Preworkout Nutrition
De Haus,
Many of us find ourselves up well before dawn just to get the daily workout completed. I typically find myself with just enough time to get in the workout before having to hit the shower. This leaves very little time for getting in a few preworkout calories. I am wondering how and what some of you eat that early in the AM? If you don't mind sharing your preworkout nutirion I would appreciate it.
For those of you who are road-warriors I would also like to hear how you manage your early morning nutrition while on the road. I thought it was hard while in the luxury of my home. From a hotel forget about it....
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Comments
Since these OS workouts are short, I don't get up and eat 300-400 Cal an hour before if I'm getting up in the wee hours. I do like to have some calories so I'll drink about 200-250 Cal of OJ or apple cider about 20 minutes before working out.
It's the calories consumed after the workout that I make time/effort to prepare. I'll eat my whole wheat bagel on the way to work and make a mid-morning snack of fruit and cheerios to bring to work. If not, my face in planted in the donut box by 10 am.
Minimum = 4-8 ozs of sports drink before I get on the bike/run
Preferred = above + 2 Fig Newmans/Newtons + 1 espresso
I've noticed I have a "with espresso" FTP, and a "without espresso" FTP. Difference is at least 5 watts. Me likey espresso!
On the road, it's whatever I can scrounge up. Either travel with a GU, or buy a Gatorade the night before at the gas station nearby. Gotta get creative.
Mike
I trry and be on the bike by 6 am. I get up ~5-5:15 I have:
Scoop of strawberry Designer Whey, mixed with packet of Emergen-C, and a scoop of L-Glutamine.
Zipfizz to wake me up--better than 5 Hour Energy IMO.
Bit of a banana and/or a bite of a Cliff Bar
As much of a 24-oz H2O bottle as I can drink before I get on the bike.
Right after the workout:
Scoop of L-Glutamine, bite of something small, shower, dress, take dog for her daily doggie playdate, to client by 9-915
At work I have:
Container no-fat plain yogurt mixed with fresh or defrosted fruit and a handful of walnuts with tea or coffee.
Ususally a slice of raisin bread, or another small carb, and I'm good till lunch or beyond.
Man, it sounds like everyone is more strict that me!
Before:
I get up to a cup of coffee and a big glass of water. Then I will have a banana and a small cup of oatmeal or a begal with Nutella.
After:
Recovery Drink (GameOn Sports Nutrition - awesome!), a couple eggs with a piece of bacon and another big glass of water.
I would be interested if this is a good or bad nutritional program...I have evovled into it. The catch is, of course, that I am up at 4:50 and on the bike at 5:15-30, eating at 6:45-7:00, and to the office at 7:45ish.
Everyone is very individual about what they can and can't eat, especially before a hard session. As I've gotten older I swear my digestion has slowed down. So for my Tues interval sessions (about 75', with 2 x 20" of very hard work), all I have is a cup of coffee. If Im' going longer I might drink sports drink on the bike, "maybe" carry a cliffbar, but I get a sick feeling if I eat too much and then work very, very hard. I err on the side of low cals, knowing I can fix it very quickly on the fly if I need to.
Oh man, I must be a real slacker. I don't eat or drink anything before I get on the bike. I have watered down sports drink on the bike and that's it- anything else would result in that little bit of spit up in my mouth after the second hard interval to be something more!
After the workout I put on the coffee, add applesauce to my pre-prepared Breakfast Cookie (http://www.endurancenation.us/en_fo...php?t=5910) and toss that in the toaster over, then grab a recovery drink ready to go and I drink that in the shower. By the time I'm out of the shower the cookie and coffee are ready and I'm off to work.
If I'm only doing intervals I will go on 2 cups of coffee and take some water on the bike. If I'm going to run after, I will drink a bottle of sports drink on the bike.
If I'm only doing an OS run, I will go on coffe alone. I'll also hydrate with water. If I'm going longer than an hour, I'll take some gel or sports drink.
Wake to alarm, hit snooze, and drink 16 oz of water that I placed at bedside the night before. Workout starts 30 minutes later and I drink watered down HEED during exercise. Shower. Isopure shake low or zero carb on my way out the door. Protein snack mid morning.
Don't find the need for any cals for these short workouts.
I typically get up around 5am and try to be on the bike/run by 5:30. While getting ready I drink 16-24oz of water and a yogurt. During the bike I use a half-mixed sports drink and nothing for the run. Immediately after the workout I try to drink a tall glass of chocolate milk, hit the shower, and then eat my standard breakfast: bowl of Cheerios and some fruit.
Thanks for everyone's input!
Before bike in a.m. - half a banana; if no bananas, handful of blueberries. If I'm feeling dehydrated - water + 1 scoop Infinit.
Post bike - the rest of the banana. Coffee. Water. Normal breakfast.
Running - I try to hydrate well before going out because it is winter and my city has turned off all the water fountains. Silly city. I always carry the emergency Clif Shot and dollars to buy nutrition.
Sometimes there is mid-morning granola bar or plain yogurt with a little fruit or honey.
I don't get serious about the gu/sports drink until the workouts near the 1.5 hour mark.
Wow, I must be doing something pretty off with my overall nutrition. Which is very possible.
I'll typically have a single serving Odwalla, or Ensure, or whey + milk depending on what's in the fridge and sip on a cup of coffee while I set up my bike + trainer. If it's a run day then I'll sip on the coffee while riding the bus to the gym. During the workout it's only water and after it's usually chocolate milk.
Coffee and maybe a bagel before the ride or run, during my workout depending on length I will let the other forums members tell you what I eat sometimes
. After workout, especially the run I have 8oz choc milk and a bananna.
I've considered taking a shot of Hammer Gel before I walk the dogs pre-workout...or maybe brewing coffee and having one cup beforehand? Any advice would be helpful!
I think you just need to experiment and find what works for you. Seems like you work better with some calories under your belt.
Matt,
Robots like you don't count...sorry your advice doesn't compute.
How your body functions so well, so frequently on such little nutrition proves that you are bionic.
Vince
For longer workouts during the summer, I'll have a bagel, with PB and honey and sports drink....or drink an Ensure if my stomach doesn't feel like it wants to cooperate with a meal that early in the morning.
If you've had adequate nutrition the previous evening then your muscles should be good to go IMO.
I have a hunch the caffeine might be the answer. I do have that 10-15 minute warm-up before the work begins...hmmm...I'm picturing myself spinning, hunched over the aero bars, coffee in one hand, Tivo remote in the other. That's not lame, is it?
Na, lame would be the video game controller.
Okay, picking this back up. Last Thursday I tried 100 calories of Hammer Gel right before the 3 x 10 and it was sucky (low 160s or under for each interval). This morning I brewed a cup of coffee and sipped most of it during my ten minute warm-up (yes, while in the aero bars). Bingo! 2 x 15 in 176 & 172. Caffeine it is. Only drawback is that coffee is hot...not quite the "warm-up" one wants before sweating buckets over the living room carpet.
This is why you're my favorite EN member, Nemo! Keep it real, lady!
Suzanne - hot coffee is hard core. I love it! Perhaps iced coffee next round? Make coffee in a french press the night before. Chill. Ice the next morning. You are set to go.
man, reading this thread makes me so happy that I don't have to roll out of bed directly out the door or onto my bike! Dave makes fun of me and says I'm like an old computer (slow system start up, prone to freezes and occasionally the blue screen of doom).
For me and my late start (8 am versus all you crack of dawn peeps), I'm an oatmeal/coffee (~300 cal) breakfast. In the event that I do really have to drag out of bed, I'm a water/coffee and go kind of person.
My taste buds cannot comprehend iced coffee - never have. Doesn't it taste extra bitter that way? [says the girl who prefers coffee so strong you could chew it] Iced coffee is on my list of stuff I wished I liked, but don't (next to cantalope, tea, olives, raw broccoli, anything banana-flavored...).
I did the coffee again this morning - it's actually kind of nice, especially at 6 a.m. when the heat hasn't yet kicked on and I'm chilly from the dog walk and dressed only in shorts and a bra.
Leigh -
Hilarious!
And, yes - caffeine is an ergogenic aid - performance enhancer. The key is to find the dose that works for you. It depends on if you regularly consume caffeine or not.