What/when do you eat before a workout?

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.
 
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.
 
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