what constitutes a workout?

[jlpaul88]

What merits an additional pre and post WO meal? Any differentiation in pre/post nutrition if the workout is solely strength training, a mix of strength/conditioning, or purely aerobic activities? What about long Crossfit workouts vs short metcon "finishers" or <10 minutes of KB swings/snatches, etc?

1/2 serving of protein+fat before, low fat protein + starches afterwards for any or all of these activities?? MY goals are fat loss but strength maintenance. Any thoughts are appreciated!!

[Flynn]

My workouts are usually 12-20 minutes of body weight HIIT or weights first thing in the morning, then I eat egg whites, sweet potatoes and greens for a post workout meal. If It's the weekend and I'm going hiking or some longer kind of exercise, I'd eat something beforehand. This is working great for me so far!

[Tom Denham]

Shorter, less intense workouts require less nutritional support, but you might want to eat a little something pre- and post if it is convenient. If fat loss is important, you can skip carbs/starches in your post-workout meal. Your muscles need some protein, but can live without the carbs, especially if you are not doing two-per day sessions or lifting heavy two days in a row.

[Megan Claydon]

For leaning out. I generally try to workout in a fasted state no matter what kind of workout.

For strength training I stick to protein only for Post. If there is a metcon over 8 minutes I will start to add post workout carbs in the form of a sweet potato. I start off with a fist size portion of sweet potato and then increase from there as necessary based on how long the WOD was.

Basically I measure my intensity by my ability to talk during the workout. Strength training is taken at an easy conversational pace, so I keep it to just protein. WOD's tend to be less to no talking other than "TIME!" so in that case I add the sweet potato.

Hope that helps! Try if for 2 weeks and see how your recovery goes.

I know personally that if I don't get that protein in...I'm guaranteed to be sore the next day. Thus, I always get it in.

1/2 serving of protein+fat before, low fat protein + starches afterwards for any or all of these activities?? MY goals are fat loss but strength maintenance. Any thoughts are appreciated!!

[jlpaul88]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Right now I'm training strength 5x/week, a mix of heavy low volume + some farmers walks and higher reps (8-12) of some exercises mixed in with limited rest. Unless its a heavy DL day, then I'm also doing anywhere between 5-20 minutes of kb swing intervals or sprints. I think I'll try to go by the book and include a pre-WO snack of protein + fat and try limiting the carbs if its a shorter metcon day.

i was probably about 70-80% paleo before starting this W30, so I'm not getting too many "low carb flu"-like symptoms, but has anyone else experienced feeling lackluster during workouts without carbs just prior? I know that strength + conditioning isnt my main goal, but i still feel lethargic in my first few workouts so far.

[NLK]

I don't feel good training if I'm running low carb. I need to keep a decent amount of higher starch carbs (sweet potatoes or ripe bananas) to recover and feel decent. I haven't played much with higher carbs pre workout, like meals prior not necessarily the true pre workout meal but I do think it is what I need to do when I'm closer to goal weight since I don't feel like I'm operating at max level now.