Hi everyone,

I have a question about when/what to eat an exercise. I go to Curves for women, it's a circuit gym that lasts 30 minutes. I go at 5:00 pm. ususally I have dinner about 60-90 minutes after I finish.

Last week I've noticed that my muscles feel really fatigued. Should I be eating something before I workout? I ususally only have a very light snack around 3:00 pm.

What about glutamine? I have that in my protein shake in the morning, but that's it so far.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Alena.

If it is a light snack, try it an hour before you go ... and include some protein in it.

Thanks Dan,

By light snack I mean an ounce of cheese or some beef jerky. Sometimes I just have a few macadamia nuts. Is this enough? Or should I be eating more?

Any supplements before/after a workout?

Alena.

Try to eat something 1 to 1.5 hours before working out.
If there is anytime to eat carbs(complex) it should be
before a workout(weight training.)
Exercising in a glycogen depleted state will do you more harm than good.
Unless you are doin A.M. cardio on an empty stomach.
You're body will not store carbs as fat directly before and after an intense weight training workout.
However the insulin spike will stop the fat burning process.
If you are doing cardio, have a protein shake an hour before.
Add in some EFA's to slow down absorbtion and digestion
if you are having a shake 2 hours before cardio.

oh and definitely supplement with Glutamine before and after training to help prevent muscle catabolism and it will also aid in recovery.

Thanks so much Iron Bull.

Hey Iron Bull or Trainer Dan,

I normally do a 10 minute cardio warm up before weight training and then do another 20 minutes of cardio. I usually have a protein shake before and after my workout. Recently I have started to have a low carb fruit like a peach before my workout to help with energy throughout the workout. Are you saying that this fruit before my workout will cause an insulin spike and not allow my body to burn fat? It sounds like the supplements before and after cardio compared to before and after weight training should be different. My problem is that I usually do them one after another so I am feeling a little confused. I want to burn the fat but I also want to maintain or increase my muscle. Any suggestions? Doing my cardio and weight training at separate times of the day is not an option for me.

I am no expert by any means but this is what I think about fructose.
Fructose(fruit sugar) is absorbed into the gastro intestinal tract and does not require insulin for entry into the liver(no insulin spike).
However fruit will do nothing for you energy levels in the gym because
it cannont be converted into glucose or refill glycogen in the muscles untill
the livers glycogen supply is full and you need quite a bit of fruit to fill up the glycogen in the liver. Basically fruit is not beneficial for energy levels before
hitting the gym.

My suggestion is that you consume the bulk of your daily carbs before you go to the gym(on the days that you lift). Nothing too crazy, just enough to get you through your workout.
The carbs will spike insulin but they will also help you to prevent muscle loss when you are lifting.
Anaerobic exercise(weight lifting) uses glycogen as fuel and fat cannot be used as an energy source. This is why I believe a person on a low carb or CKD should consume the bulk of their daily carbs before weight training.
You will burn muscle and not fat if you lift weights in complete glygogen depleted state.
You will use up all the carbs during your cardio warmup and weight training and then you can go right back to fat burning mode right after the weight training.
Your energy levels in the gym will also improve.
These are just suggestions that have worked for me.
I'm sure others will disagree.

Thanks for that very thought out and easy to understand reply. I have 2 more questions while we are on the topic.

Is a protein drink a good idea before my workout on the weight training days? Will it help to replace any used muscle during the weight training if taken before the workout or is it only recommended after the workout?

Basically YES
it would be very beneficial for you to consume protein both before
and after your workouts weither you are doing weight training, cardio or both on the same day.
The preworkout protein does not have to be a protein shake.
I just drink a shake because it is convienent. Your pre workout
protein source can come from solid foods if you would like.
But post workout protein should always be in the form of liquid for absorbtion purposes(Liquid is obvioulsy absorbed faster)

IronBull,

Thanks for the suggestion of having some carbs before weight training. I had one dry cup of plain Cheerios around 20 carb grams before my weight training today. I noticed a big difference in my ability to lift throughout the workout. In fact I did a personal best on 2 different chest machines I am getting the feeling that this ultra low carb diet is for people who are not exercising or exercise very little. I am putting in 2 hours a day for 5 or 6 days a week and I just can't do it anymore on 30g of carbs per day or less. I think I may transfer over to the Protein Power diet and just see what happens. What plan did you use to lose all your weight? Were you in the gym everyday while you lost that much?

Toughguy,
I'm experiencing the same issue. Now that I'm doing more intense workouts, I'm not getting gains unless I carb up. I did big carb load on Sat and had a great workout on Sun, best in months.
But I'm still a bit doubtful about the huge carb up. I didn't like the feeling, it seems radical, and I'm trying to get away from extreme dietary practices.
The idea of doing a 'mini-load' before training is intriguing. You guys think 20 carbs is enough? Only 80kcal? That's a lot less than the big 2500kcal load that's done on the CKD plan, which seems like it's way over the top.

I am not sure what the total calories were on my serving of cheerios but I did have it with a protein and flax shake so I actually took in more calories. I know it is not considered a carb up or even a mini carb up, but let me tell you, I did notice a difference. I usually went into my workout feeling depleted of everything and really struggled to get through it. Another issue was that I did not take my usual Hydroxycut pill before the workout, just didnt feel I needed it after the carb intake. I was also able to do my cardio separately in the AM so when it came to my afternoon workout, all I did was a 5 min. warm up then went right into weights. I like the separate cardio and weight training workouts, but I can only do that on my days off of work. I was also happy with my ability to do cardio on an empty stomach.

This is a quote out of the book Protein Power in the chapter about exercise. "To maximize growth hormone release, always perform your workouts on an empty stomach. Don't consume any carbohydrate snacks anywhere near the time of your workout, or you can kiss your growth hormone goodbye". This statement is referring to weight training, as they push it in the book.

Now I know all the dedicated bodybuilders preach about having there carbs before there workout. I am getting more confused as I go. Anybody have any thoughts on this......Nat...anybody? I know I sure had a better weight training day when I had a few carbs an hour before I started. Now, this Protein Power book is telling me this is no good

This is an interesting contradiction, isn't it.
All I know is that without a few carbs before lifting, I bonk badly. Just this week I tried a small (20g) amount of carb 1.5 hr prior to doing a midweek light weight/high rep circuit workout, following a recommendation from Iron Bull, and really worked my butt, got all the way through it, then did 30M of cardio - and lived to tell about it!
That would not be possible without the carbo bump. I still keep overall carbs around 40-50g anyway, which generally complies with the PP plan.