Food before or after Gym?

CountryWise

Quite simply, should i eat before or after gym? if i go to gym on my lunch break and then eat a sandwhich a while later am i wasting my time?

Or if i eat before am i burning up more calories when in the gym?

Any advice appreciated!

Superdub2

CountryWise wrote:

Quite simply, should i eat before or after gym? if i go to gym on my lunch break and then eat a sandwhich a while later am i wasting my time?

Or if i eat before am i burning up more calories when in the gym?

Any advice appreciated!

Well if you go to do weights you shud be eating in the next half hour to 40 minutes after, and esting a proper lunch or meal. Im not too sure bout the benefits or drawbacks of eating before the gym but i find that if you eat heavy before the gym you feel bloated and heavy and will not perform to your best, be it weights or cardio.

Personally i restrict my food intake in the hour and a half before training to fruit

Degsy

If i'm doing weights i like to get a good carb source in an hour before the gym as i need the energy.If you cant face a big meal beforehand have some maltodextrin in water,otherwise get some spuds or porridge or rice into ya!

Leon11

If your doing a heavy weight session get them carbs into you! About 45 mins ago i had a large brown scone (100g), 100g chicken, 50g strawberries. Off now in a couple of mins and I'll power through the session on what I've just had.

Some people are different and it just takes a bit of messing about for 3-4 sessions to find out what's best.

Definitely eat after training within half an hour. Look to eat again about 2- 2 1/2hrs later if you've really busted your gut in the gym.

Aedh Baclamh

Say you've got a weights session then cardio (in the form of team training) directly after that session? That'll mean that I won't be able to get some food in until after the cardio session...

t-ha

CountryWise wrote:

Quite simply, should i eat before or after gym? if i go to gym on my lunch break and then eat a sandwhich a while later am i wasting my time?

No, not at all. You need enough food that you feel good & energetic before going to the gym (although you may want to give yourself an hour or more gap before working out or your food can repeat on you, judge the time for yourself) and you need to replenish energy stores after you're finished. This will allow you to recover quicker from your exercise. If you want to lose weight and need to create a calorie defecit somewhere (i.e. on average, use more calories in the day than you eat) then do it somewhere else, like having a smaller dinner and cutting out snacks before bed etc.

CountryWise wrote:

Or if i eat before am i burning up more calories when in the gym?

Yes basically - the better you feel when working out the more calories you will probably get through. Exactly how much/what food you need to feel best depends on yourself. For example, too little carbs (breads, pasta etc.) and you might not have much energy, but if you eat too much you can make yourself sluggish and sleepy so you have to experiment until you find that sweet-spot.

Lastly, have a read through the stickies to give yourself a better understanding of nutrition. Diet/nutrition is very important when looking to shift bodyfat. Also, if you're not sure what kind of exercise you should be doing in the gym then search your main goals, or write them here so people can point you in the right direction. If you're just starting, have a read of this programme and see if it suits what you want.