Pre/Post Run Intake

[Jnr]

Hey guys

Just need a little bit of advice, so I need to get back into shape for tennis, need to lose a tiny bit more weight and build some fitness so I decided to do it via running.

I did a bit of research and, as it stands, I'm leaning towards eating a snack or two high in energy before running then eating the meal when I come back as at that point my metabolism will have kicked in after the run.

Does anyone here have anything else to add or recommend?

Thanks

[diamondd]

some people will argue all day about pre and post workout nutrition, others are adamant it makes no difference.

just do whatever feels right, personally I don't really like eating anything within 1-2 hours of running and might not be hungry for an hour or so afterwards. Really doesn't matter much IMO.

[Fireslide]

I usually go for a run/cycle at the gym when I wake up, then have a breakfast of fruit salad/yoghurt after. Eating anything before generally make it feel horrible. At the end of the session I'm really craving my breakfast and feel like I've earned it. I also find I don't overeat that much doing it that way.

I don't know much about lunch / dinner runs/eating though.

[v4moose]

offtopic slightly. I see your in Perth. Summer pennants? What club you playing for?

If your eating for both fitness and weight loss I would go for a meal of moderate carbs and protein about an hour before hand. Say chicken and rice, or tuna and pasta, so that your muscles have plenty of glycogen for the run.

I generally like about an hour before as my stomach still feels like its got something in it, but has had sometime to digest. (I personally HATE doing any exercise on an empty stomach)

Then when you get back, guzzle the water to expand your stomach and rehydrate . Have something like a plate of steamed vege and a can of tuna or small peice of meet. That should ensure you remain and a caloric deficit while giving your muscled enough protein to rebuild for next time. The extra water will also help you feel full even if the post workout meal is on the smaller side.

[Fireslide]

Also worth giving this series of articles a read.

http://theconversation.edu.au/diets-and ... ction-3721

[discobrad]

If your eating for both fitness and weight loss I would go for a meal of moderate carbs and protein about an hour before hand. Say chicken and rice, or tuna and pasta, so that your muscles have plenty of glycogen for the run.

and going on the "see how you feel" mode - i completely disagree with this. firstly i cant eat before a run of any length, just water.
and for the record, your muscles have plenty of glycogen in them before your run, doesnt matter what is in your stomach...unless you are doing an ironman

[v4moose]

yeh man everyones different when it comes to pre run food.

personally just feel so flat if i havn't eaten anything for over an hour before a run - maybe i'm just weird like that.

[diamondd]

yeh man everyones different when it comes to pre run food.

personally just feel so flat if i havn't eaten anything for over an hour before a run - maybe i'm just weird like that.

nah its not just you, if I go for a run in the morning before eating anything it makes 2 k's feel like 10.

[Fireslide]

Well you do need some energy before a run, eating nothing is a bad idea. But running less than an hour or two after eating is also a bad idea. I find I have enough energy from the meals I ate the day before to carry me through the run so I can do a morning gym session. After you run you want carbs usually.

[discobrad]

why do you need food before a run? your muscles already have the glycogen in them for exercise - i have done heaps of running/training/sport with no food in my stomach and it doesnt affect my performance at all. have also done 24 hour fasts (if you remember my posts on that a year or 2 ago) and trained that day, no change at all

[Chooky]

Disco is spot on, you don't need a full belly to workout at all. If anything, i find anything apart from water slows me down and makes me feel heavy.

You do need to eat right though, you have to ensure you are replacing the glycogen you are burning/consuming when you workout.

which ties me into something i heard recently.

There is no such thing as over training, only under recovering and under refueling

[Jnr]

Alright guys. Thanks for the help thus far.

I've run into a little problem. My body just feels so weak when running. It's happened the past four days I've gone running. I think it may be a combination of lack of sleep/lack of recovery time and possibly not enough intake pre run, I feel it heavily when doing my sprints (40m bursts)

Has anyone here ever experienced this? Is there any tips to rectify this? I usually eat a few pieces of fruit about 10 minutes before running.

[diamondd]

if you're sprinting hard like you should be you're going to be left feeling worn out. If you feel just as good as you did when you started you haven't done anything

having said that though, make sure you get at least 8 hours sleep if you can, and don't do high intensity sprints too often, 2-3 times a week is plenty if you're working hard.

EDIT: if you're not 100% confident about how your running schedule is structured give this a go:

I was bored on the tram the other and whipped this up, a monthly template for your running for football.

Now granted everyone is training and this is more of an off season running plan so this won't come in handy until October/November this year.

The template is broken up into long, medium and short distance sprints, there is no 10km runs here, and Collingwood's Fitness Director David Buttifant agrees.

It progresses up in volume over 3 weeks then drops it back on the 4th week and off you go again. I believe if more players took planed deloading periods during their training they would actually see greater results and less injuries as the year goes on. AFL players do it so why don't you?

Short Distance (SD) is anything 0 - 40m with a focus on starting speed and acceleration.

Medium Distance (MD) is anything 40 - 200m focusing on reaching then maintaining top speed.

Long Distance is anything 1km and above focusing on aerobic endurance.

To calculate the rest period we're going to use a work:rest ratio. For those unfamiliar with them it refers to timing your set then using a predetermined equation as your rest period. So if we opt for a 1:3 work:rest (w:r) ratio, then if your 1st set takes 3:30mins, then you'll rest 10.30mins between sets.

That might seem like a lot of rest but we're after quality here, not a lot of **** running volume.
For SD use a full rest which still won't be very long anyway as the sets will only take 5 - 7secs or so.

For MD use an almost full rest, about 80 - 90% rest but no shorter.

Week 1
SD 10 x 20m / MD 3 x 200m / LD 1 x 2km, 2 x 1km (between the 2km and 1km sets use a 1:2 w:r ratio and also sue a 1:2 w:r ratio between the 1km sets)

Week 2
SD 10 x 20m, 5 x 30m / MD 4 x 200m / LD 1 x 2km, 3 x 1km (1:2 w:r ratio between 2km and 1km sets then 1:3 w:r ratio for the 1km sets)

Week 3
SD 10 x 20m , 10 x 30 / MD x 5 x 200m / LD 2 x 2km, 3 x 1km (use a 1:3 w;r ratio for the 2km sets and a 1:2 w:r ratio for the 1km sets)

Week 4
SD 5 x 30m / MD 3 x 150m / LD 1 x 2km

The weekly volume looks like this:

Week 1
SD - 200M / MD - 600M / LD - 4km = 4.8kms

Week 2
SD - 350m / MD - 800M / LD - 5kms = 6.15kms

Week 3
SD - 500M / MD - 1000M / LD - 7kms = 8.5kms

Week 4
SD - 150m / MD - 450m / LD - 2kms = 2.6kms

Give it a go.

I had a veeery good time doing this and I'm about to get started again (after a few weeks off from this season )

[Capt.no0b]

If your eating for both fitness and weight loss I would go for a meal of moderate carbs and protein about an hour before hand. Say chicken and rice, or tuna and pasta, so that your muscles have plenty of glycogen for the run.

and going on the "see how you feel" mode - i completely disagree with this. firstly i cant eat before a run of any length, just water.
and for the record, your muscles have plenty of glycogen in them before your run, doesnt matter what is in your stomach...unless you are doing an ironman

I'm with disco on the I can't eat before exercise. But then because my work (and therefore my waking hours) are all over the place, I tend to eat when I'm hungry. That being said I watch meal sizes and tend to eat more frequently with smaller meal sizes. I also tend to exercise before I go to work. It wakes me up and makes me feel refreshed, but also hungry. So I eat.

I tried following what other people have said, but this works for me. Everybody is different. Find something that works for you and go for it.

[Jnr]

Alright. So far so good.

I've been running every night for the past few weeks and I've noticed myself getting fitter and stronger. And I've lost a bit of weight as well.

I've been recording weight loss, and found this week I put on 400grams. Sure, it's not that much, but considering I was running every night and some nights not even eating, I am not sure how. I recently introduced having a smoothie after every run;

1 and a half bananas, 1 apple, 2 raw eggs and a few strawberries with water.

I'm wondering if the sugar/carb intake is potentially what caused the weight gain?