Eat or not before exercise?

[Yippeeforme]

I want to start some basic dumbbell training in the mornings, but I am sooo cranky in the morning without my breakfast first! But the guide says not to eat before exercising. Is there an important medical reason for this, or is it just likely to be a bit uncomfortable to exercise on a full stomach? Is it ok to eat something small first, e.g. a banana? Or will my body simply adjust to the routine after a few miserable days working out on empty?

if I eat 2 hours before exercise (running mostly) I feel sick during and, ahem, my bowels get up a gear.

light stretches would be ok I suppose.

I often have a banana or a yoghurt

For me eating is the exercise. All that opening and closing of my mouth and chewing, surely it's got to be doing something good for me?

You do what suits you best. Exercising without eating means your body takes its energy during exercise from fat stores and your blood sugars are generally more stable while exercising. However, performance, weight loss and fitness gains aren't causally linked to whether or not you've eaten first. If you are happier and in a better place to exercise following food, then eat something an hour before you exercise. Protein is a good choice.

Fasted cardio is fine but fasted lifting is a no-no according to my PT's.

They advise to eat a protein heavy meal/snack 1.5 hours before weight/strength training.

Have something light but not immediately before exercise.

Ok so digestive symptoms are possible consequences of having a full stomach!! I have mild IBS and don't want to kick it off I guess, so if it's a case of not eating too much for breakfast and then waiting an hour to avoid problems then I'm ok with that!

The argument is that fasted training is more effective but the evidence is very shaky. You so what feels best and what makes you perform best.

Personally, that is definitely fasted for me but my sister is quite the opposite.

I guess it depends on what "effective" means, does it mean accelerating weight loss or does it somehow make you build muscle strength and flexibility more quickly? My goal with weight training is to strengthen up my weak muscles and gain flexibility, while weight is something I'm inclined to address with diet and I don't really relate it to exercise. (Plus if I think of weight training as something to do with my looks I know I'll get really judgmental looking at myself and feel discouraged!)

RE effectiveness, the theory (and practice) is that fasted training means the exercise directly uses fat stores to fuel your body. This is obviously desirable in theory. However, the evidence doesn't show any difference in results whether it's weight loss or improved muscle mass.

Lifting the weights will build your strength. Eating before or not eating before is a decision to make based on what works for you. If you are wanting to increase flexibility too, you'll need to add other training alongside the lifting.

I rarely eat before working out as it affects my blood sugars and can make my performance a little patchy. Only exception is very long runs when I need to fuel a little beforehand or I hit a wall around 15km.

Same as Show, but I think if you eat after exercise you utilise the uel differently.

You could probably eat and then do dumbbells, it's jumping around and running that's rarely a good idea after eating! I'm not good without breakfast but if i don't stop and think about it I can run a few miles first thing before I eat (don't often choose to do it but I can if needed!).

Ok so I've worked out my routine now! Stretches first when I wake up, then dance practise, then yes and toast for breakfast (and a rest!) then weights! So far so good but I guess when I outgrow my very basic 2.5kg weights that might change.

I'm surprised by how lovely and meditative weight training is. There's a similar focus on breathing to what I recall from yoga, only without the spiritual wishy washy stuff. My mind feels better after, let alone my body 🙂