What/when do you eat before a workout?

[taskswap]

I alternate between a glass of water with Mtn Ops Yeti Pre-Workout or a shake. For the shake I do:

2 scoops Orgain protein powder (I can't have whey protein - this is from pea flower, and I tolerate it well)
1 banana
1 heaping tablespoon creatine powder
1 (small) scoop guarana powder
4-5 ice cubes
Almond milk to "that spot where my blender mixes it right" (I don't know the number, just where it is on the canister)

This makes a very nice protein shake. For best effect, you can drink the Mtn Ops just a few minutes before a workout and it still works but for the shake you need to drink it at least 20 mins before, 30 is better.

 

[cwitt]

A rice krispy treat, a spoon full of honey with some Himalayan salt, sour patch kids, gummy worms, etc are all things I’ve heard recommended and tried. My understanding, which could be wrong, is fast digesting carbs are what helps the most preworkout for the energy from the glucose. They’re also all easy to keep on hand or in the truck.

A healthy dose of caffeine always does the trick for me as well.

 

[Mcribs]

I always go back to what endurance runners/cyclists are doing. Cycling especially is at the forefront of nutrition, as they need to do massive amount of volume and recover quickly. Very similar to mountain hunting in my opinion. Immediately Pre/during/within a 1/2 post workout is high in carbs. Go as high as 100g of carbs per hour. Eat healthy the rest of the day. Tailwinds seems to be pretty good on stomach.

 

[taskswap]

A rice krispy treat, a spoon full of honey with some Himalayan salt, sour patch kids, gummy worms, etc are all things I’ve heard recommended and tried. My understanding, which could be wrong, is fast digesting carbs are what helps the most preworkout for the energy from the glucose. They’re also all easy to keep on hand or in the truck.

A healthy dose of caffeine always does the trick for me as well.

I'm not saying yes or no to that - I'm no nutritionist. But if you're in this camp, a glass of orange juice is also a good go-to. There's a reason that's what they give (or used to give - they have a syrupy thing now) you after donating blood to give you a quick glucose spike to help you recover.

 

[P Carter]

I always go back to what endurance runners/cyclists are doing. Cycling especially is at the forefront of nutrition, as they need to do massive amount of volume and recover quickly. Very similar to mountain hunting in my opinion. Immediately Pre/during/within a 1/2 post workout is high in carbs. Go as high as 100g of carbs per hour. Eat healthy the rest of the day. Tailwinds seems to be pretty good on stomach.

And baking soda soup! (This stuff gets pretty extreme...)

 

[Mcribs]

And baking soda soup! (This stuff gets pretty extreme...)

Is that a thing?!?

 

[WanderingFarmer]

I found a 150 to 200 calorie snack of mostly carbs about 2 hours before working out to be really effective, even while in a net calorie deficit. That worked well because I could still train hard and it served as a nice indulgence too.
I got the idea from Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald.

 

[P Carter]

Is that a thing?!?

Yes. Apparently consumption of large amounts of baking soda will raise pH in the muscles to ward off the negative impacts of hydrogen ions associated with lactate production. Historically, you couldn't consume enough sodium bicarbonate to get the desired effect because it caused...gastric distress and extreme naseau. But someone came up with the idea of coating the baking soda in a gel to get it through the stomach and into the intestines. Apparently it's this goo-like soupy mess that bikers gorge on, like this:

Cyclist Michael Woods Eats Bicarb with Spoon in World Championships Race — Here's Why

Apparently, tucking into baking soda from a Tupperware box while cycling at top speed is the latest performance-enhancing hack. Is bicarb the new go-to for boosting sports performance?

www.menshealth.com

 

[Ramem7mm]

Typically I work out in the afternoon. I usually have a 1.5 hour drive from work and I eat about 3 oz of meat protein and 2 mandarin oranges as soon as I get in the truck. About 30 minutes prior to getting home I will drink a Celsius and then get home change and workout. So basically almost 2 hours before working out is when I eat. If I am closer to home it might be a shorter window.

 

[Trimbandit]

My routine will be far different as my weight or cardio routines rarely last more than 45 min. Usually closer to 30 min but dripping sweat kind of intense. Commonly early afternoon. I eat some jerky or peanut butter in the late morning then 30ish min before working out and apple and banana. A long with enough rest, eating well and vitamins this has worked great for me.

 

[TaperPin]

A lot of guys don’t realize how much hydration makes a difference and a salty meal ups the amount of water needed since extra water is held in the body by excess salt. Weighing yourself every morning and after working out shows any daily hydration deficits, but eat a big pepperoni pizza and watch your weight spike the equivalent of 1/2 gallon of water or more and it takes a number of days to loose that water weight. If extra water isn’t added, you’re dehydrated a 1/2 gallon and don’t know it.

I’ve gone as far as taking a freight scale to framing construction sights and weigh everyone first thing and at the end of the day to show how well they are keeping up with hydration. It’s not uncommon for many guys to be a gallon short on hot days.

In my younger days I didnt pay much attention to food other than enjoying a lot of carbs. Then in the 40s and especially 50s even small amounts of fat kills my energy level. Waffles for breakfast rather than pancakes makes me feel sluggish from the extra oil in waffle batter. 4 pieces of bacon rather than two is enough to feel it. Fat and something else in your stomach definitely evens out glucose spikes, so it’s not all good or all bad. As you get older more guys you wouldn’t suspect will become diabetic, so even when you’re young and bullet proof it makes sense for the long run to make good choices that minimize spikes. The diabetic guys with graphing glucose monitors on YouTube are really educational when it comes to eating choices that tailor glucose levels to what you’re doing.

 

[Crewman9710]

Agreed w/ coffee beforehand, but small snack helps settle the stomach from the coffee

 

[Oakman]

coffee, couple of eggs, square or two of dark chocolate then plenty of water with electrolytes mixed

 

[rogerdoger]

If I work out in the morning I only have water and half a serving of naked nutrition energy. If I work out at lunch hour I usually eat my lunch an hour or so before at my desk, follow up with a post workout protein shake.

 

[Banjo91]

Mostly morning workouts .. with coffee and water. Shifted recently to afternoons so I could get some things done around the house/farm while it's cool. Came on here for ideas on how to balance nutrition in an afternoon workouts. I'm down 51 pounds in 10.5 months


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SloppyJ]

Here's the absolute best thing that I've ever learned.

Start taking an intraworkout drink with you and drink it during your workout. 2 scoops of BCAAs, 1 scoop of protein, and fill the rest with a sugary drink. My favorite is coconut water. I like the Allmax bcaas and vanilla gold standard protein. Syntha 6 if im bulking.

Alternatively you can mix up whatever you want without a sugary drink and add in dextrose. You want a simple sugar easy to absorb.

While you workout youre depleting glycogen stores. Your body wants to prioritize refilling those. Thats where the simple sugar comes in. However since you've mixed it with BCAAs and protein, youre now shuttling nutrients to your muscles to help them grow. This is the same mechanism that makes insulin the most powerful anabolic on the planet but on a smaller scale. Im able to achieve a very lean physique in the 215 to 225lb range. And I've tried every other way you can imagine.

The sugar provides a little extra boost for you to burn as a bonus to keep your intensity and endurance up.

After your workout, consume a moderate amount of carbs along with a healthy dose of protein. Normally for me its around 75gr of protein in a shake with milk along with whole foods that make up my lunch.

If I watch carbs the rest of the day I still benefit from being "low carb" but my workouts dont absolutely suck.

For my body type, this is what works the absolute best. It was seriously like unlocking a secret. I got this idea from a book called "The nutrient timing system". Highly recommend it.

 

[BBob]

someone came up with the idea of coating the baking soda in a gel to get it through the stomach and into the intestines

Maurtin did it or at least the first commercially. They also do a gel thing with their high carb drinks. Sodium alginate is the ingredient that facilitates the gelling. While the bicarb product gels in the bowl the drink gels in your stomach. The sodium alginate reacts to the ph in your gut and causes it to gel in your stomach to then be transported and broken down in your small intestine.

 

[BBob]

I always go back to what endurance runners/cyclists are doing. Cycling especially is at the forefront of nutrition, as they need to do massive amount of volume and recover quickly. Very similar to mountain hunting in my opinion. Immediately Pre/during/within a 1/2 post workout is high in carbs. Go as high as 100g of carbs per hour. Eat healthy the rest of the day. Tailwinds seems to be pretty good on stomach.

There are people that are going much higher than that now. I've seen as high as 185g an hr. It's debatable if your gut can transport that much but no one really knows for sure. Even doing 90g an hr isn't tolerated by most without some gut training. Most can do 30-50g hr ish with no problems. Beyond 40-50g hr you can get into hydration issues if you aren't supplementing the high carb with a much lower carb hydration mix. It's quite the rabbit hole and lots of things need to be done right to make it work. It's highly individualized as well so one plan doesn't work for all.

Edit: When I'm talking g per hr of carbs I'm referencing endurance sports drinks and gels made up of glucose, fructose, dextrose, sucrose, etc..., not carbs in general.