What/when do you eat before a workout?

[dirtshooter]

Jacked John Wick Baba Yaga Blue Raz and creatine

 

[pacoalcracker]

Afternoon workouts around 5pm to 8pm every day M-F....very heavy sessions of powerlifting 3 of those days and bicep/tricep/deltoid work the other days. I never did abs as it wasnt necessary for me. Sometimes I throw an extra back day in over the weekend. A big back is key to lifting heavy.

2 hours before lifting I eat a late lunch of around 800 calories of a balanced meal. On the way to the gym, a 15 minute ride I drink a 20oz bottle of Gatoraide along with (2) 800mg tabs of Beta-Alanine, which is half the dose...I will explain why later. Once at the gym I change and fill a shaker bottle with water and a scoop of BCAA's that I drink during the first hour of training. After that, it's just water for the rest of the session. Only on leg day would I also drink a pre-workout. 20 minute warm up on the treadmill and 30 minutes on a stepmill at a good clip after training. Over 2 hours of very heavy lifting. I never got pooped out with this method, ever. 1x I did the full dose of 3200mg of Beta Alanine and it gave me way too much energy. near the end of one of those extra back workouts i was doing bent over rows working up to a 180lb dumbbell and was pumping that thing with so much force i almost passed out. Too much of a good thing. After the training session, on the 45 minute ride home it was 60gm's of protein powder in water and then another bottle of Gatorade to push that protein into the muscles. Once home, a nice balance meal of around 1000-1200 calories. I also did the daily dose of creatine, glutamine and ZMA along with vitamins. I can't believe nobody here uses beta-alanine. The best fatigue prevention I can think of. Never touched steroids of any type. 208, 5'-6" with 18.5" arms, huge back and a nice set of wheels (never had a spectacular chest though) between the ages of 53 and 59. I will be 65 in a month and have lifted very little the past few years...but im still quite strong and have most of my mass yet...because it was gained by pure heavy lifting and not high reps. Note the difference in size between Arnold and Lou in their mid 70's. Lou is way bigger yet. Lou lifted very heavy, Arnold not so much. I still drink 30gms of protein powder in 2% milk w/ a scoop of creatine and glutamine every night before bed...to keep sarcopenia away. Need to get back to using my home gym again..it's always on my mind.

 

[timekiller13]

Before long runs, I eat a banana with peanut butter. Then fuel with the applesauce packets and honey during the run. This is for any run over 10 miles. Also 50/50 mix of water/gatorade for hydration and electrolytes.

Runs less than 10 miles, I usually eat nothing before running. Just a cup of coffee and a bottle of water.

During the warmer/more humid months here in the south, I really focus more on electrolyte/fluid replacement. I’m a heavy sweater, and staying ahead of the electrolyte loss is top priority for me.

 

[shiftwork]

So many factors here, but you can get as fancy or as simple with your pre/intra workout nutrition as you'd like. I usually workout first thing in the morning, and will always have water, caffeine, and electrolytes, and then depending on the intensity of the workout will have carbs. Sometimes that comes in the form of honey in my coffee or just straight off the spoon. Other times, for longer runs or if going from a run straight into a lift, I might have straight table sugar and table salt mixed with water in a shaker bottle (can use some sort of mio or cyrstal light packet for flavor, but it's pretty fantastic on its own). Electrolytes is usually 1/4 of iodized salt under the tongue chased by some water, or the fire department I work for is sponsored by LMNT, so I'll have one of those if I'm on shift.

As I mentioned, you can go as fancy (expensive) or as simple as you'd like. G1M Sport by BPN is a great pre/intra carb source, LMNT are a delicious hydration solution, and pre-workouts/energy drinks can be fun to try. But sugar, salt, bananas, honey, coffee, etc can and will get the job done as well. All comes down to personal preference, budget, training demand, and whatever nutritional dogma one adheres to.