Has anyone else thought as hard about this as I have? I used to eat, then run to the gym right away, thinking that having my muscles fueled with glycogen and protein would help me through my workout. Intense days, deads or squats, I would find myself throwing up, or ready to squirt. When I backed off the time more, I found my workouts were better. My so called expert friend I know, says the best time to workout is 2 hours after a meal. I have had good lifts in the gym this way, but wonder about my glycogen stores. I take glutamine and BCAA's before a workout. I noticed a lot of guys are trying to take a bunch of carbs, and maybe a supplement, in hopes of something similar to shooting insulin I believe. Is there an optimum time to eat before a workout?:hmmm:
Depends on the composition of the meal and size of the meal.
Things like fat and soluble fibre slow the rate of digestion quite a lot, so a higher fat meal might take hours to digest fully (6+ hrs), whilst a meal like chicken breast and rice would take much less time (2-3 hrs).
So basically the 'heavier' the meal, the longer you'll have to wait for it to digest. This might have advantages or disadvantages depending on your current meal pattern.
I've tried a number of different pre-training meal protocols, and I prefer to eat a large, mixed meal 3-4 hours prior to the gym (e.g. chicken salad, with olive oil-based dressing and large fruit salad with yoghurt) and then drink something light (e.g. glass of milk/protein shake) immediately prior/during my workout to prevent those horrible 'hunger' pangs during training.
If you prefer to eat quite soon before training, make the meal 'light' e.g. mainly carbohydrates and protein (e.g. porridge oats and whey) or even liquid (milkshake, protein shake etc.).
Experiment and find what works for you, there is no 'optimal' time, only what works for you as an individual.
