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When is the best time to exercise?

Thursday, 1st September 2016


Many of us have asked ourselves the following question: Should I exercise before or after breakfast?

That is a great question and it all depends on what type of an exercise session you are undertaking.

Research has suggested that for those of us who want to focus on fat burning, exercising before breakfast is beneficial in the sense that your body will be using body fat as a source of energy, rather than using glycogen (energy), which would originate from eating breakfast (carbohydrates, proteins, fats) before exercise.

However breakfast should follow the exercise session, in order to boost your metabolism, so that you can burn fat more efficiently throughout the remainder of the day.

Statistics have indicated that people who focus on improving strength, speed and muscle building benefit from having breakfast before exercise, primarily due to the following facts:

With this in mind however, studies have shown that it takes approximately 3-4 hours to digest a proportionate breakfast, highlighting that undertaking in cardiovascular exercises such as jogging and swimming immediately after breakfast would be detrimental to our digestion, as it would likely cause stomach aches and nausea.

To summarise, we all should eat breakfast either before or after exercise!

By Danny Owens, Personal Trainer