Pre and post workouts

[groovy]

Hi all. I generally workout early mornings at about 6am. I usually get hungry before i go to gym, so all i have is just a banana and lots of water during gym.

By the time i have done with gym in about an hour, i get really tired, as i push myself at the gym. So i come home and lie for like 10-15min. Then have protein shake and oats for breakfast.

Is that normal? or what do you guys do to keep your strength up even after workout? (i can only go gym in mornings)

Also just wondering, im planning to cut and my diet is ok. Just wondering how do some people know what deficiencies they have? Like lack of vitamins, or taking L-glutamine, and so on? Hope you know what im trying to say here

Thanks.

[Varven]

Immediately post workout you want to replenish glycogen reserves.. important for recovery.

Fast acting carbs are best.

This will cause an insulin spike and optimally you want to get protein in then as well.

as soon as you finish your workout have a protein shake with around 30 - 50gms of dextrose in it.

you can snooze after that and have your regular breakfast later on .

[marky65]

I only do cardio on an empty stomach in the morning. I find strength levels are to low to give the weights a good bash.

If I am doing weights, I will have a smaller than normal

brekky ( oats/protein Powder) and that gives me enough to work on.

I then have a post workout shake and the BCAA's

[groovy]

Immediately post workout you want to replenish glycogen reserves.. important for recovery.

Fast acting carbs are best.

This will cause an insulin spike and optimally you want to get protein in then as well.

as soon as you finish your workout have a protein shake with around 30 - 50gms of dextrose in it.

you can snooze after that and have your regular breakfast later on .

Is the dextrose recommended when planning to cut? Also in my usual diet, i also have 3 spoons of white sugar. (2 with oats at breakfast and 1 sugar with coffee in morning). Is that ok?

[marky65]

If you mix the protein powder in with the oats then you won't need the sugar.

[Flamer]

If you mix the protein powder in with the oats then you won't need the sugar.

Or switch to a carb free sweetener - stevia, equal, sucryl

[agent86]

Before you train have some coffee and honey on toast. Rice wafers with honey is quite nice as well. You can eat the toast on the way in the car if you want. Try drinking Horley's Carb Cola during the workout as it has heaps of calories and caffeine. After the workout have a shake with protein and high GI carbs.

If there are enough calories in the post workout drink it would replace breakfast. Eat normal meals after 2 to 3 hours.

Some good things to take when cutting would be chromium picolinate,flax seed oil,multi vitamin and maybe iron.

[groovy]

Before you train have some coffee and honey on toast. Rice wafers with honey is quite nice as well. You can eat the toast on the way in the car if you want. Try drinking Horley's Carb Cola during the workout as it has heaps of calories and caffeine. After the workout have a shake with protein and high GI carbs.

If there are enough calories in the post workout drink it would replace breakfast. Eat normal meals after 2 to 3 hours.

Some good things to take when cutting would be chromium picolinate,flax seed oil,multi vitamin and maybe iron.

Thanks all for the suggestions. Ill have some black coffee and toast before workout.

Also do any of you notice feeling really tired after an early mornings workout sometimes. Like you haven't had a good sleep all night and then went to work.

And thru out the day you feel sleepy. I am feeling that today for some reason, has a good back workout today.

Eating every 3 hours with protein and enough water.

Is it because of any deficiencies? do i need to take the vitamin, flax seed oil and so on.

[agent86]

If I do cardio in the morning I usually feel tired during the day as I am not used to it and I don't get to bed early enough. Usually the body peaks physically late afternoon which is usually the best training time for me.

It will take awhile to get used to early morning workouts and if tired try having a power nap at lunchtime. At least you can go home after work and rest as your workout has been done. I usually have a protein/carb shake during the night when I wake for a loo visit.

You must wake quite early if you train at 6 as it takes a while for the body to warm up. Is it possible to train at 7 maybe to allow more time to wake and get food in?

[groovy]

If I do cardio in the morning I usually feel tired during the day as I am not used to it and I don't get to bed early enough. Usually the body peaks physically late afternoon which is usually the best training time for me.

It will take awhile to get used to early morning workouts and if tired try having a power nap at lunchtime. At least you can go home after work and rest as your workout has been done. I usually have a protein/carb shake during the night when I wake for a loo visit.

You must wake quite early if you train at 6 as it takes a while for the body to warm up. Is it possible to train at 7 maybe to allow more time to wake and get food in?

I generally get up early mornings even if im not training much. I just have cup of black coffee and BANG! it wakes me up and ready for gym

I only feel sleepy sometimes when my workout goes very well and then i feel drained out Otherwise most of the times im good.

I have a protein shake before i go to bed and also have 1 after i wake up with breakfast.

I wake up about 5.20 so i can get ready and go to gym by 6. I need to be at work by 7.30, so i cant train at 7.

[Kevy_boi]

wt sort of carb food cud i take b4 a run to give me a bit of lasting energy i dnt wana go buy some sort of suppliment as i alrdy gt pitbull like a piece of bread or somthing?

[Matrix]

A simple way to remember a sound basic strategy for muscle gain is :

Slow carb/low G.I before, generally 20-40grams(fruit,oats etc) with 20-40g protein.

Fast carb/high G.I. after generally 1g per kilo of bodyweight will do.(sugars) with 30-50g protein serve.

Much has been made of vitargo, dextrose(brewing sugar) etc, but you dont have to get fancy if trying to add weight and save cash. Just look for a simple sugar, with little or no fat to slow meal absorption.

If in a mass gain phase you could also look at a 20-40g protein and 30-50g carb mixture during training if it is prolonged or high volume.

If budget permits you coulod try adding creatine and glutamine, BCAA,s, caffeine pills, pre exercise formulas etc to assist workout.

Remeber to try to get this shake in shortly(less than 1 hour) post workout and try another low fat whole food meal one further hour after, again low fat and 30-40gprotein, 40-70 carb (depending on size) that way you have shuttled in protein and carbs, before, during, and after your workouts to maximize progress. Good Luck.

[runveerun]

wt sort of carb food cud i take b4 a run to give me a bit of lasting energy i dnt wana go buy some sort of suppliment as i alrdy gt pitbull like a piece of bread or somthing?

A piece of white bread with peanut butter and honey or banana is good energy stuff before a run. I know you said you didn't want to take supplements but energy gel is great stuff if you are feeling tired you can get them caffeniated too.

[Kevy_boi]

swwwweeeettt ty vm for input :grin: :grin: :grin:

[Lamborghinilova]

How much of a difference does a pre workout protein shake make?

I usually have breakfast with yoghurt, but find it hard to stomach a protien shake in the morning.(eat at 6, train at 7)

[Dsun]

How much of a difference does a pre workout protein shake make?

I usually have breakfast with yoghurt, but find it hard to stomach a protien shake in the morning.(eat at 6, train at 7)

Well, this really depends on how much protein your body requires and how much protein the other parts of you diet contributing to your protien reserves. Everybody is different. My theory is that the spike in protiein after workout is the most important and then every other time to take a shake is just to maintain your protein levels.

In short, if your protein levels are high enough throughout the whole day then pre-workout shake won't make much difference as it'll probably just end up as extra calories. If you are low in protein, particularly pre-workout, then the pre-workout shake would do you some good.

If you do feel that you need extra protein but can't down a shake in the morning then maybe you should take it before bed. There should be enough protein left in the morning as well as some topping up by yoghurt and/or milk.