no carbs pre workout

[jwy5034]

I have noticed better energy in both weight training workouts and high intensity cardio when I DON'T consume carbs before...

1) anyone know why? I thought carbs only help with performance when ingested pre

2) is it ok to weight train and do high intensity running with only protein+fat pre or is it damaging to gains in anyway? I'll have carbs post workout...

thanks

[JohnnyBravo]

I have noticed better energy in both weight training workouts and high intensity cardio when I DON'T consume carbs before...

1) anyone know why? I thought carbs only help with performance when ingested pre

How close was your meal to training, what type of carbs, what type of fats how was your "energy" better, did you just "feel" better, were you stronger? more endurance? more "intense?"

probably need more information to really answer. Could be a number of things, including just having a blood sugar "low" during your workout.

2) is it ok to weight train and do high intensity running with only protein+fat pre or is it damaging to gains in anyway? I'll have carbs post workout...

thanks

I'm sure it is "ok" but it will probably hinder your gains, regardless of whether your pre-w/o meal is p/f. p/c or p/f/c

[shffl]

What kind of carbs are you consuming and how much? Consuming too much can make some more lethargic or even experience some adverse affect due to something along the line of too much insulin and bad sensitivity (or something like that, I don't recall the exact thing so you may have to look it up yourself)...someone else can correct me bc I'm sure I made an error somewhere there lol

I feel lethargic when I consume too much carbs or if my carb sources are from sugary products. For the longest time I consume P+F during recomps and recently reintroduced carbs into my pre-wo meals. However, the carbs I consume now are mostly slow digesting and I couple it with some fat (thanks John Meadow for this advise) and it works perfectly.

[Michael Travis]

....I'm sure it is "ok" but it will probably hinder your gains, regardless of whether your pre-w/o meal is p/f. p/c or p/f/c

Why?

[steel1970]

Why?

I was thinking he mistyped and meant "will NOT hinder", but I'm not sure....

[JohnnyBravo]

I misread. Thought he was training and then doing HIT. but no a p/f meal before training or high intensity cardio would be perfectly fine

[AutoKal47]

I have noticed better energy in both weight training workouts and high intensity cardio when I DON'T consume carbs before...

1) anyone know why? I thought carbs only help with performance when ingested pre

2) is it ok to weight train and do high intensity running with only protein+fat pre or is it damaging to gains in anyway? I'll have carbs post workout...

thanks

I'm no expert but I can report my experience,
I've been training fasted for 5 years and I'm a low carber,
never had problems with the intensity, actually quite the opposite.
When training fasted you get Catecholamines release, which can be described
as some sort of adrenaline rush (adrenaline/epinephrine is actually a Catecholamine),
so you get energy form that.
Also some people/bodies work well with carbs some other don't. I happen not to,
I don't get any energy from carbs (they make me groggy and weak actually) while
I always notice more energy when/if I boost fats a bit.
I wouldn't get fats around the workout tho', protein is fine, BCAA/EAAs are even better imho.
my 2 cents

[jwy5034]

I'm no expert but I can report my experience,
I've been training fasted for 5 years and I'm a low carber,
never had problems with the intensity, actually quite the opposite.
When training fasted you get Catecholamines release, which can be described
as some sort of adrenaline rush (adrenaline/epinephrine is actually a Catecholamine),
so you get energy form that.
Also some people/bodies work well with carbs some other don't. I happen not to,
I don't get any energy from carbs (they make me groggy and weak actually) while
I always notice more energy when/if I boost fats a bit.
I wouldn't get fats around the workout tho', protein is fine, BCAA/EAAs are even better imho.
my 2 cents

Yeah, I don't train fasted, but carbs also makes me feel groggy and lethargic. I heard it's better for fat loss to have no carbs pre anyway and I'm currently trying to cut bf.

[AutoKal47]

Yeah, I don't train fasted, but carbs also makes me feel groggy and lethargic. I heard it's better for fat loss to have no carbs pre anyway and I'm currently trying to cut bf.

Well if you're trying to cut the most important thing is for you to be in calorie deficit,
food timing has lil impact on body composition in my experience.
What I'm saying is simple you don't *need* to have carbs pre (or post for that matters..)
workout, if you're workout intensity is the same without (or even better) then you don't have
to worry about anything, you won't go catabolic, you won't lose muscle..
Keep it simple and do what works for you

[steel1970]

You guys are both saying that carbs make you groggy. I would look at the types of carbs you are eating and even put some good fats in there with slow burning carbs, and then see if you feel the same effect....I know with high GI carbs I feel like shit, but with slow burners, plus a bit of fat, my energy is thru the roof, and I stay fuller longer......

[DCBliever]

Here is the thing, even high GI carbs pre workout aren't the ones that help with your performance. Ask the guys who SKIPload, Monday, traditionally the day after the load they have kick ass workouts, they would probably feel like garbage if they trained on that day. The only thing preworkout carbs do is spike insulin which is good for driving aminos into muscle but they aren't going to make your performance better per say, it's the stuff you eat the day before.

[AutoKal47]

I feel much worse with slow digesting/low GI carbs, and trust me i've been trying all the usual suspects in the last two years combined, one kind at the time.. Complex carbs just makes my body miserable. Simple carbs instead i'm able to eat, i was avoiding them like the plague before reading Skip's guinea pig experiment and started skiploading (so yes i do skipload).
But still, the next day i feel groggy and if i'm lucky NOT weaker, just the same as usual.
So for me carbs, of any kind, don't give me any energy, never have.
Now maybe mine is a case on its own, i've been low carber for so long that my body got used to work without them, but the main reason i turned into a low carber was exactly because complex carbs made me feel weak and groggy

[Pheedno]

I'm similar to auto. I train fasted on Sundays because it's the only day I can train in the morning. It's always my most productive and intense workout.
Slow digesting carbs, with or without fat almost always make me tired. "white carbs" like white rice, potato, etc. do not make me tired at all, as long as they are in a good portion(30-40g worth of carbs). I've evolved into a lower carb approach(150-220g a day) and it's excellent, at least for me. I also train extremely high volume. Usually 18-25 sets per bodypart.

[JohnnyBravo]

I would just stick with it then if its working for you