Do you eat before your workouts?

When should you not eat anything before your workout for a fasted exercise session?

When should you add some fuel as protein, fat and carbs… or none?

Here is a great image that you will need to look at via here.

 

Here is another resource on fasting and exercise from Precision Nutrition- free PDF.

A recent research article to review from Dr. Plews here

What Should I Eat before Exercise? Pre-Exercise Nutrition and the Response to Endurance Exercise: Current Prospective and Future Directions

Figure 9. Practical application of pre-exercise nutrition to optimize training adaptations.

1. The duration and intensity of the exercise session should be considered when considering the best pre-exercise nutrition choices.
2. Before shorter duration exercise sessions that focus on lower intensity steady-state training, it may be beneficial to withhold CHO, while there is little evidence supporting CHO restriction before high-intensity exercise.
3. When consuming less than ~75 g CHO, food choices before HIIT can be left to personal preference.
4. For longer duration exercise (>90 min), there is little evidence to suggest fasted-state training offers any additional benefit, although this is still practiced by approximately one-third of endurance athletes [16].
5. Ingesting less than ~75 g CHO is unlikely to impair mitochondrial signaling adaptations from longer-duration, low-intensity exercise, while consuming 75–150 g CHO prior to extended high-intensity exercise is suggested to increase endogenous fuel storage.

 

Summary from Ben Greenfield Article here

I hope this overview of the latest research on fasting has enlightened you on some of the many benefits of fasting, intermittent fasting, fasted cardio, and beyond—and that it can serve as a guide for making an educated decision about which type of fasting is right for you.

To recap,

• Time-Restricted Feeding Improves Glucose Tolerance – Eating all of your meals within a 9-hour window can improve glycemic variability. Or, better yet, an earlier (8 am-5 pm) 9-hour window can lower your fasting glucose.
• Intermittent Fasting Reduces Fat Mass and Improves Total and LDL Cholesterol – Intermittent fasting at 70% of your usual caloric intake, three days per week can help you lose fat and improve your metabolic health, especially if you struggle with resistance to weight loss.
• Fasted Cardio Has a Surprisingly Satiating Effect – A leisurely, one-hour bicycle ride at 50% of your peak power output can keep you feeling more satiated throughout the day.
• Ramadan IF’s Positive Effects on Decreasing Fat Mass – Fasting from dawn to sunset for one month can help you with losing fat, but it may also lead to impairments in aerobic capacity. TRF may be an effective way to avoid such impairments.
• Calorie Restriction Stimulates a Meaningful Reduction in Weight and Promotes Aging-related Benefits – By reducing metabolic rate and protein and DNA damage, CR may slow down the aging process and allow you to live longer with less risk of age-related diseases
• An Earlier Fast Start Time Results in a Reduced Likelihood Of Becoming Obese – Starting a fast earlier (around 8 am) is more effective for fat loss than starting later in the day.
• A Very-Low-Calorie Ketogenic Diet Promotes Weight Loss and Reductions in Visceral Adipose Tissue and Liver Fat Fraction – While a VLCKD can promote weight loss, long-term carbohydrate deprivation can have significant negative impacts on your health. If you’re going to go on a ketogenic diet, it’s important to add sufficient sodium to your diet, stay well-hydrated, and incorporate “carb re-feeds.”
• Intermittent Calorie Restriction Reduces Triglycerides and Improves Insulin Resistance – Intermittent Calorie Restriction is just as effective as continuous calorie restriction for lowering triglycerides and improving insulin resistance.
• Intermittent Fasting Is a Feasible Weight Loss Strategy to Improve Metabolic Syndrome – Intermittent fasting can help bring down high blood pressure and sugar, reduce fat, and lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels—all markers of metabolic syndrome.

Finally, as a “last-minute addition” bonus to this fasting article…

…I was recently reading Examine Research Digest (one of my favorite, fast ways to stay up-to-date on handy summaries of the latest nutrition and exercise research), and came across a review of a study by and interview with Jeffrey Rothschild, the author of a new paper entitled “What Should I Eat before Exercise? Pre-Exercise Nutrition and the Response to Endurance Exercise: Current Prospective and Future Directions.”

Are you doing fasted workouts?

IF so, what type of workouts are you doing?  Duration, frequency, and intensity?

When are you eating after your workout?

Do you wait until you are hungry to eat after a workout?

Are you taking any supplements pre and post workouts?  IF so, what are you taking and before what type of workout.

Let me know!

The WHOLESTIC Method Coach,

Debbie Potts