4am preworkout food.

[Alphaden]

So I recently found out or was told i was screwing my muscle gains by going to do my 4am (well, I get up at 4, usually not at gym until 4:30am) workouts without eating anything first. I normally would just wake up, get dressed, drink my pre-workout and head out the door. So my question is that if I am lifting weights that early in the morning, what should I eat before my workout to keep from doing harm but also without puking in the middle of my routine?

[Bosko]

Do what you want to do...in the end meet your macros at the end of the day and you will be fine.
I work out @ 4:30 AM. I have a slice of Dave's raisin toast with 50 grams of PB2 on top..just enough to get rollin with 350 mg's of caffeine of course.

[WolfRose7]

Whatever you stomach easily and gives you whatever you need.
Some are happy fasted, which isn't a big deal as long as you don't leave ages after training as well.

I'd probably have a coffee and a banana if I was training early, and something more substantial after

[AlexSays]

Protein synthesis is a long term process and food timings have no effect on it. What does have an effect on long term results is workout intensity

If you can work out just as intensely fasted then you do not need to eat pre-workout. If not then go ahead and eat something. What that consists of is very individual, there isn't a 'prescribed' composition of a pre-workout meal, despite what 'insta-fitness-gurus' would have you believe. For me I try and focus on things that give me energy and keep it very light if it is less than an hour before working out. For example cereal, chocolate, bananas, protein shakes etc. (one of the above not all together lol) But that's just me

[paulinkansas]

enough to get rollin with 350 mg's of caffeine of course.

Damn. I don't even go through 350 mg's in 3 days.

[BeginnerGainz]

Do what you want to do...in the end meet your macros at the end of the day and you will be fine.
I work out @ 4:30 AM. I have a slice of Dave's raisin toast with 50 grams of PB2 on top..just enough to get rollin with 350 mg's of caffeine of course.

That’s sounds like a delicious way to start the day.

I love PB2, mixes great with protein powder too.

Damn. I don't even go through 350 mg's in 3 days.

Those are rookie numbers. We gotta pump those numbers up!

[health4life24]

I train early in the morning too (sometimes as early as 3:30 AM) and I don’t eat anything beforehand and I do weight training, cardio, and yoga back to back. Training fasted doesn’t have any negative impact on my performance or goals of building muscle.

This is an individual thing though. Some people find they perform better with food in their system whereas others can train fine fasted.

Ultimately what’s most important is total calorie / macro / micro nutrient intake for the whole day.

[Alphaden]

Protein synthesis is a long term process and food timings have no effect on it. What does have an effect on long term results is workout intensity

If you can work out just as intensely fasted then you do not need to eat pre-workout. If not then go ahead and eat something. What that consists of is very individual, there isn't a 'prescribed' composition of a pre-workout meal, despite what 'insta-fitness-gurus' would have you believe. For me I try and focus on things that give me energy and keep it very light if it is less than an hour before working out. For example cereal, chocolate, bananas, protein shakes etc. (one of the above not all together lol) But that's just me

So, the big thing I read about was cortisol levels are so high in the morning with an empty stomach it can hurt muscle hypertrophy. Is that true, or is it significant enough to really make a difference?

[Xpiro]

Holy **** I would pass out