Should You Eat Before or After Exercising in the Morning

by Stephen Holt, CSCS — ACE Personal Trainer of the Year

 

I got this question through Messenger a second ago …

Q: “When exercising in the morning do we eat before or after?”

A: It depends. (I know, EVERYONE hates that answer.)

There MAY a slight advantage in fasted exercise. On the other hand, the lack of food makes some people exercise at a lower intensity, so any possible advantage is lost with them.

If you’re the kind of person who gets “hangry,” you’ll probably want to have something small an hour or so before working out.

Play around with your macros (protein, carbs, fat) until you find what works for you. [Don’t be swayed by what the gurus say worked for THEM.]

If on the other hand, you’re like me and often just plain forget to eat, you should be fine exercising without eating.

Try this scientific experiment …

(Okay, okay – there’s no control group, and it’s not even SINGLE blind – but you get my point.)

Try each (breakfast vs. no breakfast) for at least a couple of weeks each and see how you feel. There’s no easy rule here since everybody’s different.

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Do YOU eat before exercising? If so, what do you have?

Stephen Holt, CSCS

Stephen Holt, CSCS

Timonium personal trainer and nutrition coach

Stephen Holt, CSCS and PN1 coach, has spent over 40 years helping women over 50 build strength and move better. He earned a Mechanical Engineering degree from Duke and runs 29 Again Custom Fitness in Timonium, MD. ACE named him Personal Trainer of the Year, and he has been a finalist 12 times with IDEA, NSCA, and PFP. NBC, Prevention, HuffPost, Women’s Health, Shape, and more have featured his fitness advice.

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