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Is it bad to workout after you eat? I’ve heard everything from it being no big deal
to it causing horrible cramps.
That’s similar to the myth that you have to wait at least two hours after eating a
meal before you go swimming.
You’re right. It is the same concept.
If you ate a very large meal, your body tends to feel sleepy to give it time and energy
to digest. Modest meals won’t affect you much.
Are you sure? I thought it could leave me severely ill or at least dizzy.
There was a whole Mythbusters episode on this. A light meal or snack won’t make you fuzzy
headed.
But it might weight me down if I try to run a few miles.
A light meal is comparable to eating a few protein bars. Add a liter of water, and it
is a full meal.
Then it won’t really hurt me.
You’ll slow down the pace a little, but it shouldn’t keep you from warming up.
At which point can I do a full workout?
Listen to your body. Whenever you have the energy for a full workout, you can.
Can working out right after eating actually give you stomach cramps?
Eating a huge meal and then working out hard can give you stomach cramps. But that risk
fades after an hour or so, and it doesn’t apply if you had a small meal.
I wonder if that’s the basis of the six small meals workout gurus recommend. They
can’t eat one big meal, so they eat a lot of small ones throughout the day so they can
workout often.
Or it is an excuse to only eat meal bars.
So that’s the reason. Then they can tell you to live off of their protein bars and
shakes.
That’s as good a reason as any.