Morning workouts
 

I have to do my workouts in the early morning, right after I get up. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to eat or drink (if anything) before I work out. I'm talking like 5:30 am.

Any help will be greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance!

Depends what you're trying to do
lose weight, gain mass?

more info please

Don't eat before cardio. Eat right after.

Eat before lifting. Protein shake and a bowl of cereal should go down easy that early in the morning. Wait at least 45 minutes then go work out. Eat protein shake/high GI carbs (bananna, etc.) right after lifting.

Yep, as long as you're properly hydrated, eat/drink mostly after workout. You're metabolism will be much higher then, and you're less likely to cramp.

Wheaties.

You should ALWAYS eat first thing in the morning, before your workout, because then your metabolism will turn on.

actaully, all studies i've seen have shown that not eating before working out in the morning has more of a catabolic effect, and that you don't lose more fat one way over the other.

I have also heard studies that show that your body will not release HGH on a full stomach. Your stomach has to be empty for your body to produce it. According to what I have read, that is the nauseated feeling you get after a hard workout. It is your body releasing HGH, which is as good as any steriod.

Granted, my physiology knowledge is somewhat limited, but that is the info that I have in my noggin.

Cardio is always catabolic, but towards FAT.

<a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=catabolic">Definition of Catabolic</a>

Most people confuse catabolic with muscle loss, which is not always the case, esp w/ cardio.

[edit]
nm, I totally misunderstood your post, sorry :) I thought you were saying it's bad to not eat because it has a catabolic effect.

Can you do too much cardio to the point that you start "burning" muscle, or would you have to have 0% body fat before that occurs?

Yes Grondar, you can.

I don't know exactly when, and it isn't a discontinuous thing I suspect (ie, you don't all of a sudden have muscles start melting). Others with more knowledge can chime in.

You can't really burn muscle so to speak, but you can burn it in the sense that their is rapid muscle depletion. When your body becomes dangerously low on fats, carbs, and proteins, it will have to start drawing nutrients away from your muscle. Your muscle will stop growing and lose the abilitiy to repair itself when it becomes torn. This is a very extreme scenario though, and very few people "burn" muscle unless they starve themselves and do regular HIW's.