Not Eating Before Short-Duration

Exercise May Not Affect

Performance
Many people who want to perform at their best wonder if exercising fasted
will harm their performance.

The majority of research showed no difference in performance between

those who ate before aerobic exercise lasting less than an hour and those
who did not (10, 11, 12Trusted Source).

Other studies examining high-intensity interval training (HIIT) also found no

difference in performance between fasted and fed exercise (13, 14, 15).

Although limited information is available for weight training, some research

shows that exercising fasted or fed may produce similar results (16Trusted
Source).

One reason why clear benefits of eating before short-duration exercise

were not seen in these studies could be due to the body’s own stores of
energy.

Your body stores approximately 2,000 calories as glycogen and much more
in body fat (17Trusted Source, 18).

All that stored energy allows you to exercise even if you have not eaten for
hours.

SUMMARYThe majority of studies do not show a clear benefit to eating

before short-duration aerobic exercise or intermittent exercise like HIIT.
However, some studies have shown that eating before exercise improved
performance.
Eating Before Long-Duration
Exercise May Improve
Performance
A large analysis of exercise lasting longer than one hour found that
54% of studies reported better performance when food was consumed
before exercise (1Trusted Source).

Most of the studies showing a benefit of a pre-exercise feeding provided a

meal composed primarily of carbs.Consuming slower-digesting carbs or
eating several hours before exercise may benefit long-duration
performance.

For endurance athletes, other research has shown benefits of eating a

high-carb meal three to four hours before exercise (21Trusted
Source).

There may also be benefits to consuming carbs in the hour before exercise
for long-duration events (22Trusted Source).

Overall, there is stronger evidence in support of the benefits of eating

before longer-duration exercise, compared to shorter-duration
exercise.

SUMMARYWhile some mixed results have been reported, eating before

long-duration exercise is probably beneficial. Recommendations to
consume a meal three or more hours before exercise are common, but
there may be benefits to eating sooner before exercise.
If You Don’t Eat Before Working
Out, You Should Eat Afterwards
Research shows that some nutrients, particularly protein and carbs, can
help your body recover and adapt after exercise.

Eating After Exercise Is Especially Important If

You Work Out Fasted

If you eat during the several hours before you work out, the nutrients you
ingest may still be present in high concentrations in your blood during and
after exercise (23).

In this case, these nutrients can aid recovery. For example, amino acids
can be used to build up proteins, while carbs can replenish your body’s
glycogen stores (24Trusted Source).

However, if you choose to exercise fasted, your body has fueled your
workout using its own energy stores. What’s more, limited nutrients are
available for recovery.

In this case, it is particularly important that you eat something relatively

soon after exercise.

One study examined whether eating a meal containing protein and carbs
after fasted exercise led to greater increases in the production of proteins in
your body, compared to when no nutrients were consumed (25Trusted
Source).

While there was no difference in how much new protein the body made,
eating after exercise did reduce the amount of protein breakdown.
 How Soon After Exercise?

While eating after exercise is important, some research has shown that it

may not be necessary to eat the second you finish working out.

For example, one study examined how well the carbohydrate stores
(glycogen) in muscle were recovered after two hours of cycling (26).

During one trial, participants began eating immediately after exercise, while
they waited two hours before eating in the other trial.

There were no differences in the muscle’s recovery of carbohydrate stores

over the eight or 24 hours following exercise, indicating that waiting two
hours to eat was not detrimental.

Other research examining the importance of consuming

protein immediately after exercise has shown mixed results.

While some studies show that consuming protein immediately after

exercise is beneficial for muscular growth, others show no detrimental
effects of waiting several hours (23).

Based on the existing evidence, a reasonable recommendation is to eat as

soon as it is feasible after exercise.

Again, eating as soon as possible after exercise may be more important if

you do choose to exercise without eating beforehand.

SUMMARYGetting nutrients in the hours around exercise is important. If

you don’t eat before exercise, try to eat soon after exercise. Consuming
protein can help repair your muscles and other tissues, while carbs can
help restore your glycogen stores.