Conflictions have occurred within my daily schedule and now the only time I am able to lift is at 6am-7am. I then go to my dining hall for breakfast at 715, and then class at 8am.
Lately I will wake up at 550, take some BCAA’s and run to gym, warm up and then begin sipping on Surge. After my workout, I take some more BCAA’s then go to breakfast as my PWO meal where I usually have eggs, oatmeal and fruit. Then eating 3 hours onward after that, ect.
Is what I am doing OK in terms of lifting – BCAA’s before, Surge during, BCAA’s after?
Some have told me to go with something like a scoop of whey in milk right when I wake up, BCAA’s during, and then breakfast after.
Some have told me that BCAA’s alone (lots of them) is fine them self and just make sure to have a good breakfast / good pre-bed meal. (which I do on both accounts)
Your not eating ANYTHING before working out? How do you survive?
Personally, if I dont eat anything, my workouts blow. Ill just have a scoop of whey in water with an apple, works for me. As long as your breakfast is big and protein filled, you should be fine.
Yeah, slam half the Surge before your workout, throw down some BCAA’s, and work out. Sip the rest of the Surge, and some more BCAA’s during your workout.
i used to have to do the same thing. you will feel alright for a week or two then you will feel like garbage during your workouts. you definitely wont make many (if any) gains. i would recommend eating 1/2 cup oatmeal mixed with 1 scoop whey at about 520. but thats just what i would do
I don’t feel bad at all during my workout. First two sets I am awkward - still kinda waking up - but then I get into it and feel great. Only until the last 5 minutes does my workout begin suffering where I am feeling the lack of energy.
But by that time I am doing core work and all of my big compound lifts are over so I don’t feel that bad not killing myself on those sets.
Don’t worry what others think. If your body is responding well to your workouts then everything is ok. Each person is different and their body will react differently. If you feel strong during the workouts and the weights are going up stick to it.
Just a word of warning that lifting so soon after getting up increases the risk of injuring discs in your spine. I learned this from Dr. Stuart McGill’s excellent book “Low Back Disorders.” (Of course, I learned this AFTER I blew out my discs after a couple years of rolling out of bed and going straight to the gym.)
You really should get up at least an hour before you lift, walk and otherwise move around first. And once at the gym, you should avoid the exercises which McGill found to be the most dangerous for the discs.
This summer had to do most of my lifting in the morning. I had half a Surge before with BCAAs, sipped it during as others said, and then ate breakfast. I think this is the best way. I didn’t feel too bad during my workouts but gains were minimal [strength and size]. This was despite eating thousands of calories a day [I did gain a decent amount of fat]. Lifestyle was a huge confound, though. I was a summer associate at a law firm, and it was definitely a party summer. In addition to enormous meals, I did not sleep much and drank a lot a lot of nights a week. So, maybe the situation would’ve been different if I had been in a more normal rotuine and non compromised hormonally and otherwise.
