Morning Workouts
 

This week I'm going to try exercising early (530 am) instead of late (7 pm). My workouts are sweaty and intense 90-minute sessions at the gym. I've heard that a lot of people who do early workouts eat two breakfasts, one pre-workout and one post-workout. Does anyone have any tips for me? What is good to eat before an early workout? Thanks!!

I run at 5am 2xs a week and I haven't been eating anything, but I feel like that has been really effecting my performance. So I'm going to incorporate a Luna Bar mini and some water. I'm also going to get up little earlier and do a few situps before I go to help me wake up. Once a week I go for a mid morning hike and I eat my normal breakfast before that. I've heard your best pre workout breakfasts are carbs. I'm hesitant about eating before though because I have to fit the extra cals in. But I figure it's worth it if it helps my performance.

I eat 1/2 an apple and 15 almonds before my morning workouts.

I normally need some sort of carbs before I work out or I am totally dead to the world. I eat a vitamin muffin before I work out (only 100 calories and filling) and then after my work out I will drink tons of water and have an apple and cottage cheese. This way it feels like I have been eating quite a bit, but it only comes out to 250 calories so my whole day isn't ruined.

If I'm doing an early morning workout I usually just have a small drink of water and a banana beforehand.

I eat a pancake or two before a long run in the AM. My husband makes cornmeal blueberry pancakes, and they are about 85 cals each. I also like fruit or a little yogurt. Something easy on my tummy. I also have my coffee then, as well, but only if I have >30mins before I have to run.

When working out in the morning I run on coffee :coffee:

I get up at 6 am every day, eat 4 oz plain nonfat yogurt / 4 oz nonfat cottage cheese / 4 oz blueberries / sprinkle of ground ginger, drink a couple cups of water, and take my fish oil, cal-mag, and vitamin D supplements. Then I work out--30 to 45 minutes of strength training, or a 35 minute bike ride to my workplace.

Post workout I have 2 eggs, chocolate milk (16 oz nonfat milk, 1.25 oz cocoa, couple packets of Splenda), and some fruit (this morning it was a mango, usually it's a couple of mandarin oranges).

My blood sugar is extremely sensitive in the morning and if I don't eat like this I will become very hypoglycemic in response to a workout. I'd like to say that eating before my workout helps with my performance, but I'm not sure that it really does; I'm truly not a morning person, so I never perform very well in the morning. That's just a fact of life. But it's also a fact of life that when I work out first thing in the morning, I get it done--versus if I wait until after work, I usually will not get it done. It's better to get it done and perform crappily than to not get it done at all.

Evening workouts I can usually be laxer with the food around--an apple is plenty beforehand and dinner will do me post-workout. I don't get hypoglycemic from afternoon or evening workouts.