Pre-workout 'meal' advice - morning workouts

[anaismaribel]

Hi there!

I'm a 20 year old female (height - 152cm / 5'0" ; weight - 38.5kg / 85lbs) with *very little* muscle and i'm going to be starting a 4 month at home muscle building plan soon (it's the lean building plan from The Team Plans by Abby Pollock if anyone wants to know). The aim is purely to build shape with a decent amount of muscle (nothing crazy) and not gain or lose any fat. The plan consists of 4 'full body' workouts per week, each workout lasting no more than 60 mins including warming up (more like 40 mins from what I can tell). As an example, one of the workouts consists of hip thrusts, pull overs, split squats, overhead press, romanian deadlift and bent over rows - all weighted with dumbbells.

Anyway, to the point - I prefer to workout soon after waking up in the morning which makes the 'pre-workout meal' thing a little trickier. According to websites like healthline (which I like as they tend to be very science-based and provide links to studies etc), the best thing is to eat 'mainly simple carbs' and 'some protein' (no fat) 30-60 mins before. This is pretty vague to me haha so my question is whether a 150g serving of low fat greek style honey yogurt which has 110 kcals, 17g carbs (all sugar) and 10g protein would be a good option and if so, whether 30 mins before would be long enough or if i should wait a full hour before the workout?

Thanks so much for reading and helping out this noob!

Btw i'm (obviously) completely new to here haha so I'm so sorry if i'm posting this in the wrong place or just somehow being annoying! Please be kind though hehe

[AdamWW]

Before anyone responds, can you please elaborate on how you ended up so underweight?

This matters in terms of your path to weight gain.

The mere fact that you specify your goal is 'not to gain or lose any fat' is quite concerning, as is your rigid desire for calorie monitoring, given you are medically underweight.

[anaismaribel]

Hi! Fair question haha, I don't have an eating disorder or anything although I am a little OCD with numbers tbf! I've just got a very low appetite so I've slowly been losing weight over the last few years and now I am indeed underweight. However I don't look anorexic or anything - I asked my GP about it a few months ago and he just looked me up and down and said I was probably fine xD One of the reasons I want to put muscle on though is to gain weight and I also think that working out will help improve my appetite I just want to make sure I'm getting the nutrition part right as I know it's very important, I will be eating enough don't worry

[AndyLausmax]

I think a better option would be oatmeal mixed with whey protein powder (and possibly fruit like banana), something which would take no more than five minutes to prepare. Alternatively, you can try a shake version of this. Whip everything up in your blender (perhaps throw in some low-fat milk) and you're all set.

I'm not too sure about relying entirely on sugar prior to your workout. Complex carbs and protein are more reliable prior to exercising.

[NxUrAvgMealPrep]

your pre-workout meal should consist of starchy, low glycemic carbohydrates and a fruit source. If you consume two (or more) types of
carbohydrates, you will be able to utilize several different transporters that funnel the carbs through at different rates. This will result in a much more efficient influx of carbohydrates in the bloodstream and a more sustainable supply of energy.

[desslok]

Find something that you like to eat, that gives you energy for your workout and that doesn’t cause indigestion, thus ruining your gym performance. For me this is simply coffee and a banana when i have to workout early.

[paulinkansas]

I take Greek yogurt before my workouts too. I add some whey protein powder to it and mix it up in a bowl. It tastes like pudding.

[1MANU]

Try your yogurt - 30min prior and 1 hr prior. See what allows you to train at your best.

Sometimes dairy doesn't sit well with people but if ok for you then go for it.