I had a new client come to me yesterday and admit that she never eats before a workout. Being a fitness coach, and knowing that you should always eat before a workout, I was naturally a little taken-a-back when I heard this. I’ll do pretty much anything to avoid heading to the gym on an empty stomach, and here she was, explaining to me how she eats nothing between a full nights sleep and her morning workouts.
I asked her why she chooses to go workout on an empty stomach and she replied, “I’ll burn more fat if I exercise on an empty stomach.” She explained further by saying that if she doesn’t have any food before her workout, her body would naturally tap into her fat reserves for energy.
A Shake Makes A Great Pre-Workout Snack
While this may be true to a point, there’s actually much more to this story than meets the eye. Many people fall into this trap of not eating before their workout due to this train of thought.
If you’re trying to get the most out of your workout and lean up (or maintain your body weight) then eating, not starving yourself, is your best strategy.
It’s a fact that your body will burn some of your fat stores when you workout, but it’s preferred fuel source is glycogen (derived from carbohydrates in your food) that’s been stored in your muscles and liver. When you deprive your body of food and your glycogen stores are depleted, you are forcing it to turn to it’s fat stores for energy, but at what cost?
While sometimes it’s acceptable to do this before a cardiovascular workout, you should NEVER do this before a weight training workout at the gym. Without regularly available fuel in the form of glycogen or glucose, your workout will suffer. You’ll lack the energy required to get anything out of your time at the gym, and you won’t burn more of anything if you can’t muster the enthusiasm to conquer your toughest sets.
A Banana Is A Perfect Energy Source Before Your Workout
On the other hand, if you do eat before your workout, you’ll have the extra oomph necessary to stress your body the necessary amount to benefit from your gym time.
That said, you can’t just go out and have a 4 course meal 10 minutes before the gym. Digesting food takes time, and digestion takes away a lot of the blood flow necessary for your muscles during a workout.
Fats are the slowest to digest, and you shouldn’t have them within four hours of your workout. Proteins are the next slowest, so you should avoid having them within 3 hours of your workout. If you have between 30 and 90 minutes until your workout, have a snack of easily digestible carbohydrates. A good example of this would be low-fat yogurt, a banana, or a smoothie. If you’re heading to the gym in 15 minutes or less, than your best bet would be a sports energy drink.
If you take anything away from reading this at all, it should be to never skip eating before a workout, and always consider how much time you have before your workout when deciding what to eat.
