do you guys ever eat in the middle of a workout??

Originally posted by biggreene If you are training two parts in a workout, do you take a 10minute break and have a snack or carb drink or something to get your energy back up? For example, tonight is legs and biceps. After squats, leg presses, seated and lying leg curls, and calf raises, I will need to take a break before I hit bis. Last workout i was extremely beat after legs, went straight into bis after a 5 minute break (no food) and it took me a few sets before I was really able to get into it. Would bringing a small snack help? Also, I am training with a partner tonight so the workout will most likely take a little longer, so I could push the 2hr mark. Is it worth the hassle of brining food? Or will it not digest fast enough to make that much of a difference anyway? I will be eating 30 mins before the workout, btw. no no no snaking during and even right before a workout is not good. you should aim to lift weights with a relatively empty stomach. i place 2 hours between my workouts and the meal i eat prior to the workout, and wait 30 to 45 minute after the workout to eat. your body needs to use alot of water and blood for digestion every time you eat. eating and trying to workout at the same time causes the problem with blood distribution, you could end up feeling nausues, slugish, and even puke if your body cannot have enough amounts of blood/water to digest the food in your stomach, since obviously at the same time your muscles will be pumped with blood. if you are aiming to work the legs and the bis together in the same workout and end up not having enough energy to work the bis, then u r either not eating enough calories throughout the day or are simply working waayy too hard during the leg workouts. you gotta balance these things. but i do recommend you have a good post workout drink immediately after the workout, consisting of 40-60g of simple carbs. gatorade is one of the many types out there.

makes sense. guess i will just rake enough rest between and drink a couple of bottles of water before starting bis.

I have read a study that had subjects drink a protien drink total I think was 150 ml . The subjects drank 50 ml every 15-30 mins during the workout . The purpose was to insulin load . It was also reported to maintain energy levels throughout the workout . The study was published in a book called "Sliced " by Negrita Jade back in the mid nineties . It was a bodybuilding nutrition book . I will look up the study again and give more details . It has been a while scince I read it .

I think you absolutely should. As evileye mentioned, there is a study that clearly shows people who ate a high-suger + protein shake just before workout had better muscle growth than those who had just a shake afterwards. Doing a shake just before and after was the best of all three. The study can be found on Brian Haycock's HST training site. As for eating, I found a protein shake is too hard to handle just before a heavy workout like legs. So I now just make myself a shake of Biotest's Surge and sip it over the first 30 minutes of my workout. If you don't want to use Biotest, you can make your own from the Protein Factory. Either way though it tastes like garbage because of the hydrolized whey. But I'm certain that adding this shake has added to my gains and recovery.

hmmm. Thanks guys. post that info evileye if you get the chance.

Hmmm..I just have never eaten during a workout session, especially during leg workouts. If i ate, i fucking throw-up with all the pressure built in the middle!

OMG! I'm amazed at this post. First off there is NO research out there that suggests there is any benefit from "eating" during a workout. Now a liquid meal would might be different but not during a workout Why? First off your body shunts blood from major nonessential organs during exercise. I.e. digestive organs so in that case digestion is usually stopped or slowed down greatly. Second, ingesting protein even in liquid form from a metabolic standpoint is pointless. By the time the protein is deaminated/brokendown and then turned into fuel/glucose you will have probably already ended your workout and by that point the best thing would be to ingest simple carbs to replenish glycogen reserves which is the body's #1 priority after exercise NOT TISSUE REBUILDING which comes later. If your glycogen stores are not restored protein is useless. There are studies specifically like the HST/Haycock study that insinuate combining protein and carbs in a post workout drink is better than simply consuming carbs due to the insulin response and this in turn theoretically shuttling amino acids into muscles more quickly. If you do anything as far a snack, do it before and after your workout. Before to energize you and after to replenish glycogen. It's best to stay away from simple carbs before a workout so you avoid the rebound hypoglycemia. And like the guy said if you can stomach anything during a workout you are probably not working hard enough. Later!

well personally i dont think i have a problem with working hard. That is why i was wondering. Will sipping on a gatorade/water mix during a workout hurt more than help? It sux cause I am eating pretty clean and light lately and legs simply destroys me. I will get it done either way, but if there was a way to get a little more surge for the second part of the workout, Im all ears.

I'm still chewing my food as I walk out the door on my way to the gym To fuel my workouts I'll put about 1/4 cup oatmeal in a bowl, then top it with a scoop of protein powder and some applesauce, mix it up and eat. Lasts me until the end of my workout and I don't get an upset stomach or anything like that.

Originally posted by biggreene well personally i dont think i have a problem with working hard. That is why i was wondering. Will sipping on a gatorade/water mix during a workout hurt more than help? It sux cause I am eating pretty clean and light lately and legs simply destroys me. I will get it done either way, but if there was a way to get a little more surge for the second part of the workout, Im all ears. yah u can do that, people take ephedrine and etc.. to help fuel their workouts... so drinking gatorade would be nothing compared to that.. What ever makes u work harder and lifter heavier.. I work better also right after a meal.. I feel stronger, so go with that. I see nothing wrong in downing a protein drink in the middle of a workout, sounds like a great idea. And u'll know right away if it was a PLUS or a MINUS, just by your performance after u do it.. I would put money down that it would improve, as far as bulking and getting stronger goes.

Originally posted by evileye I have read a study that had subjects drink a protien drink total I think was 150 ml . The subjects drank 50 ml every 15-30 mins during the workout . The purpose was to insulin load . It was also reported to maintain energy levels throughout the workout . The study was published in a book called "Sliced " by Negrita Jade back in the mid nineties . It was a bodybuilding nutrition book . I will look up the study again and give more details . It has been a while scince I read it . well assuming u can somehow keep the food in your stomach and not puke it out, couldnt these benefits be coming from the fact that OVERALL calories are increased seriously though ive been thee done that, while in theory it could be beneficial, i always felt vey sick to the stomach everytime i ate close to workout time. i would be lucky if i could keep the food in, and in some cases i could not.

Originally posted by biggreene well personally i dont think i have a problem with working hard. That is why i was wondering. Will sipping on a gatorade/water mix during a workout hurt more than help? It sux cause I am eating pretty clean and light lately and legs simply destroys me. I will get it done either way, but if there was a way to get a little more surge for the second part of the workout, Im all ears. gatorade is a diff. situation. its 99 percent simple sugars and they can be digested easily and quickly, so there should be no problems there. i use to drink gatorade during, but then i stopped that since i did not see how it will benefit my 1 hour long workouts. i do however drink that immediately after my workouts.

It sux cause I am eating pretty clean and light lately and legs simply destroys me. this statement gives the impression that you are eating "light". when i eat light i can hardly lift my head... when i eat like a horse i am as strong as one too...

I cant see why u couldnt sip on a simple sugar/carb drink during a workout, or sit down like u do, and drink it for 5 min. Simple carbs require very little energy to digest, i mean they are absorbing into our bloodstream even through the lining in your throat. What I would question, and I think someone mentioned it, is that it sounds like your workouts are getting really really long. I think that for maximum muscle growth u require maximim muscle effort, the longer at the gym, the less likely u are to provide each muscle group the max effort it deserves. I would recommend splitting bis out of your leg day and either adding is somewhere else, or adding another workout.