Early morning workouts

[Stac]

I get up to workout at around 4:15 a.m. every morning, then shower/get ready, THEN eat breakfast. I don't eat anything pre-workout since it is so early. I know the Whole30 recommends eating breakfast within an hour of getting up. Should I be eating something pre-workout? Suggestions?

[Tom Denham]

Yes. Even a boiled egg before your workout would be a good thing. Eating food early in the day is an important hormonal signal. When you eat more than an hour after waking, your hormonal rhythms are likely to fall outside of their ideal parameters. 

 

Some people can stomach working out after eating a few bites, while others cannot. Or you may find that you can eat a closed handful of nuts, but not an egg. Do the best you can. And if it is going to be more than 30 minutes after the end of your workout and before breakfast, your muscles would appreciate a serving of lean protein. Muscles are more open to nourishment immediately after a workout and giving them lean protein quickly improves recovery times. I thought this was silly when I first heard about it, but I when I actually started eating a post-workout meal, my recovery times did improve. 

[Renee Lee]

Pre-workout meals are very very VERY individual. Though we recommend a mini-meal before a workout, if it doesn't work for you and your schedule, and you're performing fine, i don't think going without is going to derail your progress. Try the pre-workout meal a couple of tries; but drop it if you feel nauseous or if your performance suffers. Good luck!

[SusanB.]

I've got this same issue - early morning timing of exercise and food just don't jive in an ideal manner.

 

Suggestions welcome for what/how to make this work:

 

5:00 wake

6:00-7 workout

shower (at gym), travel to work

8:00 "main breakfast" at office

 

Breakfast at work is pretty steady - tuna and sweet potato cakes. I need something portable that I can heat up in our kitchen, and they fit the bill.

 

Things that are pretty non-negotiable: wake time - "wake up earlier" is an impossibility as I have difficulty getting up this early as it is. It's very difficult to wind down at night in adequate time to get a reasonable amount of sleep. Also, workout time. With my work schedule and my commute, my option is really 6am or nothing.

 

Considerations: 1) my workouts vary in intensity - yoga to non-cardio strength training to swimming to high-intensity intervals. Not sure if I need to tailor different foods depending on what I'm doing?; and 2) at the moment, I have been working out on an empty stomach so that breakfast at 8 is my first food of the day. I have an extraordinarily finicky stomach (get nauseated very easily) and find that my energy level is decent, so I haven't felt like I needed to eat pre-workout. But....I know that's not a plan-compliant way of doing things.

 

I would be much obliged if people who have solved problems like this could share what has worked for them?

[zooflute]

Book marking for future reference.  My workouts are supposed to be at 5:30 a.m., and going to be bed any earlier than 9 p.m. is super difficult.  I like the boiled egg idea. 

[Physibeth]

I've got this same issue - early morning timing of exercise and food just don't jive in an ideal manner.

 

Suggestions welcome for what/how to make this work:

 

5:00 wake

6:00-7 workout

shower (at gym), travel to work

8:00 "main breakfast" at office

 

Breakfast at work is pretty steady - tuna and sweet potato cakes. I need something portable that I can heat up in our kitchen, and they fit the bill.

 

Things that are pretty non-negotiable: wake time - "wake up earlier" is an impossibility as I have difficulty getting up this early as it is. It's very difficult to wind down at night in adequate time to get a reasonable amount of sleep. Also, workout time. With my work schedule and my commute, my option is really 6am or nothing.

 

Considerations: 1) my workouts vary in intensity - yoga to non-cardio strength training to swimming to high-intensity intervals. Not sure if I need to tailor different foods depending on what I'm doing?; and 2) at the moment, I have been working out on an empty stomach so that breakfast at 8 is my first food of the day. I have an extraordinarily finicky stomach (get nauseated very easily) and find that my energy level is decent, so I haven't felt like I needed to eat pre-workout. But....I know that's not a plan-compliant way of doing things.

 

I would be much obliged if people who have solved problems like this could share what has worked for them?

 

Just to put your mind at ease...as long as your food choices all fall within the rules you are being compliant. That is different from recommendations. We recommend for optimum results and hormone balance eating something within an hour of waking. It doesn't have to be much. You could try a hand full of nuts, a hard boiled egg, a spoon of coconut butter. Ideally something with protein and fat. If you really can't handle that then you are still compliant though.

[SusanB.]

Just to put your mind at ease...as long as your food choices all fall within the rules you are being compliant. That is different from recommendations. We recommend for optimum results and hormone balance eating something within an hour of waking. It doesn't have to be much. You could try a hand full of nuts, a hard boiled egg, a spoon of coconut butter. Ideally something with protein and fat. If you really can't handle that then you are still compliant though.

 

Okay, this is good to hear. I am sure I can swing a handful of nuts!