24/03/2021
๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐บ๐ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ผ๐๐? ๐ค
This is a great question and one that we get asked a lot!
The short answer is YES! You should have breakfastโฆ if you have time and itโs not going to give you belly ache when you start leaping around. [The exception is if you are an ultra-athlete aiming to become โfat-adaptedโ โฆ but thatโs a whole different thing!]
Hereโs whyโฆ
๐ While you sleep, your body continues to use energy. During an 8 hour sleep your body might use between 400 and 720 calories! Unless youโre in the habit of raiding the fridge in your sleep, your energy stores will become depleted overnight. When you wake up, try to eat breakfast as soon as possible; youโll give your body more time to start processing your food before your training session starts.
๐ The bodyโs preferred energy source for physical activity is glycogen. We obtain glycogen from carbohydrates. Studies have shown that we work out harder and for longer when properly fuelled-up with carbs. [1] The longer or more intense your workout, the more important it is to fuel up.
๐ When glycogen stores become depleted, our bodies move to using more fat for energy. However, fat can only provide energy for lower intensity activity and the body is unable to perform at peak intensities. Anyone who has experienced โhitting the wallโ as a runner or โbonkingโ as a cyclist will know what this feels like.
๐ Itโs also been shown that exercising in a fasted state can lead to oxidation of muscles. Your body burns your muscles for fuel! Not good if maintaining or increasing muscle mass is one of your goals! [2]
๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ (๐ณ๐ฎ๐) ๐น๐ผ๐๐? No. Studies have shown that whether you eat breakfast before or after exercising makes no difference to overall weight (fat) loss. [3,4]
๐ ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ปโ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐น๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ-๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐๐น๐น ๐๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต? Make sure you keep your glycogen stores topped-up the day before. If you canโt eat a full breakfast, try a small snack. Go for easily digestible, low fibre options. And if you canโt manage to eat anything at all before exercising, be sure to keep your exercise at a lower intensity and for a shorter duration.
๐ And finally, remember to refuel properly after your training session! A combination of protein (around 20g) and carbohydrates has been found to be more effective for refuelling than a meal of carbohydrates alone.
References:
1. Zajac, 2014; Maughan and Shirreffs, 2012; Hawley et al, 2011; Morton et al, 2009
2. Blomstrand E, Saltin B. Journal of Physiology. 514:293-302, 1999
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25429252/
4. Horowitz JF, Mora-Rodriguez R, Byerley LO,and Coyle EF. Substrate metabolism when subjects are fed carbohydrate during exercise. Am J Physiol 276(5 Pt 1): E828-E835, 1999.
