Two of the most commonly recurring questions I get asked by athletes are:
1. Should I eat before I exercise early in the morning?
and 2. What should I eat before exercising early in the morning?
Early morning is a really common time to fit in an exercise session so it's no wonder this question gets asked a lot.
So my goal is to clear things up and help you understand:
- IF you should be eating before morning exercise
- WHY you might need to be eat before morning exercise
- WHAT to eat before morning exercise
- PLUS lots of helpful tips and tricks you can use to help you better fuel your sessions
Part 1: Should I eat before I exercise early in the morning?
Sadly this is not a black and white, yes or no, clear-cut answer.
It depends.
Probably not the simple answer you were after, but that's because we FIRST need to consider a couple of things:
What is the intensity and duration of your training session? If your session lasts less than 60-90 mins and is moderate-low in volume/intensity then you might not need to eat anything and will come down to your own personal preference. If your exercise session lasts longer than 60-90 mins and/or is moderate-high in volume/intensity then you would likely benefit from eating something before you train.
What are the training adaptations for the session? If the training outcomes of your session is performance based then having something to eat beforehand will ensure you have enough fuel in the tank to push yourself and feel good doing it - simply, you're giving your body the energy it needs to work hard. If your training session is looking to specifically support the develop of your aerobic capacity or to increase your ability to oxidise fat as a source of fuel, then training fasted would support these. PLEASE NOTE! Increasing your ability to oxidise fat as fuel does NOT always mean fat loss. There is a lot of misinformation out there claiming that training in a fasted stated can help you to lose body fat due to an increase in fat oxidation. Yes, fat oxidation can increase when you train in an un-fed state, but this will not automatically mean you are going to tap into the fat stored on your stomach or thighs. So please don't purposely avoid eating before exercise as a way to lose body-fat.
Is it practical? Not everyone can stomach eating first thing in the morning. Or it might not be practical to wake up 2 hours earlier to eat and digest something before exercise. Plus you could be sacrificing valuable sleep to do so.
Once you have a good understanding on these, then you can decide if eating before early morning exercise is something to include.
Part 2: What should I eat before exercising early in the morning?
First let me explain why it can be beneficial to eat before early morning exercise...
When you sleep, you are fasting. Fasting is where you're not eating or drinking anything for a period time - in this case, somewhere in the region of 7-10 hours (hopefully!). For you to keep functioning overnight without any intake of calories, your brain and body have to rely on energy stores (called glycogen) found within your liver.
This means that overnight, your liver glycogen stores are being used to help regulate your blood sugar levels and to keep all your vital organs functioning. So when you wake up, your liver glycogen is depleted and needs topping back up.
Your body also relies on your liver glycogen for energy when you exercise.
This is why it can be beneficial to have a carbohydrate-based snack before your early morning exercise as it helps to quickly restore those glycogen stores you used when sleeping.
So now you understand when you might need to eat something before exercising in the morning...
But, WHAT do you eat? Let's have a look.
What and when to eat?
Your snack should be small-moderate in size. A reasonable range to aim for is ~0.5-1g/kg body weight carbohydrate. But you could need more or less than this. The amount you eat before exercise will vary depending on a number of things such as: - the duration of your exercise session - the level of intensity you'll be working at - your tolerance to eating before exercise - the type of training stimulus and your training goals A session that is shorter or less intensive, or has less focus on performance outcomes, aim for the lower end. For a session that is longer, more intensive and/or has high performance outcomes, aim for the higher end. Quite simply, the longer, harder and/or faster you need to work, the more fuel (carbohydrates) you need. For example - if you weigh 70kg, you would look to eat 35-70g carbs depending on your session.
You want simple carbohydrates as these are easy to digest and can be used by your body quickly without overloading your stomach. Simple carbohydrates are pure rocket fuel when it comes to exercise. Your body can break them down quickly meaning they're not sitting in your stomach for long so you can tap into the fuel reserves you need to power through your session straight away.
Avoid foods that contain fibre, fat or protein to avoid any gastrointestinal distress. Foods that contain fibre, fat and/or protein tend to slow down digestion meaning food can be sitting in your digestive track when you exercise, causing feelings of discomfort, sluggishness, bloating or nausea. Given the small window you have to eat and digest before your early morning exercise, it's best to avoid foods that contain these as they require longer (~2-4 hours) to digest.
Aim to eat 30-90 minutes before exercise. This will give your body time to digest what you've eaten and shuttle it to where it's needed to fuel your session.
Examples
Soreen - 100g = 59g carbs
Banana - large (approx. 120g) = 28g carbs
Apple juice - 250ml = 32g carbs
Low fibre cereal e.g., cornflakes, coco pops - 50g = 44g carbs
Bagel with 15g nutella = 53g carbs
2x toast with 15g jam = 45g carbs
TIP - Practice. Practice. Practice!
If you are not used to eating before exercise in the morning, it might take your body time to get used to having something beforehand.
You might also find that you feel better eating certain foods over others. This is where personal preference comes in.
So practice! This might take a little bit of trial and error to find what works for you, what you like and to build up your tolerance to eating before exercise.
You can check out my Instagram posts on this topic by clicking on the links below:
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