Foods before workout?

[Master X]

What kind of food should I eat before working out? This morning I tried to do crunches on a bowl of cheerios but I felt drained after 2 sets so I ate a sandwich.

[4Mind4Life]

If you work out early in the morning, you may be better off not eating at all before. Just eat some carbs the night before for intense workouts. What type of workout are you doing? If you want to eat in the morning either have something light an hr. before or a meal at least 2 hrs. before....

[fjlee]

The closer to the workout, the less fat you should eat, so it can be digested easily.

i.e.
4 hours before: eat your usual diet, even if it's high in fat
3 hours before: maybe a chicken breast (sorry Steve) on bread, no mayo, no butter
2 hours before: plain bagel or protein bar
1 hour before: liquids only, light on carbs and simple sugars

A bowl of cereal has milk, which has fat. Maybe get some no fat or skim milk?

Jimson Lee
Track and Field Coach
Speed endurance . com. Success in Track & Field and Life. and
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[NotesMaeve]

I worked out for an hour today after a donut and latte. Then again, I AM a trooper.

[escapee]

On top of what others recommend, eat food ( seeds, nuts, legumes and etc ) or supplement that are rich in essential fatty acids ( unadulterated form of Omega 6 & 3 ) before workout, it can help reduce muscle soreness significantly ( lactic acid build up ) after the workout session based on my exp and what the science says.

When EFAs are digested in the healthy person, they will enter the cell by means of protein transporters, where they will convert to GLA (from Omega6) and EPA (from Omega3) the important precursors to PGEs 1 and 3. EFAs also are involved in, systemic metabolism, cellular energy production, manufacture of hemoglobin, removal of lactic acid from the system, and proper brain development in infants and children.

essential fatty acids reduce muscle soreness. - Google Search

[Jennihul]

I eat nothing. Digestion takes more energy than any single function your body can perform. If you work out with food in your stomach, you deprive your digestive system of the energy it needs to properly digest. And you are deprived of the energy you need to work out if most is shunted toward digesting.

Jennifer

[ahimel]

While I acknowledge that eating nothing has a lot of merit (you don't have enough blood to run both your stomach and your muscles), it's not something I can do. When I try to go for a run without eating something, my body refuses to obey me, my muscles scream protest, and my brain tries to go back to sleep. It makes exercising so miserable that I start to hate the entire concept of working out.

What I do as a compromise is to eat a small breakfast of mostly carbs, a mixture of complex and simple. My favorites are a single packet of oatmeal (Quaker Cinnamon & Spice has enough sugar to satisfy my sweet tooth and get me going), wheat toast with peanut butter (yeah, yeah, it has fat and protein too), or a small bowl (~1/2 cup) of cereal with soymilk.

I try to give myself 15 minutes to digest a bit before I go to exercise. With a breakfast of carbs, that's usually enough. The higher in fat my breakfast was, the longer I have to wait before exercise, so I save the waffles and doughnuts 'til after the workout.

[Iamsuperman]

Avoid have high fat foods still being digested close to a workout. Don't eat any high fat foods until 30-60 minutes after. This maximizes growth hormone. The rest is up to you.