Eating for lifting vs eating for cardio

[Blaze]

Do any of you change your pre workout meal depending on what activity your doing?

Lifting for example vs. a 5 mile run?

[adrian]

good question - I'm afraid I can't answer it, Blaze, but would appreciate someone else doing so.

It seems to me that if I were to run for an hour, the calories used would be more than if I were to lift for an hour. So, the common sense behaviour would be more pre-exercise carbs for cardio.

But do we want more post-workout recovery calories for lifiting than we do for cardio? Over analysis of this has me going in circles, so an authoratitive answer would be great

[SarahPT]

Carbs should be the primary fuel for both. However, you may want a bit more protein before lifting than cardio. Still, having some of both before either is good. Personally I eat a bit higher in carbs/lower in protein before cardio than with weights.

Sarah

[trainerty]

Good advice....if I can add I would pump some l-tyrosine and green tea extract for endurance of cardio....and caffeine for strength training. Just add ins not necessary.

[CF-OC_gal]

I eat more fats when the emphasis is on weights and I eat more carbs when the emphasis is on CV training. Protein go in both.

I also eat more carbs and sooner after a cv workout

[.V.]

Agreeing with most everyone here. If you are doing a 5 mile run it needs fuel. If you are on a higher carb diet then carbs with some protein would be the thing to use before the cardio. Seems to be the thing to use before and after weight training too.

One tip I picked up from some of the real triathletes that all kicked my butt - feed before, during, and after your cardiovascular exercise. Even a short 5 mile run, if you get tired and weak 1/2 way through, a small amount of easily digestable (liquid) carbs/protein would be a good idea. If it's not enough to drain you then you won't need the 1/2 way feeding. Remember you only have a finite amount of glycogen stored and after that your body will use your muscles in addition to fat stores for fuel. Big muscles don't help you run so guess what your body will happily sacrifice?

[Maxgain]

I believe the emphasis should be on the type of carbs and meal sizes.

For running I would have a small pre workout meal of a liquid carbs(malto and some protein) 40 mins before and a larger pre pre workout meal about 1.5 -2 hours before with large amounts of complex carbs

[CF-OC_gal]

I'm no elite athlete, but I do believe what I've read about having to train your body to efficiently use the higher carbs you eat when you want to be more "fuelled" for increased cardio demands. You can't just eat more carbs and expect your body to use them optimally. That would mean gradually increasing the carbs you take in at a time when your body is "looking for them" to replenish glycogen stores along with increasing the intensity of cardio which drives the demand as you adapt.

Nothing is for free. You have to plan it.

For me, I would not consume more than 300 calories not later than 90 minutes before a 5 mile run. Quite frankly, I don't believe you need to do anything special for this distance. Now if you are running a half-marathon or longer, that's different.

As of late I do my running early in the morning and oftentimes take a tablespoon of an essential oil blend plus one piece of fruit for a total of about 200 calories. That is plenty.

In my opinion, most of us are well-fed enough that we really don't need to get that fancy about pre-run eating. Less is better in my opinion.