pre workout food? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Paq · 10-23-2006, 10:45 PM

Hola,

i've recently started working out on a pretty regular schedule, 3 times a week, minimum, for an hour or so, minimum.

anyway, i'm taking a bodypump class as I find it to be a pretty good overall workout on days where i'm not doing anything else at the gym.

So, my concern is that i get into the class and i get shaky about midway through. The only thing i can figure is that i don't eat well enough beforehand to make it through the class.

So, what type of pre-workout meal would you recommend for something that is mostly cardio with a good bit of weight/endurance work?

thanks

stevie667 · 10-24-2006, 12:13 PM

Complex carbs and some meat protein does it for me, about an hour or so before i have a workout.

Usually i have some chicken + bread/chips e.t.c with a bit of vegetables. You'll burn through your available carbs within an hour, so protein is good for longer term. Inside that, just eat more, or take an energy drink with you.

Sun Tzu · 10-24-2006, 05:34 PM

What are your goals? Insulin is the most anabolic hormone in the body; even more so than test. You can use that to your advantage, but how you use it depends on what your goals are.

Building muscle-

Lowering your fat percentage-

Raising you anaerobic threshold ( improving endurance and performance)-

Which is it?

Paq · 10-24-2006, 06:03 PM

how does 'all of the above' sound

honestly, in terms of what i want in order, 1 is lower fat % bc i'm a chubmonster.
after that, i'd love to improve endurance and performance. in the past, that is a nice side effect from dropping some poundage

least of my concerns is building muscle, but that actually seems to be what is going on right now..probably bc of the exercises i've been doing. and probably bc my muscle size is pretty small to start with, well, upper bodywise.

but let's start with what to eat if you want to lose fat but still make it through a fairly intense workout (by my standards, anyway), they estimate about 1200-1500 calories burned for an hour workout. it is basically multiple reps with a bar and about 20-30 lbs of weight on the bar. starts with squats, dead row, lunges, bicep curls, tricep work, pushups, shoulder work, and ab work. you basically do 2-3 minutes of reps with each, varying speeds. Doesn't sound like much, but it's a nice overall workout. Basically, about 2/3-3/4 the way through, i get shaky and it starts to affect my form.

Thanks so much for the help

Sage · 10-24-2006, 06:17 PM

(paging C'hi!)

As you are saying you're a "chubmonster," then you're going to need to be doing more cardio than weight lifting, as that's going to burn of the fat. I do believe in another post someone (who was well-informed) said that doing cardio before you've eaten anything forces your body to burn fat instead of the calories you've just eaten. About your workout tho, if you get "shaky" overall (lightheaded, dizzy, can't think straight) then that's your insulin levels tanking and you need to squeeze a workout gel or eat some honey or something. However, if it's just your muscles getting "shaky" than that means you're fatiguing them too much by pushing yourself too hard. It's your body telling you to back off a little bit.

jorgelito · 10-24-2006, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sage

(paging C'hi!)

As you are saying you're a "chubmonster," then you're going to need to be doing more cardio than weight lifting, as that's going to burn of the fat. I do believe in another post someone (who was well-informed) said that doing cardio before you've eaten anything forces your body to burn fat instead of the calories you've just eaten. About your workout tho, if you get "shaky" overall (lightheaded, dizzy, can't think straight) then that's your insulin levels tanking and you need to squeeze a workout gel or eat some honey or something. However, if it's just your muscles getting "shaky" than that means you're fatiguing them too much by pushing yourself too hard. It's your body telling you to back off a little bit.

Damn you Sage, you beat me to it!! I'm the one who pages C'hi

Yeah, I'm currently looking for a good "pre-work out" diet as well. Is it really true to do cardio before eating? I like to eat something one hour before a workout to fuel my exercise and not catabolize my muscles. Usually some carbs and maybe some protein EX: a banana + a bowl of pasta or a sandwich. I heard that the ideal diet is 40% protein, 30% carbs, 30% fat....or something like that.

stevie667 · 10-25-2006, 02:33 AM

Depends on how long you've been since you last ate.

If we don't mind a few more of my examples, because its early and i havn't quite woken up yet, i like cardio either before breakfast or immediatly after a workout.

The body at these times has very little blood glucose, so exercise will burn more fat. A good meal afterwards with lots of protein and medium carbs/low fats is good.

When you look at that diet, beware of the fats bit. Diets that are listed as high in fat are often taken the wrong way, the fats should be unsaturated and poly unsaturated (e.g. olive/fish oils), not saturated/hydrogenated e.t.c.

The diet also depends on what you want from it. One higher in protein and less in fat and carbs will be good for loosing weight, (e.g. 60/20/20), but if you want to gain weight you need one higher in carbs (e.g. 50/30/20). Most people can't do fats right, so its best to try and keep them low whatever your plans.

Paq · 10-25-2006, 11:07 AM

eh, i avoid fat most of the time. i sautee with olive oil, about a teaspoon max, and otherwise, i just try to avoid any unnecessary fats. Most meats i eat are pretty lean or rare. IE, boneless skinless chicken or some type of red meat/steak/whatever, not too much marbling or anything. Fish is pretty common lately, salmon/sushi/tuna

I've been at about 1500 or less calories overall (down from probably 3000-3500 if you count all the sodas), which, i know, leads to my jitteriness during a pretty tough workout, but my main problem is that i can't figure out what to eat beforehand that will carry me through. I really don't get or stay hungry, so i think i've found a good caloric balance for me at the moment. I just need to figure out how to spread that out more and take in a bit more before a workout.

i avoid hydrogenated fats, sat fats are generally only taken in with cheese or red meat, which i kinda keep low, and the others are from fish or olive oil. other than that, i have drastically changed my diet.

thanks so much for the help. this is very interesting so far and definitely food for thought

thingstodo · 10-25-2006, 01:28 PM

You may just need to work up to a workout an hour long if you're just getting into things. 30 minutes a workout for a monthor so and then adding time on works. You shouldn't need something within an hour but one thing that might help is to sip a sports drink if you're going to go for an hour. Accelerade nakes a great one that has 5 grams of protein per serving which send fuel to your muscles.

I doubt you'll burn 1500 calories in a hour. I do pretty intense bike rides and might hit 1100 in an hour. The only way to know is to get a good heart rate monitor and input all your stats and take the fitness test. It will then calculate calories burned based on your heart rate and the stats you input.

A banana at least an hour before you work out should be fine. I can ride for an hour in the morning before eating and don't have a problem. It is important to get a 4:1 carb/protein refuel within 30-45 minutes or your body will shut down in 1.5 hours and then you'll be craving the carbs right after that.

Most long distance bike riders and runners eat some gell or something every 30-45 minutes when they're going for more than an hour but nothing for less.

Paq · 10-25-2006, 10:56 PM

it's funny, i can workout in the morning before eating and be fine, but i'm having trouble eating small meals throughout the day, so by the time the class in question comes around (7 pm or so), i'm not in the best condition for it, so i'm trying to figure out something good to eat before then. I have found that an apple about 1-1.5 hrs before will last until 40 minutes into the class, then i just get shaky and can barely continue.

Sage · 10-26-2006, 06:44 AM

Paq, if you're taking a class, why not ask the instructor? They'll know what you can do to help, cause that's what they're trained in!

thingstodo · 10-26-2006, 02:37 PM

Seriously, I really don't think it's a lack of food in your system. Just keep trying to build up. If it's still a problem you might see a Dr.

highthief · 10-26-2006, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thingstodo

Seriously, I really don't think it's a lack of food in your system. Just keep trying to build up. If it's still a problem you might see a Dr.

Agreed. If it's an endurance class, I don't eat closer than 2.5 hours prior to the exercise - you don't want the body using its valuable stores of energy digesting food while you need that same energy to get you through a workout. Complex carbs are it for me. Unless you are doing a triathlon or something, I don't see the need to ingest bananas, dates or raisins, although various sports drinks can be taken.

If it is a more weight training workout, you can eat 90 minutes before-hand, and you don't need to focus as much on the complex carbs.

As for burning calories - I doubt you're burning 1500 calories in an hour. That would be an incredible work rate.

Sun Tzu · 11-07-2006, 10:49 PM

If the cardio is first thing in the morning may just a sugar free energy drink with no carbs. Caffinated water works great. Let your fat run you through that workout! Very effective.

If later in the day and you are doing lifting and aeobics, then a hour after a balaced meal that was 40% protein 30% complex carbes 30% friendly fats. DO you weight training first that way it will be the complex barbs pushing you through workout. By the time cardio comes around ussually 45 minutes later, most of your carbs and glycogen have been used for the weights so when you get your target heart to where it needs to be, you will be running on fat.

Keep in mind the above is for someone that want to increase lean and decread their fat percentage.

For performance it is totally different. Even in the way weights are used (if at all) High carb drinks that are a mix between complex and simple before and during the workout. Food before that type of workout, green pasta, asparagas (is great), mix ox bran and white rice, granola, OJ any kind of nonsugar carb drink (it will already have sucrose from the simple carbs.

Plasese excuse the mispellings Im beeing lazy tonight with my spell checker.

10-23-2006, 10:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
Paq Junkie Location: South Carolina	pre workout food? Hola, i've recently started working out on a pretty regular schedule, 3 times a week, minimum, for an hour or so, minimum. anyway, i'm taking a bodypump class as I find it to be a pretty good overall workout on days where i'm not doing anything else at the gym. So, my concern is that i get into the class and i get shaky about midway through. The only thing i can figure is that i don't eat well enough beforehand to make it through the class. So, what type of pre-workout meal would you recommend for something that is mostly cardio with a good bit of weight/endurance work? thanks __________________ Live. Chris

10-24-2006, 12:13 PM	#2 (permalink)
stevie667 Too Awesome for Aardvarks Location: Angloland	Complex carbs and some meat protein does it for me, about an hour or so before i have a workout. Usually i have some chicken + bread/chips e.t.c with a bit of vegetables. You'll burn through your available carbs within an hour, so protein is good for longer term. Inside that, just eat more, or take an energy drink with you. __________________ Office hours have changed. Please call during office hours for more information.

10-24-2006, 05:34 PM	#3 (permalink)
Sun Tzu Conspiracy Realist Location: The Event Horizon	What are your goals? Insulin is the most anabolic hormone in the body; even more so than test. You can use that to your advantage, but how you use it depends on what your goals are. Building muscle- Lowering your fat percentage- Raising you anaerobic threshold ( improving endurance and performance)- Which is it? __________________ *To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.- Stephen Hawking*

10-24-2006, 06:03 PM	#4 (permalink)
Paq Junkie Location: South Carolina	how does 'all of the above' sound honestly, in terms of what i want in order, 1 is lower fat % bc i'm a chubmonster. after that, i'd love to improve endurance and performance. in the past, that is a nice side effect from dropping some poundage least of my concerns is building muscle, but that actually seems to be what is going on right now..probably bc of the exercises i've been doing. and probably bc my muscle size is pretty small to start with, well, upper bodywise. but let's start with what to eat if you want to lose fat but still make it through a fairly intense workout (by my standards, anyway), they estimate about 1200-1500 calories burned for an hour workout. it is basically multiple reps with a bar and about 20-30 lbs of weight on the bar. starts with squats, dead row, lunges, bicep curls, tricep work, pushups, shoulder work, and ab work. you basically do 2-3 minutes of reps with each, varying speeds. Doesn't sound like much, but it's a nice overall workout. Basically, about 2/3-3/4 the way through, i get shaky and it starts to affect my form. Thanks so much for the help __________________ Live. Chris

10-24-2006, 06:17 PM	#5 (permalink)
Sage hoarding all the big girl panties since 2005 Location: North side	(paging C'hi!) As you are saying you're a "chubmonster," then you're going to need to be doing more cardio than weight lifting, as that's going to burn of the fat. I do believe in another post someone (who was well-informed) said that doing cardio before you've eaten anything forces your body to burn fat instead of the calories you've just eaten. About your workout tho, if you get "shaky" overall (lightheaded, dizzy, can't think straight) then that's your insulin levels tanking and you need to squeeze a workout gel or eat some honey or something. However, if it's just your muscles getting "shaky" than that means you're fatiguing them too much by pushing yourself too hard. It's your body telling you to back off a little bit. __________________ Sage knows our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's She answers hard acrostics, has a pretty taste for paradox She quotes in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus In conics she can floor peculiarities parabolous -C'hi

10-25-2006, 02:33 AM	#7 (permalink)
stevie667 Too Awesome for Aardvarks Location: Angloland	Depends on how long you've been since you last ate. If we don't mind a few more of my examples, because its early and i havn't quite woken up yet, i like cardio either before breakfast or immediatly after a workout. The body at these times has very little blood glucose, so exercise will burn more fat. A good meal afterwards with lots of protein and medium carbs/low fats is good. When you look at that diet, beware of the fats bit. Diets that are listed as high in fat are often taken the wrong way, the fats should be unsaturated and poly unsaturated (e.g. olive/fish oils), not saturated/hydrogenated e.t.c. The diet also depends on what you want from it. One higher in protein and less in fat and carbs will be good for loosing weight, (e.g. 60/20/20), but if you want to gain weight you need one higher in carbs (e.g. 50/30/20). Most people can't do fats right, so its best to try and keep them low whatever your plans. __________________ Office hours have changed. Please call during office hours for more information.

10-25-2006, 11:07 AM	#8 (permalink)
Paq Junkie Location: South Carolina	eh, i avoid fat most of the time. i sautee with olive oil, about a teaspoon max, and otherwise, i just try to avoid any unnecessary fats. Most meats i eat are pretty lean or rare. IE, boneless skinless chicken or some type of red meat/steak/whatever, not too much marbling or anything. Fish is pretty common lately, salmon/sushi/tuna I've been at about 1500 or less calories overall (down from probably 3000-3500 if you count all the sodas), which, i know, leads to my jitteriness during a pretty tough workout, but my main problem is that i can't figure out what to eat beforehand that will carry me through. I really don't get or stay hungry, so i think i've found a good caloric balance for me at the moment. I just need to figure out how to spread that out more and take in a bit more before a workout. i avoid hydrogenated fats, sat fats are generally only taken in with cheese or red meat, which i kinda keep low, and the others are from fish or olive oil. other than that, i have drastically changed my diet. thanks so much for the help. this is very interesting so far and definitely food for thought __________________ Live. Chris

10-25-2006, 01:28 PM	#9 (permalink)
thingstodo A Storm Is Coming Location: The Great White North	You may just need to work up to a workout an hour long if you're just getting into things. 30 minutes a workout for a monthor so and then adding time on works. You shouldn't need something within an hour but one thing that might help is to sip a sports drink if you're going to go for an hour. Accelerade nakes a great one that has 5 grams of protein per serving which send fuel to your muscles. I doubt you'll burn 1500 calories in a hour. I do pretty intense bike rides and might hit 1100 in an hour. The only way to know is to get a good heart rate monitor and input all your stats and take the fitness test. It will then calculate calories burned based on your heart rate and the stats you input. A banana at least an hour before you work out should be fine. I can ride for an hour in the morning before eating and don't have a problem. It is important to get a 4:1 carb/protein refuel within 30-45 minutes or your body will shut down in 1.5 hours and then you'll be craving the carbs right after that. Most long distance bike riders and runners eat some gell or something every 30-45 minutes when they're going for more than an hour but nothing for less. __________________ If you're wringing your hands you can't roll up your shirt sleeves. Stangers have the best candy.

10-25-2006, 10:56 PM	#10 (permalink)
Paq Junkie Location: South Carolina	it's funny, i can workout in the morning before eating and be fine, but i'm having trouble eating small meals throughout the day, so by the time the class in question comes around (7 pm or so), i'm not in the best condition for it, so i'm trying to figure out something good to eat before then. I have found that an apple about 1-1.5 hrs before will last until 40 minutes into the class, then i just get shaky and can barely continue. __________________ Live. Chris

10-26-2006, 06:44 AM	#11 (permalink)
Sage hoarding all the big girl panties since 2005 Location: North side	Paq, if you're taking a class, why not ask the instructor? They'll know what you can do to help, cause that's what they're trained in! __________________ Sage knows our mythic history, King Arthur's and Sir Caradoc's She answers hard acrostics, has a pretty taste for paradox She quotes in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus In conics she can floor peculiarities parabolous -C'hi

10-26-2006, 02:37 PM	#12 (permalink)
thingstodo A Storm Is Coming Location: The Great White North	Seriously, I really don't think it's a lack of food in your system. Just keep trying to build up. If it's still a problem you might see a Dr. __________________ If you're wringing your hands you can't roll up your shirt sleeves. Stangers have the best candy.

11-07-2006, 10:49 PM	#14 (permalink)
Sun Tzu Conspiracy Realist Location: The Event Horizon	If the cardio is first thing in the morning may just a sugar free energy drink with no carbs. Caffinated water works great. Let your fat run you through that workout! Very effective. If later in the day and you are doing lifting and aeobics, then a hour after a balaced meal that was 40% protein 30% complex carbes 30% friendly fats. DO you weight training first that way it will be the complex barbs pushing you through workout. By the time cardio comes around ussually 45 minutes later, most of your carbs and glycogen have been used for the weights so when you get your target heart to where it needs to be, you will be running on fat. Keep in mind the above is for someone that want to increase lean and decread their fat percentage. For performance it is totally different. Even in the way weights are used (if at all) High carb drinks that are a mix between complex and simple before and during the workout. Food before that type of workout, green pasta, asparagas (is great), mix ox bran and white rice, granola, OJ any kind of nonsugar carb drink (it will already have sucrose from the simple carbs. Plasese excuse the mispellings Im beeing lazy tonight with my spell checker. __________________ *To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.- Stephen Hawking*