Is it better to eat before or after exercise.

DonJose

I recently began a diet coupled with some light exercise, 6 mile walk in the morning and another 6 mile walk in the afternoon. I was just wondering is it better to eat before or after exercise.

youtube!

Light excersice? 12 miles a day!!

Anyway I would say its important that you "carb up" a couple of hrs before you walk,this would mean foods high in carbs to boost your energy levels and low in proteins. You dont want to use up all your energy trying to digest these proteins while you are excercising. It is also very important to eat within 1 hr (max) of excercise, this is EXTREMELY important because other wise your body will think it has been starved and will proceed to eat the muscle you have been trying to build up,resulting in you actually getting fatter.

robodonkey

Defo carbs before exercise (not a slice pan and chips, but something like banana or energy drink). Gotta get the fuel you need for what you are about to do!
I made this mistake a couple of times lately (thinking my lunch will keep me sorted during the evening workout......) resulting in fainting. Not clever. :eek:

ImGettinPaper

Yup eat before exercise. Some scam programs on the internet that you have to sign up to will recommend not eating beforehand. Don't fall for that one!

You need energy and will have a more productive workout if you fuel up beforehand.

marathonic

Totally depends on your goals. I’m assuming you’re looking to lose weight given that, when most people refer to a diet, they are referring to reducing the amount of food they consume (although, in actual fact, a diet refers to what you eat – regardless of whether you’re looking to lose, gain or maintain weight).

If you are looking to lose weight, the purpose of the exercise is to burn calories. A 6 mile walk will burn in the region of 650 calories. By eating additional food before or after the excercise, a person trying to lose weight is reducing the effectiveness of the excercise.

The idea of “carbing up” is mostly suited to high intensity exercise. For example, it would be important for someone who is not looking to lose weight but, rather, training for a marathon, to “carb up” as they are looking to get the miles done as opposed to burn fat. With low intensity exercise like walking, you can burn your fat stores as opposed to carbs so “carbing up” sort of defeats the purpose of your goals.

Previous posts mention things like eating the muscle you have been trying to build up – but nowhere did you say you were trying to build muscle. Personally, my goals are to build muscle so I eat before hand and afterwards.

Do not listen to anyone that gives you advice without knowing your goals.

robodonkey

AFAIK "Carbing up" is one of the body building techniques used before competition, causes the body to do something that makes you look better on the day apparently *insert science bit describing why this works here!* . Not sure if carbing up really makes sense in the context of non-competition lifting/workouts.

That being said, I still say appropriate carbs pre-exercise will give you a better workout, cardio or otherwise.

marathonic

robodonkey wrote: »

AFAIK "Carbing up" is one of the body building techniques used before competition, causes the body to do something that makes you look better on the day apparently *insert science bit describing why this works here!* . Not sure if carbing up really makes sense in the context of non-competition lifting/workouts.

That being said, I still say appropriate carbs pre-exercise will give you a better workout, cardio or otherwise.

"Carbing up" isn't a bodybuilding term.

Basically, the body can store somewhere in the region of 2,000 calories in carbs (varies depending on the individual).

As an example, a marathon is 26.2 miles which burns around 3,000 calories. Obviously, you don't want to eat 3,000 calories during the marathon as you'd have quite a bit of eating to do.

Therefore, you "carb up" before the race - a lot of the bigger races actually host "pasta parties" on the evening before the race to assist you in this "carbing up".

If done correctly, you will have enough carbs in your body to do the first 18 miles or so of the marathon. To get the energy for the rest, you consume food along the route.

For marathons, there is a term known as "hitting the wall" which generally occurs around mile 20. Basically, this is when, if you haven't consumed enough and "carbed up" properly, your carbs are depleted and your energy is drained.

This makes the final few miles feel like absolute hell - trust me, I've been there

Carbing up for a 6 mile walk is unnecessary.

RacoonQueen

12 miles a day of walking? What's that 4 hours or so? Any particular reason for walking and not doing other forms of exercise?

I'd often train on empty - definitely not something you should do every day, there's a reason for me to ocassionally train on empty but eating after you exercise is vital. You need to refuel.

DonJose

Thank you all for your replies, really appreciate it.

RacoonQueen wrote: »

12 miles a day of walking? What's that 4 hours or so? Any particular reason for walking and not doing other forms of exercise?

It takes me roughly 90 minutes to walk the 6 miles, I prefer walking as an exercise as I find it relaxing, due to work I'm usually stuck in front of a computer for up to 12 hours a day so its nice to get out and get some fresh air. I'm currently 125kg and 6ft 1, I've dropped 8kg over the past 3 weeks due to dieting and exercise. I'm pretty much out of shape at the moment so I want to improve my fitness at a slow pace and lose as much body fat as possible. I'm built solid enough so I don't really want to increase muscle mass, I just want to lose the flab. Thanks again for your replies.

Mellor

youtube! wrote: »

Light excersice? 12 miles a day!!

Anyway I would say its important that you "carb up" a couple of hrs before you walk,this would mean foods high in carbs to boost your energy levels and low in proteins. You dont want to use up all your energy trying to digest these proteins while you are excercising. It is also very important to eat within 1 hr (max) of excercise, this is EXTREMELY important because other wise your body will think it has been starved and will proceed to eat the muscle you have been trying to build up,resulting in you actually getting fatter.

That's nonsense.
You don't need to carb up for a 6 mile walk. That's gentle exercise. It might be a good distance, but the intensity is very light.
The same distance could be covered when shopping or with a job on your feet. It's not a huge amount of energy, your body has enough carbs stored to do this, plus at the OPs intensity they will be burning from fat stores leaving carbs pretty full.

Your body isn't going to turn catabolic over a 90min walk.

marathonic wrote: »

Do not listen to anyone that gives you advice without knowing your goals.

+1

robodonkey wrote: »

AFAIK "Carbing up" is one of the body building techniques used before competition, causes the body to do something that makes you look better on the day apparently *insert science bit describing why this works here!* . Not sure if carbing up really makes sense in the context of non-competition lifting/workouts.

Bodybuilders carb up pre-contest to fill glycogen and fill out as much as possible. But its not a bodybuilding unique idea.
Endurance athletes carb-up pre event to have enough energy.
Fighters carb-up pre fight to return to normal weight after cutting glycogen for the weigh-in.
People on low carb diets often carb-up once a week to refuel glycogen stores.

There are lots of reasons to do it. But before a 6km walk isn't on of them. They can even be a benefit when on a diet, but at 125kg, the OP doesn't need to get that specific.

DonJose wrote: »

I'm pretty much out of shape at the moment so I want to improve my fitness at a slow pace and lose as much body fat as possible. I'm built solid enough so I don't really want to increase muscle mass, I just want to lose the flab. Thanks again for your replies.

Don't sweat the details. Eating pre or post excerise is not an issue for 90% of people. Your total intake is what matters, just make sure you eat a deficit. what ever time suits you best, or you find most comfortable.