question from a exercise newbie....

Hey everyone,
I have never posted over here on the Exercise forum...but someone sent me this way....they think that you all just might have some good answers for me...
Back ground....55 years old...I have never been able to do much in the way of exercise because of extreme knee problems (they want me to have knee replacement...)and osteoarthritis in general...bu****er aorobics has really been a good fit for me...Here was My post...

I have a question for all of you about how YOU take your morning protein...

I do water aorobics Every morning...at 8:30...and I usually wait until AFTER my class to eat my breakfast...(of course my Protein Shake...I still like my shakes in the AM)

I have had several people tell me that I should do my protein shake BEFORE my class that I will get better use from the protein...and then have a better workout...

but others say that by waiting till after the workout that I am "feeding" the muscles...What do you think??? have any of you Nutritionist or Exercise coaches given you any info one way or the other....
Any Input???? thanks in advance...I want to really be able to "work" my muscles

The general school of thought on this is carbs prior to a workout and protein after to help rebuild muscles.  I've read this several places.  It's what I do and works very well for me.

Protein by itself is NOT a good source of fuel for workouts because it takes too long to process.  Some on this forum use crackers with some peanut butter prior to their workouts, I generally have a banana if I have them, yogurt or oatmeal if I don't.  After the workout is when I eat a full meal high in protein.  I also do my workouts in the morning.

Linn

Linn,
thanks ...I will try to eat a piece of fruit... I am not an early bird...have had problems with insomnia... and the water aorobics seem to be helping that ... but some days I am still awake at 3-4 in the morning...so I don't get up to much earlier than I need...so I have always been a little afraid to eat much...(even my shake)

The best thing to do is get your protein in within a 1/2 hour of your workout, while your body is still busy fueling.  You ought to get some carbs in prior to the workout (oatmeal, etc.)
Rob

I did buy some weight control oatmeal...I will have to give it a try..

Hello,
Check out the following link. While I know this is about nausea and exercise, it will explain some of the issues related to protein and carbohydrate. This is a response to a post originally made of the LapBand board.

Click here to read the post.

As an additional note, when it comes to fueling and recovering from exercise (especially intense or high volumes of exercise), carbohydrate should be consumed in greater quantities than protein. Sure, protein is necessary but people generally get so focused on protein that carbohydrate gets neglected. Yes, you should consume some protein before exercise and yes should consume some protein after exercise, but carbohydrate should be consumed in greater quantities than protein before and after exercise. There are a variety of reasons why protein should be consumed in combination with carbohydrate, instead of being consumed alone when is comes to exercise recovery. This is something that many people often overlook and/or are confused about.

With this said, depending on how vigorous and how long your water aerobic sessions last, this may change things a bit. If your water aerobic sessions are pretty intense and last for 30-60 minutes or more, the above remains true. If however your water aerobic sessions are on par with going for a liesurely walk, carbohydrate is not nearly as important.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Jeremy...
thanks so much for your responce...It is so good to know that we have this kind of info here on OH....thanks..

My water Aorobics class...3 days a week...is about 80-90 minutes of exercise...we do pretty intense workouts...sprints...circuit trainings...and usually I do most of them as modified deepwater...(in 5 ft end with no belt)...the other 2 days...we have 2 sessions...1 of them is in a deep water pool (12ft...with belts) and then in the 5 ft pool...I have learned to modify the regular sessions to be "more " deep water...(feet not touching 80-90% of time) which I was told makes it more intense...but less impact on the joints...

So far I have notice tightening of muscle...but no weight loss...(been doing this about 2 months..)

So I just thought that I want to know what to do to get the "best" out of my work-out time

With the duration and intensity you are talking about, carbohydrate is certainly going to help you get through a workout.

In regards to weight loss and exercise, you might want to check out a short little article I wrote a while back.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/fitness/cmsID,11239/mode,c ontent/a,cms/