Eat & lift or lift & eat?

[Espi]

To eat before or to eat after that is.

Let me explain. I'm zigzagging my calories so that generally I eat approx. 500 up to 1000 kcal less on rest days than on lifting days.

Lately though I've had it happen 3 times in less than 2 weeks that I spontaneously broke my rules and overate on a rest day.

Lo & behold: I felt more steady throughout the workout and did more sets than I would have done during a workout that followed after a low-kcal rest day.
This made me put my thinking cap on.
1. I'm working out (weights plus cardio) every other day (the setup I'm always going back to).
2. lifting+cardio depletes glycogen
3. eating more fills up glycogen

In that case it makes more sense then to eat more (carbs) the night before a workout day.
So, why then do most people eat more after a workout? That's because you are more sensitive to insulin (less insulin resistant) and it's anabolik.

Eating more carbs the night before will then be bad news if you're insulin resistant (that's what I seem to be as carbs make me sleepy). That's why having carbs 30-60min pre-WO never worked for me = complete loss of strength.
But when I eat less carbs after lifting, I'll remain more glycogen-depleted and burn slightly more fat, right?

What am I missing here?
Can someone help me out in deciding which approach would be better. If eating these carbs the night before a workout day would really be better, why don't more bodybuilders do this? I know nearly all endurance weenies do it.. but I don't know anyone who's after body recomp doing the same.

[Blondell]

500-1000cals/day?

[Espi]

500-1000 kcal less than on lifting days. It's varying widely but generally it's like 1200-1500 kcal on rest days and 1800 (UB-day) up to 2800 kcal (leg day) on training days. At least when I eat according to plan.
1200 vs 1800 is 600kcal difference
1200-2800 is 1600 kcal difference .

I'm adoring high cal intakes but in order to still be able to cut calories I'll need to go lower the other day. This reinforces each other.
Going too low on rest days sometimes can make for a lackluster workout.
What will happen if I eat more the night before a lifting day?

I've had this happen 3 times now and all those times I ended up doing more intense cardio and sneak in a few extra sets of exercises I wanted to try out. (I'm trying to complete the full series of Exercises you've never tried before (http://www.beyondlowcarb.net/index.php?topic=14486.0) plus have a few mini-complexes I do or not do when I feel like it.
Eating a lot after lifting hard often tends to lead to bingy behaviour.

Is it as simple as
eat more the night after a workout = anabolik
eat more the night before a workout = better performance

[Espi]

Nobody?

At least my workout was great: felt energetic throughout and finally attained my dream for pullups: did 5 BW-reps.

[Espi]

:bump: Still waiting for comments from others...

Sofar, my own results have been awesome: easier to eat less on average and improved performance.

[Lynny]

I am interested in this as well...

[Espi]

Theoretically it shouldn't make too much of a difference as average carb intake remains the same. However, the effect is dramatically different.

WIth carbs after training, they may be taken up easier as you're more insulin-sensitive and you're getting faster recovery.
However, when I go back to eating less calories on my rest day, I feel kinda 'pooped' by the time my next workout comes around and feel I'm dependent on the carb drink I sip from during the workout. Well, I've always had the feeling that the carbs during a workout give a rollercoaster effect . At times I've even felt that I needed to time my sets to how I felt within minutes after sipping from a carbalicious drink. I'm currently taking a very low-glycemic drink with extra minerals & taurine and this gives a smoother feeling.

But really, eating the extra food the night before lifting (I'd moved the WO to the evening as I'd started to overeat too much on WO -days when lifting in the morning) , the effect has been that I barely need the extra carbs and my lifting has been very consistent. Work volume has increased and I'm doing better on the subsequent cardio sessions (not quite HIIT, but often almost).

Seems it works, as indeed my average food intake has gone down. I'm not as exhausted and then ravenous after a workout.

But I'm still puzzled : why is this pre-workout eating so common among all endurance weenies and so uncommon among people who are into 'improving their body composition'. I guess I'm even more in love with performance than with looks :)