Diet with early morning workout?

[returnofthdragon]

Welcome to the board. I have the same issues as you and my workout begins at 5:30am. You really do need a preworkout meal, its extremely important - you need to break that fast, and fuel your workout. I'm up at 4:30am 5 days a week with eggs cooking in the pan, oats in the microwave, etc. My meal is:

3 whole eggs (fried in PAM spray), 1/2 cup of oats cooked in the mic, and another 1/2 cup of oats mixed (not blended) right into a protein shake. Works well for me!

So we are similar minus the eggs and timing. I can move everything up. What do you do post workout and when is your next meal?

[gbrice75]

So we are similar minus the eggs and timing. I can move everything up. What do you do post workout and when is your next meal?

My PWO is 2 scoops of whey in 1 cup of water + 1 cup of skim milk. I dump 1 cup of oats right into the shake and chew em up.

My next meal is 2 hours later (should be sooner, i know) - a medium sweet potato (about 50g carbs) and 6oz chicken breast.

[steakline]

Hey so working out on an empty stomach is not a good idea? I have read you will burn more fat, but I have also read the opposite you will burn muscle. I am just getting back in the gym. What I remember from the past is in fitness and diet is you usually find people who believe the opposite.

[cybernox]

Hey so working out on an empty stomach is not a good idea? I have read you will burn more fat, but I have also read the opposite you will burn muscle. I am just getting back in the gym. What I remember from the past is in fitness and diet is you usually find people who believe the opposite.

Basically it burns everything lol. Seriously, you want to gain quality muscles then you need a PWO and fuel up before gym.

[gbrice75]

Hey so working out on an empty stomach is not a good idea? I have read you will burn more fat, but I have also read the opposite you will burn muscle. I am just getting back in the gym. What I remember from the past is in fitness and diet is you usually find people who believe the opposite.

Doing cardio on an empty stomach is something alot of people agree with, particularly on this board.

Weight training on an empty stomach is counter productive and a big no no - firstly you need food to fuel the workout and help you make/keep it intense, and secondly on an empty stomach, you run a much higher risk of actually burning muscle.

[cybernox]

Doing cardio on an empty stomach is something alot of people agree with, particularly on this board.

Weight training on an empty stomach is counter productive and a big no no - firstly you need food to fuel the workout and help you make/keep it intense, and secondly on an empty stomach, you run a much higher risk of actually burning muscle.

If you want to gain muscles you shouldnt do anything empty stomach - not even cardio.

[YoungGunsNY]

If you want to gain muscles you shouldnt do anything empty stomach - not even cardio.

Oh geez - here we go again.. this was debated many times on this board .. and throughout those debates I came to the conclusion fasted cardio is very good to promote fat-loss. Maybe some bcaas before to help out.

[cybernox]

Oh geez - here we go again.. this was debated many times on this board .. and throughout those debates I came to the conclusion fasted cardio is very good to promote fat-loss. Maybe some bcaas before to help out.

Yup. Atleast BCAA should be added to help out muscles. But if you are a BIG FAT GUY then fasted cardio is good enough. But I remember a few people feeling Dizziness and even vomiting. So I dont really advice working out empty stomach.

[gbrice75]

If you want to gain muscles you shouldnt do anything empty stomach - not even cardio.

I hear you. As YG said, this was a hot topic many times on this board. It's great for fat loss but something has to give. If fat loss is your primary goal, do it but expect higher chances of burning LBM.

If I were 10% - 12% bodyfat i'd never do cardio on an empty stomach.