By the healthiergang writer , personal trainer with a degree in Exercise and Sports Sciences.
Run After Eaten
In the last 10 years, one of the sporting activities that have seen the number of practitioners increase exponentially is undoubtedly running.
If until the first half of the 90s that of runners was a small community of enthusiasts (in America the runners of the 80s were defined as "skinny guys with beard" almost phenotypic) now we are facing a real movement, which involves men and women of all ages, professions, performance levels and social classes, and sees its ranks swell continuously, to the great satisfaction of specialized companies.
Its fast and uncontrolled popularity, however, has also led to the birth of self-styled experts and preparers, who never fail to taint forums and blogs with their baseless practical advice, passed off as absolute truth, based on an elusive "it worked for me, trust me!"
As long as the advice is limited to the choice of clothing and shoes (and here too we should speak with knowledge of the facts) or creams and socks, we could also turn a blind eye, but when it comes to the merits of more delicate topics such as injuries and therapies , or nutrition and integration, one should have the good sense to leave room for those who have studied.
One of the most debated topics in all racing forums, is whether or not it is advisable to eat before a workout, an absolutely legitimate question, which almost always turns into a stream of grandmother's comments and advice, precisely because everyone tends to bring their own personal experience, which as we have repeatedly repeated statistically is worth zero.
But the question is very interesting, and the answer is by no means obvious; and as usual, physiology and training studies come to our rescue.
Full meal
First of all we must know that in running every workout has a specific target, and that therefore if you have to do a long one you will not be able to approach it as a session of repetitions or race pace; having said that, let's get into the question, trying to be as clear as possible.
The first thing to say is that whatever training you face, it is never a good idea to do this immediately after having a full meal; in fact, immediately after a hearty breakfast or lunch, the body will have digestion as its main purpose, and therefore will tend to draw a large amount of blood to the target area, which will therefore not be available to supply our muscles during running (or any other activities).
Going for a main meal immediately, therefore, will make training not very profitable, also increasing the risk of injuries and certainly unpleasant “digestive problems”.
Fasting
So is it better to run fast? Not really.
The best thing to do would be to have a light snack, for example a tea with a couple of rusks or shortbreads 20/30 minutes before putting on your running shoes, to be able to face the light workout, but not fast, perhaps taking us with you. sachets of maltodextrin if you perform shorter and faster workouts (repeated, uphill sprints, progressive pace) or salts for longer workouts (slow bottom, race pace).
Furthermore, in the case of very long workouts, you should consider bringing an energy bar, obviously specific for endurance sports, which will therefore contain a quota of simple carbohydrates high enough to help you complete your workout.
There are also energizing gels on the market, but I honestly recommend their use only in competition, because using them always risks distorting the result of training.
Obviously, when you return from training and after an invigorating shower, you should have a more substantial meal, with the aim of quickly recovering your strength and going to restore the carbohydrate and hydrosaline balance.
Conclusions
As we said at the beginning, therefore, a seemingly trivial question turned out to be quite complex, demonstrating that when we talk about training we also talk about science, and that everything we do respects the rules, rules that can rarely be circumvented.
