Pre and Post Workout Meal Myth

author avatar Dr. Eric Berg 08/31/2023

Pre and Post Workout Meal Myth

People have told you that you need to eat before or after your workout to replace your glycogen reserve or muscle mass.

You have a certain amount of sugar in your muscles and liver.

It’s not a lot so if you would do workouts, it would be tapped out within half an hour then you will start burning fat.

So, why would you eat anything sweet before or after a workout? That doesn’t make sense.

Your body burns sugar first than the fat.

If you were going to eat high-concentrated protein such as whey protein, the more concentrated it is, the more it will trigger Fat Storing Hormone.

An egg has much less response to Fat Storing Hormone than whey protein. Fat Storing Hormone stops the burning of fat.

Every time you eat, you stimulate Fat Storing Hormone.
 

The goal is to use exercise to stimulate your metabolism,  then tap into the fat reserves that you have and make your own fat the meal you’re eating, instead of the dietary meal.


Do you need to eat protein to build muscle mass?

What you ate right before the workout will take at least 24 hours or longer to be digested and go through your liver, then go to your muscles.

If you think your protein shake is going to go to your muscles, it is not. It is being digested.

You really don’t need protein around workout to build muscles. It is the food you ate the day before that would go into your muscles.

If your liver is overloaded with too much protein, it won’t end up in your muscles.

Avoid Fat Storing Hormone because it nullifies the growth hormone.

When you exercise, you induce a stress event that breaks down your muscles. It burns the sugar in the muscles and it eventually stops. Then your body will recover.

During the recovery process, your body is:
 

  • digesting

  • building backup

  • burning fat


If you eat during this process, you’re going to slow down your benefits of weight loss and building of muscles.

The benefits of exercise don’t occur until 24 to 48 hours after your workout during the deep sleep.

A better strategy is to get better sleep and not eat anything before or during a workout.

The exception is if you are:

  • An athlete.

  • A body builder.

  • You workout twice a day.

  • You are doing long distance running or marathons.

  • You are a diabetic and you’re having massive sugar fluctuations.


Summary

You may want to stimulate the growth hormone which is the main fat-burning hormone activated by exercise.

When you eat any food, especially those with high-concentrated protein or sugar, you will spike Fat Storing Hormone.

Fat Storing Hormone will block the growth hormone which is a dominant hormone so you won’t burn fat. 

The growth hormone is triggered by:
 

  • Exercise

  • Sleep

  • Hypoglycemia (lower blood sugar)

Understand the workout meal myth and see more Fitness Advice from Dr. Berg Video Blog.

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