Eat the right combination of protein and carbs before early morning training to fuel performance and protect muscle.

But, many of our clients at BTX work long hours, so they often don’t have time to train after work—and the same goes for me.

When training early morning, it’s important to ensure you’re still performing well to maintain muscle while dieting or build muscle during a strength phase.

You will not burn more fat while training on an empty stomach. You lose weight by being in a calorie deficit.

Is it a problem to train on an empty stomach?

In an ideal world, you would eat an hour to an hour and a half before you train.

Eating a protein source such as eggs, salmon, steak, or a protein shake will help protect muscle tissue during training. It will also help stabilize blood sugar, keeping you full for longer.

Aim to eat between 25-50g of protein—this is the amount needed to activate protein synthesis (muscle building). 25g of high-quality protein will contain the required 2-3g of leucine to activate the MTOR pathway and stimulate protein synthesis.

A carbohydrate source is also optimal. Carbohydrates are your primary energy source. Your storage molecule for glucose is glycogen, which becomes depleted during the night for essential processes such as growth and repair.

Therefore, it’s important to consume a high-quality carbohydrate source to replenish glycogen stores. The best options that are easy to digest include white rice, sweet potato, regular potato, or my favorite: sourdough bread. Sourdough bread is easier to digest because some of the gluten is broken down by the sourdough starter culture.

A fat source isn’t vital at this time, as you’ll need food sources that digest quickly, and simple carbs are better suited for this time of day.

What if you don’t have time to eat?

It’s important that you don’t train fasted—you simply won’t train as well.

You will not burn more fat because you’re fasted. This is a myth.

If you train fasted, you will perform worse and be weaker. This leads to more muscle loss during a fat loss phase because you’re lifting less weight.

Lifting less weight signals to your body that you don’t need this muscle tissue anymore. Therefore, in a calorie deficit, your body will burn muscle at the same rate as fat. You’ll end up lighter but with the same body fat percentage—essentially becoming “skinny fat.”

If you can’t wake up earlier, an excellent choice is to simply make a shake using an easily digestible protein source. The most bio-available option is whey protein, and the one I use is Naked Whey. It contains no fillers, comes from grass-fed cows, and has no artificial sweeteners. LINK HERE

Then add a fast-acting carb source. I like to use raw honey (a couple of tablespoons) mixed with orange juice for quick-acting carbs.

Orange juice contains both fructose and glucose, which are both needed to replenish glycogen stores. This combination makes orange juice the perfect source for fast glycogen replenishment.

Of course, have some black coffee with this, as caffeine increases your performance in the gym.

Conclusion

1. It’s best to try to eat solid food before you train in the early morning.
2. If you can’t, have a shake made from 25-50g of whey protein, 250ml of orange juice, and 1-2 tablespoons of honey.
3. Training fasted will not make you burn more fat.