Working out in the a.m. on an empty stomach

[Guinness5.0]

Is this a bad thing? If so, why? I did this for about a year and made incredible progress, but it was upon returning from a multi-year layoff. For me right now, it's easiest, schedule-wise, to just roll out of bed, throw on my gym clothes, and hit the weights. Is there evidence (anecedotal or otherwise) that this is a bad idea?

 

[The Shadow]

Depends:


Fat loss = cardio on empty
LBM gains = having cals and protein inthe system



......neither can be maximized in a single session of cardio and lifting



Do cardio am to keep of fat while lifting later inthe day works best for the majority

 

[Cynical Simian]

Elevated cortisol (at least until you eat something), relatively carb-depleted and dehydrated state...

Just put some whey and some sort of carbohydrate in a cup/shaker the night before and slam that on your way out the door.

 

[Protobuilder]

Low blood glucose levels = bad for weight training. How bad? I don't know. But considering that, like CS mentioned, you can raise blood glucose levels relatively easy, there's not much reason to do it in a true fasted state. Drink 8 oz. of milk and a piece of fruit or a slice of toast or something. Just something to kick the glucose levels back up. You don't have to do a BiggT breakfast.

edit: forgot something else . . . "studies have shown" that amino acids in teh bloodstream before your workout have a large impact on protein synthesis (or something else that's important, LoL, I don't remember the details). You can achieve this by just eating like a normal person, LoL, or by downing a small bit of protein shake 30 min's before you lift. If you eat every few hours, you'll be fine. But coming out of teh nighttime fast, you'll have no/few aminos in the blood. Another argument for drinking a bit of whey and a slice of toast or something beforehadn.

 

[fortunatesun]

Strictly ancedotal:
Bill Pearl did that- woke up in the middle of the night to train. I think he did have some sort of protein beforehand, not much, and then eat a big breakfast afterwards and again 2 hrs lator. I forget his actual theory, I bet alot of Bbuilders on here know it though. I seem to remember that he thought you should pop BCAAs throughout your workout to keep energy levels up.

 

[needtogetaas]

Depends:


Fat loss = cardio on empty
LBM gains = having cals and protein inthe system



......neither can be maximized in a single session of cardio and lifting



Do cardio am to keep of fat while lifting later inthe day works best for the majority

smart man.knows his shit

 

[Guinness5.0]

LOL - I guess it wouldn't kill me to drink some milk before heading out.

FWIW I've had many more workouts ruined by overeating beforehand than by being hungry during the session; hence the question.

 

[BiggT]

Guinness....I wouldn't even recommend overeating pre-training, and I do recommend overeating, lol......AMs are tough for me, if you can do it and get it done, go for it.....I have used early mornings for cardio before and for LIGHT olympic lifts and some abs and calves etc to "prep" for a heavy second session later in the day.

I wouldn't ever go on an empty stomach.....you'll be asking to crash and have a shitty workout. I don't even think simply protein is adequate......what always worked wonders for me was 2 eggo waffles with peanut butter and a glass of milk. Also, and I may be flamed on a "bodybuilding" board for mentioning this endurance sugary crap, but 2 power bars will provide PLENTY of fuel for a workout.....or a MRP like MetRx or Myoplex.....I'd do 2 packets if I was gonna lift heavy for any length of time though.......but get something in you, treat it like a typical pre workout meal....don't gorge, but dont go trying to lift when you're starving.

 

[Tweakle]

It's a totally personal thing, I had to do it at my last job and it sucked.. I barely had the energy to lift and got injured a lot.

If your CNS is switched on in the am, lucky you. I'd need to wake up 60 mins pre workout, knock back a big MRP shake, a handful of Ephidrine and a double expresso to make it thru alive.

 

[fortunatesun]

Protein bars work great for me, also. Strange because there aren't too many things I can get away with vis-a-vis my diet. It must be the miracle of faith and chocolate.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Hmmm... eggos, butter and honey sounds pretty good actually. I can't do peanut butter preworkout - I have no self control with that stuff and I ALWAYS eat too much of it.

 

[damnitmannn727]

Whey shake+Caffeine pill.

 

[silver_shadow]

here's a nice combination you might want to try: milky cold coffee mixed with chocolate flavored whey protein powder.

 

[Protobuilder]

here's a nice combination you might want to try: milky cold coffee mixed with chocolate flavored whey protein powder.

As crazy as that sounds, it actually sounds pretty good. I love coffee. And I like mocha flavored protein powder. I could make up a quart of coffee, toss in some ice cubes and some chocolate protein powder, and have a nice preworkout shake. LoL

 

[get456]

It's a totally personal thing, I had to do it at my last job and it sucked.. I barely had the energy to lift and got injured a lot.

If your CNS is switched on in the am, lucky you. I'd need to wake up 60 mins pre workout, knock back a big MRP shake, a handful of Ephidrine and a double expresso to make it thru alive.

agreed... im useless in the morning when it comes to the gym...

I would say, my compound lifts suffer about 10-15% when I have to lift early as opposed to the normal after work time

 

[Big_Turtle]

Is this a bad thing? If so, why? I did this for about a year and made incredible progress, but it was upon returning from a multi-year layoff. For me right now, it's easiest, schedule-wise, to just roll out of bed, throw on my gym clothes, and hit the weights. Is there evidence (anecedotal or otherwise) that this is a bad idea?

Years ago, when I was first getting serious about lifting, I tried the whole BFL thing for about a month. It calls for your workouts to be first thing in the morning with nothing but a glass of water in your stomach. I never liked it much, personally. It was great to start the day with a bang, all pumped up and feeling like you've already accomplished a lot before you even step foot inside of the office (or classroom or whatever). But I have to agree with some others that even though I felt good afterwards, I usually felt like crap during the workout itself, and my lifts definitely suffered. Couldn't go as heavy, form wasn't always as good, etc. But, that's just me, I like to workout at the end of my day.

 

[tweedr71]

Protein Shake with some frozen yogurt then amp02 or NOxplode works for me. I get to the gym about 30 min after waking and with that can get a nice 2 hour workout in with no problem

 

[Guinness5.0]

Weel I put eggos on my shopping list so I'll see how it feels to have a little something in my belly.

This morning I drank a Monster (the full sugar one) and honestly it didn't feel much different than monday when I lifted on an empty tank. These workouts were not ballbusters, though, so they're probably not the best sample to draw conclusions from...

 

[Tweakle]

how soon before the workout are you necking that sugary goodness? if you can get up 60 mins early I'd suggest cooking some instant oats & blending them up into a thick shake.. but if it's less than an hour before the workout it probably wont make a difference.

 

[Guinness5.0]

how soon before the workout are you necking that sugary goodness?

LOL

I downed the thing in the car on the way to the gym. I may be able to come up with an hour. I could eat breakfast, cook my lunches, then hit the gym.

I may end up swithching to PM workouts if lifting so soon after waking starts to affect me. The problem with that is how I can't "come down" off the exercise buzz soon enough and I stay up way too late.