Protein shake before cardio? Yes or No?

jdhil90

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Is it a better idea for fat loss to skip the protein shake first thing in the morning and do fasted cardio or should you have a protein shake? Will having a protein shake slower fat loss and have your body be more prime to burning carbs instead of fat? Protein shake vs. Amino acids (scivation xtend) before cardio?
 
EasyEJL

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Yes it will slow fat loss. What many people don't realize is that other than leucine the amino acids are all convertible to glycogen via gluconeogenesis. So if you have a lot of aminos in bloodstream but no or low blood sugar, your body will start doing the conversion and so burn less fats to some extent. Even worse with BCAAs.

Now the thing to keep in mind here is the whole "how much will it slow fat loss by" is a huge coin toss. it may not slow it by all that much, or it may be quite a lot. but if you have a problem completing a workout or cardio and maintaining intensity on an empty stomach, its probably better to eat a little something and still have full intensity than what difference it makes in fatloss.

If you really had to eat beforehand, 10-15g of protein from a casein shake would probably be best. It will digest slowly, so there never would be all that much in loose aminos anyhow.
 

jdhil90

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I was under the impression that having amino acids is better for fat loss and muscle retention. Fasted will lead to catabolism pretty quickly right? I run 3 miles in the morning it takes about 30 minutes. Is it good to do this fasted or should I throw in something beforehand?
 
EasyEJL

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I was under the impression that having amino acids is better for fat loss and muscle retention. Fasted will lead to catabolism pretty quickly right? I run 3 miles in the morning it takes about 30 minutes. Is it good to do this fasted or should I throw in something beforehand?
Its understandable you'd have that impression, because thats what lots of people say, but that doesn't mean its true :) A small amount of slowly digesting protein isn't bad. But 20g of BCAAs is about as bad as bad as having a tablespoon of sugar as far as fatloss goes.

Fasted doesn't lead to significant catabolism that fast particularly if you are doing moderate intensity. Your body has quite a bit of glycogen reserves, so it will burn that along with fatty acids so long as your caloric needs aren't that high.

Depends on how fast/hard you are running. At most i'd go with 10-15g of protein from casein, so its slowly digesting and just letting a small amount of aminos into bloodstream
 

shotdead42

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wait, im taking xtend during my workouts now.

so lets say im doing legs and i want to run after my workout, should i be drinking xtend when im running?
just so i dont loose any of my muscles? or is that a bad idea
 

GregW

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if you are targeting fat loss, do it fasted.

you're body will prioritize converting stored fat into fuel.
 
Killerkanadia

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wait, im taking xtend during my workouts now.

so lets say im doing legs and i want to run after my workout, should i be drinking xtend when im running?
just so i dont loose any of my muscles? or is that a bad idea
You run right after your workout? I would keep drinking Xtend during workout, right before running. That will keep the catabolic state to a minimum.
 

shotdead42

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You run right after your workout? I would keep drinking Xtend during workout, right before running. That will keep the catabolic state to a minimum.
yea, i mean i dont run all the times after my workout but when i do its like 1 mile. But i want to run more to loose some fat, so on certian days i might run more, so if do xtend during my workout and then when i run i should be good right?


But i was reading above on what that guy had to say abou xtend being a negative to take when running?...
 

sonnyv

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drinking a protein shake makes me feel bloated before i run... just personal preference but yeh
 
Whacked

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Same here.

I agree with Easy for the most part but I will say I got sliced by using 15 Grams of BCAA's immediately before AND 10 grams after my cardio sessions.

Just didn't want to threaten muscle loss but I was kinda lean before beginning I (went from 12-8%....used a lot of other crap to get there too!).

Then again, this anecdotal experience doesn't prove anything b/c perhaps I would have lost MORE fat without it :p

My spin:
If your 15% + I'd do it fasted

Less than 15%, I'd throw BCAA's in there and do it moderately and consistently and be more conscience about attempting to hang onto muscle
 

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