Eating before morning rides

[Dazzman]

Hi everyone. Here's a real Newb question for you...I have never been an early morning excerciser, but with 2 young kids & work it is my only option. If you are going out for a ride at say 6.30am or earlier, do you have a full breakfast beforehand or do you just eat on the ride? If eating before, would that be immediately before going out or say 30min or an hour before?

I warned you it was a newb question

[Chaderotti]

Depends. If it's an 80 km hills ride I have a medium sized bowl of cereal before hand, and some snacks in the back pocket. If it's just a commute to work then... well, the same thing seeing as you still have a whole day of work ahead of you.

[Dazzman]

thanks for that

actually I just discovered a similar thread in one of the other forums...seems most ppl don't eat before unless its a long/hard ride

[crxin]

i usually eat a banana before my commute to work and have breakfast first thing after a shower at work
i find i wake up really hungry in the morning and if i don't eat something the hunger takes my concentration away from the job of riding

[RobRollin]

Some good info on nutrition here

http://www.cptips.com/sixrides.htm

[Bantam Roosta]

I always eat first. I couldn't do without it. My general breakfast whether or not I ride is an apple, a banana and a bowl of weetbix.

[Dazzman]

The main reason I asked for some opinions on this is that I have had a few experiences where I have just crashed after exercising first thing in the morning without eating. On a couple of occasions ended up feeling nauseous & lightheaded. A personal trainer I was working with at the time recommended a decent meal with carbs & protein about an hour or so before starting excercise - but I struggle to get up early for a ride as it is, so getting up an hour earlier would be next to impossible for a lazy sod like me...

[Dazzman]

thanks for that link RobRollin, was very useful

[ruscook]

i usually eat a banana before my commute to work and have breakfast first thing after a shower at work
i find i wake up really hungry in the morning and if i don't eat something the hunger takes my concentration away from the job of riding

+1 exactly what I do. My commute is 34km.

On the way home I save a banana and muesli bar to "top up" 1/2way home.

[RobRollin]

I find it hard to eat AFTER a ride, I don't want to eat, but I force myself to have something small.

[JV911]

I always eat first. I couldn't do without it.

+1

home made muslie with lots of dried fruit and nuts and a banana afterwards (or croissant and coffee on the weekend)

[lemmiwinks]

Before a Sunday (70km) ride I normally drink a Protein Revival box thingy as I find it's easier on the stomach early in the morning (though chocolate flavour can be a bit rich at 6 am). Have also heard that Up and Go is good.

[a]

used to eat before, now I just get up, make a coffee and go. I eat on the bike.

When training for a silly hard 48hr bushwalk last year (~ 90km and 5000m of ascent and 5000 m descent) I read something about how to train your body to use the fat pathway more efficiently by starting the ealry morning excersise without eating, then eating once on the bike or run. Who knows if it worked?...Once the intensity picks up you are forced to use glycogen anyway as your fat pathway just cant keep up. I should make clear that for me - this was all about increasing endurance at moreate intensity.

Provided I eat enough the night before and on the bike - I am fine for 100 km+ without breakfast prior (cant do without the coffe tho).

Eating some carbs in the 30 minutes after seems critical for recovery.

[Pain Train]

For early morning rides I now eat either a medium size bowl of oats and honey, or a slice of toast with peanut butter.

When I was trying to lose weight fast I was only eating breakfast AFTER coming home from a high-intensity 75km early morning ride. Don't expect your performances to be great though, you'll usually struggle mid way into a hard ride if you haven't eaten.

Also I'm not sure if this is the same for others but I've noticed my legs are really fatigued for the next few days if I've ridden hard on an empty stomach.

[puffdaddy]

used to eat before, now I just get up, make a coffee and go. I eat on the bike.

When training for a silly hard 48hr bushwalk last year (~ 90km and 5000m of ascent and 5000 m descent) I read something about how to train your body to use the fat pathway more efficiently by starting the ealry morning excersise without eating, then eating once on the bike or run. Who knows if it worked?...Once the intensity picks up you are forced to use glycogen anyway as your fat pathway just cant keep up. I should make clear that for me - this was all about increasing endurance at moreate intensity.

Provided I eat enough the night before and on the bike - I am fine for 100 km+ without breakfast prior (cant do without the coffe tho).

Eating some carbs in the 30 minutes after seems critical for recovery.

Yes moderate is the key to burning fat ,,About 60 % of VO2 max ,I will do a 4 hr ride with sugar free electrolytes and a few dates if needed to get home drops weight super fast and do not feel flat the next day,The WRONG way many do it is to ride hard until they literally are totally stuffed,The body is forced to then burn fat and the result can also be "muscle wastage" and feeling flat for the next 2-3 days,"based on a 100 km ride",,,.

[ryan]

Will try not to bore you with details...

I aim for 40km+/- on my fixed gear at 30km/h before work. The mornings I don't eat I really notice a difference around the 30km mark. A banana is always preferred, but sometimes have a small bowl of cereal; I like my sleep so eat on the way out the door. Post ride I have coffee and a piece of toast on the way into the office and then an apple a bit later on.

The mornings I sleep in and only get about 20km in I am fine without food.

Hope this helps.

[tripstobaltimore]

I usually have a small bowl of cereal before I leave. It takes a while to not feel dead in the legs and heavy in the stomach, but I just warm up to it.

[KillerHeadWind]

I usually have a couple of bowls of cereal before any ride. I never used to have anything, but that soon
changed when I kept on bonking

[atham]

I have found that taking on-board some food and drink about half an hour before my morning ride works well. It's meant to assist with metabolism or so I have read. During winter I have a bowl of porridge and a glass of orange juice, while during the summer months I'll have a bowl of muesli or weatbix and the glass of orange juice.

[Dazzman]

a lot of ppl have mentioned eating on the bike - are the energy gels/bars highly recommended or is my usual of a banana or 2 and some muesli bars just as useful?

[tripstobaltimore]

personally, I'd go the bannana and muesli bars over a gel on a training ride. If it were a race, I'd use the gels, however.

[goneriding]

I've start the day with a protein bar as I do a 40 - 50km commute in the morning and need a bit in the tank. Otherwise, muesli bars.

Gels etc aren't for commuting (for me) and I don't find they work particularly well anyway (Spacefood Sticks on the other hand.....). What I do like and will work for breakfast are the garmin-chipotle rice cakes (sticky rice, ham, egg, and parmesan). Make up a batch on the weekend and throw a couple in your pocket on the way out the door - yum!

[Aushiker]

I've start the day with a protein bar as I do a 40 - 50km commute in the morning and need a bit in the tank. Otherwise, muesli bars.

Hi

I used to do that and now find that I can complete the commute (40 km +) without anything. On my group rides (70 km) I don't have breakfast before hand and have a Cliff Bar about an hour into the ride when we hit the feed zone.

Seems to work okay for me.

Andrew

[Sweeper59]

When you sleep, most of your body's functions slow down, including heart rate and blood circulation. You don't need much energy during this time, and therefore sugars are not pumped to your muscles. When you then exercise soon after waking, you may feel sluggish or unmotivated due to low blood sugars i.e. your muscles have little energy to burn. Others may feel ill, or even faint. Most people need to stimulate the system by eating a small meal or snack. I prefer bananas, energy drink or breakfast bar.

[casual_cyclist]

In the mornings I find it hard to eat and I am usually running late. I usually just grab a V energy drink or Up and Go or V before I leave and Up and Go when I get to the start. I find I can stomach those and they get my digestion started. Then I eat on the ride.