the morning (not that I’ve done that recently, my timetable has suited evenings, which suits me lately!).
I made the mistake once of doing a really heavy workout on an empty stomach in the morning, and felt horribly sick and lethargic for the rest of the day, even after I’d eaten properly.
Thanks all - it seems that my current routine is about on par with others do. I have a small chocolate breakfast drink, some peanut butter toast and a cup o’ joe on the drive in.
Any advice on specific breakfast drinks or quick breakfast bars or similiar would be appreciated.
Are you doing this for weight loss, or the other health benefits? If it’s the former, I’d say you skip the food. It makes the going that much harder, I know, but cardio on an empty stomach in the morning (i.e., after 8 hours of fasting) will shed the pounds a lot faster than cardio at any other time.
To lose weight: Maybe have 50g of whey going in, with a bit of glutamine, to help maintain muscle mass, if you’re concerned about that.
If you don’t care about the weight thing: Sip on a 25g whey/30g glucose or dextrose shake as you run. You’ll just keep going and going and going. You can have breakfast afterwards.
It’s not for weight loss, although I do have a slight gut I wouldn’t mind flattening out. At 5’9" 167lb, if I lose any weight I’ll slip through some storm drains.
I suppose the main reason is just to stay in decent shape and perhaps add a little more muscle/strength. I have to maintain a certain level of fitness for my job, and I would prefer to have those fitness tests become easier, vice harder every year. I’m not getting any younger here.
Will the 25g whey/30g glucose or dextrose shake help much for the weight/strength training part?
As to the music - I’ve become a closet trance/electronica fan and have several gigs of the stuff on my mp3 player. It seems like I could run forever listening to that stuff.
When I was in heavy Atkins mode and doing my morning jog, I ate a packet of peanuts before heading out. Helped keep me from conking out (since I basically had zero reserves otherwise).
Now I work at home, so I can exercise later in the day.
On another note, add fiber to your drinks if you are going for weight gain. Also try Conjugated Linoleic Acid and creatine as both help build lean muscle mass.
One of my favorite songs while running: 6 Underground, Nellee Hooper’s Edit. Perfect timing to my running steps, keeps me moving. Another: What It’s Like, Everlast.
The shake will help, at least for energy, but to gain much muscle at all beyond the first 5 pounds or so of newbie gains will require a consistently much higher daily protein intake than you’re probably used to. The strength will come with time and a decent training schedule, and is for the most part nutrition-independant.
And you might gain lean mass and lose a bit of flab for the first few weeks of training if you cardio and train a lot, but that’s not going to last. You can’t do both to any significant extent at all without the aid of somewhat illegal supplements. At least try to split up the sessions - cardio on the days you don’t lift.