I was wondering if I should be drinking my protein prior to cardio or after? I searched around and got mixed results. I'm mainly trying to loose weight if that matters any. Also could I subsitute breakfast prior to my run with a protein drink? I don't usually have much of an appatite in the morning.

You could drink your protein shake in the morning before breakfast and again after your workout for recovery.

Protein powder is a SUPPLIMENT. It is not a meal replacement.

Eat the right foods at the right times and take a protein shake when you can not get the propper foods.

Do not replace breakfast with a shake. You should be eatting some slow burning carbs for breakfast, but have a shake as well, not instead.

If your trying to lose weight and your only doing CV you dont really need a huge amount of protein. If you cant get enough with your food, you may find you only need to be taking half a scoop at a time.
Protein powder has calories to, but you wont get as much energy from it, and it wont fill you up.
to lose weight you need to feel full up, by eatting things like oats which break down slowly

Ok cool.. I guess Ill just do a half scoop before and a half scoop after.. Im using the MuscleTech stuff and it only has 110 calories a serving, so it shouldnt be much of an issue.

Drop the MuscleTech. It's overpriced crap. Just get some type of regular whey, such as AllTheWhey, ON 100% Whey, etc.

It depends what type of cardio you're doing. If you're doing lower intensity, steady state, you don't have to worry all that much about afterwards as long as you got a good meal in beforehand. If you're doing HIIT, then I think you should treat it like a normal workout (preworkout and postworkout meal).

If you really don't want breakfast in the morning, than a protein shake is a good choice before a run. Whole food is always better though.

Everyone has stated is 100% good so far.

To add on, if you can go on runs without eating then I'd skip the food and do the run. After the run eat something moderate and light (which would be your breakfast). As for the shake, drink the protein shake within 30 minutes AFTER your workout. One thing to note though, the less you eat before lunch, the more munches you will have to deal with after lunch. Try it out; skip breafast and eat a late lunch, you will be hungry and want to munch on stuff all the time from 2 pm until 9 pm... morale of the story, do not skip breakfast.

Hey Ssteve,

I would also recommend NOT taking the protein shake before the workout, AND doing cardio first thing in the morning. Blood Glycogen levels are really low in the morning, and you will hit the fat reserves really well if you do Cardio on an empty stomach. Just make sure to keep it between 25 min and 55 min.

Bests,

Ruppy.

blood glycogen levels? you mean liver glycogen, don't you? Cardio first thing in the morning is very controversial. We just had a thread about it here, actually. You should check it out.

Ok I'll drop the pre cardio protein and just drink it after. As for morning cardio goes, it's that or not at all and I'm assuming that it's much better to do it then to not. As of right now I'm running about 25min with two one to two minute fast paced walks cause I'm out of shape and feel like I'm gonna die if I run straight through.

Karky,

My bad, it is indeed liver Glycogen. I will check the post that you mentioned too. Thanks for pointing it out.

Ruppy.

Steve,
Take a look at this program. (Google "walk to run program") I used it after my knee surgery to get me back to my running stage.

Yeah I'm sure that program works great and for the most part I do something similar. Right now I'm running 4mornings a week and doing more cardio in the evenings through either jumping rope or biking about 4-5 days a week. I have got my diet on track now and I'm not sure if that's the main factor or if the suppliments and extra sleep I have been getting are what's making the difference but my muscles and body in general are recovering very fast from whatever I throw at them.

Since I wrote the above I have cut one walking period out of my run. My block is exactly two miles which is pretty nice as each straight is exactly a half mile. I jog the first mile straight through which right now is still pretty hard, then I stop for one minute(to let my dog go to the bathroom) and I stretch my legs out and catch my breath, then jog the next half mile and walk for one minute, after that I jog about a third of a mile and then run/sprint the last third before I get to my driveway then stretch and walk my driveway(about 1/4 mile).