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Do I really need pre/post WO meal?


Alexian28

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I'm starting back to exercise after being off for... well awhile.  I did sporadic exercise over the years but nothing compared to college.  My workouts just don't seem difficult enough to merit extra food and I'd like someone else's opinion.  Perhaps a very small pre-wo meal (1 hard boiled egg?) as I generally eat lunch at noon and go to the gym around 4:30 pm.  Dinner is at 6:30. If I exercise first thing in the morning I can't have any food because meds must be taken on an empty stomach.

 

Here is my exercise routine, each day I'm only at the gym about half an hour.  Each muscle gets two weight lifting exercises (for example, chest press and incline flys for chest routine) except for back, it gets three.

 

A day: 5 min treadmill warm-up, weight lifting chest, shoulders, triceps

B day: 5 min treadmill warm-up, weight lifting back, biceps (optional extra 15 min of cardio on this day)

C day: 5 min treadmill warm-up, weight lifting quads, hamstrings, calves, abs

Cardio: 30 min cardio of whatever I feel like

 

My schedule is 2 days of weight lifting followed by one day of cardio, so A, B, cardio, C, A, cardio, B, C, cardio, etc

 

Thanks for the advice!

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The need for extra nutrition is more about energy expended, not how long you spend in the gym. I sometimes complete workouts in 15 minutes that make me tremble with fatigue.

 

If you work hard enough to produce sweat on a cold day, you would benefit from at least post-workout protein. If you are not putting a strain on your body with the effort you are putting into the workout, you are fine without it. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
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I am wondering what qualifies as a workout. I do very gentle yoga and go for 2 or 4 mile walks. I don't think these are workouts. :)

For Whole30 purposes it is usually any activity that could have depleted your glycogen stores. Gentle yoga and a walk as you have specified above are unlikely to do that. However if you feel hungry afterward or you decide to chase after the dog/kid/butterfly while you are out walking, it would never hurt to eat a little bite of protein and some starchies.

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