Pre and post early morning workout

[SimonB]

Hi everyone - first post to these forums.

I'm having difficulty getting the timing of nutrition and training right. I work out at home so early mornings work best for me. If I work out in the evenings it messes up family dinners and time with the kids so that's not ideal although I am prepared to be told that I should really be training later after they've gone to bed if that's the right thing. Not sure the wife'll think it's very friendly though.

A gym in the cellar is great for convenience but the issue is I have to travel to work so the whole eat 90 minutes before a workout thing is not going to work if I'm going to fit a shower and some PWO nutrition in after the workout.

At the moment I'm getting up, and having a light breakfast of a weetabix or two sprinkled with some malto together with some fruit juice, then I go off and shave etc but still I don't have more than 15 minutes or so after eating before I run out of things to do and the workout is next on the agenda.

This actually works for me, I feel comfortable during the workout. Afterwards I have more breakfast and a protein / carbs shake made up of whey, oats and malto mixed with fruit juice but I'd be very grateful for ideas from others that might have come across this problem. Should I be eating before bed (oats perhaps) to provide some fuel for the morning session? I don't want to spend the nights getting fat though!

[daffy]

Welcome to the forum.

On to your question, I would say, if what you are doing is working for you, then continue doing it. The key measure of any weights program is whether you are gaining strength from workout to workout, if you are doing this, then you're doing fine.

I also train in the morning, and I just go straight to the gym without eating anything beforehand, and I do just fine. If you do want to have something before your workout, you could have some BCAA, EAA or just whey, which get digested quicker, and will aid in rebuilding muscle. If you want some carbs too, throw them in the shake too, oats or wms would be my choice.

The other thing you have to bear in mind is that the time you spend in the gym is only the stimulus for building muscles, the actual building occurs after the workout. You're still in an anabolic state 24 hours after the workout, so one meal just before your workout isn't the be all and end all.

[SimonB]

Cool - thanks for the quick reply Daffy. It's certainly working for me and these forums have been a fantastic help just reading others's posts.

I've always been naturally fit but skinny so this is not a weight loss thing - it's a get stronger and get a bit of (self esteem) definition thing (is it a mid life crisis thing at the age of 46?.. I don't know). I've kitted out a gym, taken it seriously and after only a few weeks I'm really seeing the benefits. I can now do several sets of several reps using weights I couldn't shift a few weeks ago and my cv rates are improving too. Why didn't I do this when I was 26?!

Thanks to everyone on these forums.

[hugedyno]

Quote

I also train in the morning, and I just go straight to the gym without eating anything beforehand, and I do just fine.

I concur.

IMHO, all this pre-fuelling business has been blown way out of proportion.


HD.