Hello, this question is about weight lifting, not bulking (I am cutting right now).

Last Sunday I had what I would call a very bad workout- low energy, weak lifts, etc.

The following two days I made sure to eat some carbs before I went to the gym and things were much better.

What else can I do to ensure that my muscles have all the glycogen or whatever they need to give me the best highest energy workout?

I have read on some posts about people eating dextrose during the workout..

Anyway please advise.. nothing is more satisfying than going through a workout with lots of energy..

Be consistent with your nutrition..If you find that what you're eating aint working then make some changes.


T

Be consistent with your nutrition..If you find that what you're eating aint working then make some changes.


T

Sure but I think timing of the macros, namely carbs, seems to be a factor in your energy level when you lift.. I wondered if maybe eating dextrose before/during lifting would help.. I saw someone else say it would prevent nausea.. ?

Sure but I think timing of the macros, namely carbs, seems to be a factor in your energy level when you lift.. I wondered if maybe eating dextrose before/during lifting would help.. I saw someone else say it would prevent nausea.. ?

Good nutrition and sleep are paramount.

After that, I would say increasing your overall fitness level (meaning more lifting and cardio) will give you more energy in general.

Then, half of your PWO drink (carbs+protein) sipped during the workout, and the other half after. That helps energy levels (after you've taken care of everything above).

Good nutrition and sleep are paramount.

After that, I would say increasing your overall fitness level (meaning more lifting and cardio) will give you more energy in general.

Then, half of your PWO drink (carbs+protein) sipped during the workout, and the other half after. That helps energy levels (after you've taken care of everything above).

Cool, I think I have the nutrition down. I'm getting about 7 hours of sleep a night- I should try to get more but my life doesn't permit it right now.

I do a full body lift three times a week so I don't think I should lift any more than that.. prior to lifting I did cardio four times a week for 45 minutes and did that for over a year.. so I think right now my best bet is to try sipping the PWO drink during workout.. I bought some dex yesterday..

I also read something on here about drinking coffee before lifting?? That sounds kind of nuts.

Cool, I think I have the nutrition down. I'm getting about 7 hours of sleep a night- I should try to get more but my life doesn't permit it right now.

That is the bare minimum.


I also read something on here about drinking coffee before lifting?? That sounds kind of nuts.

Why? Caffeine works.

Have at least 8 hours of sleep IMO, thats 1/3 of your 24 hour day.

Do not overtrain, vague yes, but if you are tired then just move the days around.

If you are cutting (which I am assuming because you said you were not bulking) then you are right to centre most of your carbs around you workout.

Pre workout you need protein and complex carbs, for energy. Whereas Post workout you need protein and simple carbs, for recovery.

Also, have the rest of your carbs at breakfast and some more as post post workout meal, if your plan permits this. (macros etc)

For me, the most energising meal is a good quality steak and a couple of poached eggs a couple of hours before the workout. It also helps to be properly hydrated well in advance.

I have read on some posts about people eating dextrose during the workout.. .

That will help if you have increased your workout intensity a lot compared to previously, but it's really a lot more about preventing puking and neurological symptoms of bonking. You have to eat a lot more dextrose during the workout to raise your energy level. It's probably better to eat some of that as complex carbs before the workout.

Building endurance into your program helps a lot with keeping energy up for 'normal' workouts in a few ways.

By the way I am trying to maximize tomorrow's workout. I've been "cutting" (I cut be increasing exercise Calories and holding the nutrition constant) but tomorrow I'm going to try to max out deadlift.

So I haven't done any lifting since Wednesday, and I rested Thursday and Friday, with a cardio session yesterday (Saturday) that was 40 minutes of LISS then 25 minutes of hard elliptical. Today (Sunday) I'm not going to do any exercise, so the question is how to eat?

I am going for a quick carbohydrate load - I didn't load carbs Friday or Saturday. My thinking is eat a whole lot of complex carbs today, especially tonight, and then again tomorrow morning. I will be lifting around 4:30PM tomorrow. I will make sure to be at a caloric surplus from now until the workout; and I will try very hard to get extra sleep tonight. That will mean sleeping on a stomach full of complex carbs and protein.

The way this is supposed to work is that the cardio session yesterday keeps my cardio fitness from fading and kicks the metabolism up a little. Eating high carbs today is to make sure the muscles and liver are soaked in glycogen at for more than 24 hours before the workout. I might get a little bit of fat stored from it, but that is the price of making sure that the muscle glycogen is filled to the brim.

I would go with eating complex carbs + protein about an hour before lifting.

During lifting sip on protein-only drink.

After lifting, take protein+ simple carb (like Dex).


For eons,lifters were told to drink protein+simple carb during workout.

I did this myself.

But lately recent research has shown that protein+simple carb during workout can actually reduce your strength.

There's also some dither going on for awhile now about whether simple carbs post workout are as effective as we've been led to believe.

Apparently a combo of Dex/Fructose works better than Dex alone.

Jeremy Likness did a good post on this a while back.

It bolstered what I'd previously read.

Personally I go for simple carbs+ protein postworkout because they work for me even though science may say otherwise :)

But lately recent research has shown that protein+simple carb during workout can actually reduce your strength.

There's also some dither going on for awhile now about whether simple carbs post workout are as effective as we've been led to believe.

You have any links for the details of this?

yes .....Ill get back to you.

might take a little longer than usual....about a week ago I spring-cleaned my "add to favorites' pages. They were starting to look like a mini-Wikipedia.

So I'll have to re-dig.

yes .....Ill get back to you.


Yeah I would like to be up to date with this stuff.

Yeah I would like to be up to date with this stuff.

I would too. Links would be great.