What to do about Pre- and Post-Workout Snacks

[julesmoz]

Hi, there!

I have some questions about pre- and post-workout snacks . . .

How important are they, and how are they used in the body?

What does the body burn for fuel during workouts? Doesn't it use glycogen, fat and other energy stores?

Does it burn different things depending on the activity (aerobic vs. anaerobic, weight training vs. cardio)?

If I'm not hungry beforehand, do I need a pre-workout snack? It seems that since it takes a while for the body to digest food and make it ready for use, it wouldn't use a pre-workout snack much (except for the sugar). Does a pre-workout piece of fruit, say, put sugar into the bloodstream that the body uses before having to turn to its own energy reserves?

If I'm not hungry after a workout, should I still eat a little something to restore the glycogen in my muscles? I've read that muscles are 3X more receptive to it during the 30-90 minutes following cardio. But that's the time I like to take to stretch and do yoga . . .

I'm still in the detox/rebuilding stage, and I certainly don't want to undermine by body's work at regrowth by not fueling it as it needs.

At the same time, I'm trying to slow down my metabolism so that I can gain weight. I seriously used to eat every hour, and I'm now getting my body used to eating two or three big meals, as opposed to constant tiny meals. It's been great so far, and it's SO much more convenient to not have to eat all the time! I feel much better for it, too.

That being said, do snacks speed up the metabolism? What if they're just small pre- or post-workout snacks? Do they affect the metabolism differently than a "sedentary" meal would? Do they interfere with HGH that gets released during exercise?

Sorry so many questions. Don't feel like you have to answer them all in one post! Thanks in advance for your replies - they always bless me and help me out so much!

- Julesmoz

[julesmoz]

I just found the answers to some of these questions (mainly the one regarding HGH), and got really excited! I posted them in a new thread, if any of you are interested. Great info.