Eating before exercising?!?!?

[SpiritOfThings88]

OK, here is a question that I've always meant to research, but never have.
If you exercise (swimming, in my case) shortly after your eat (say 10 minutes), is it a waste of time? I'm not worried about getting cramps, but I've heard for years (and it may be a wives tale) that you're really not burning calories if you don't wait for an hour or so after eating.

Would love to hear some feedback on that topic. Thanks.

[JaimeMWS]

I have a diabetic friend who swears by the opposite - he says he loses weight most effectively when he exercises after each meal. I don't see why the physics of using energy to move muscles would change based on whether your stomach is full or empty.

[Evan121]

Hi guys, how are you all.I think it is not good that you eat first and than take exercise.It will create problem for you.Because in this way your body calories do not burn properly.Hence it has medically proved that you should take exercise before eating.

[RunbikeSki]

Originally Posted by SpiritOfThings88

OK, here is a question that I've always meant to research, but never have.
If you exercise (swimming, in my case) shortly after your eat (say 10 minutes), is it a waste of time? I'm not worried about getting cramps, but I've heard for years (and it may be a wives tale) that you're really not burning calories if you don't wait for an hour or so after eating.

Would love to hear some feedback on that topic. Thanks.

Sometimes there can be a competion between your digestive track and you muscles for oxygen and glycogen immediately after a meal. My experience, backed up by a cool stable isotope experiement, is that when I run immediately after eating a light meal, digestion slows down as you body focuses on getting O2 to your muscles.

But if I eat a heavier meal first, all the blood rushes to my tummy . Leaving me with less O2 and glycogen going to the working muscles. This is pretty common for me during skiing and Mt biking. If I stop and have big lunch, I just don't have much energy in my legs for an hour or so. After that I am good to go.

[powercycle]

I cycling to work in the morning. Half the time I don't have time to eat breakfast before leaving (ie. getting the kids ready) so then I eat when I get to work. I haven't noticed a difference in weight gain/loss, appetite, or performance either way. That's probably because it takes a few hours for the digestion process to do its work anyways.

Now if I stuffed myself with a huge meaty breakfast I'd probably be a little sluggish right after.