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Breakfast is the most important meals of the day. As the name implies, you "break" the "fast" which started right after taking your dinner or your last food intake before hitting the sack the night before. Early risers who prefer to do their exercise in the morning may wonder, when is the best time to break the fast: before or after their morning regimen?

I would say, "Both!"

Your metabolism slows down while you are asleep; however, because of the prolonged number of hours without ingestion of any food, the feeling of an empty stomach may be bothersome throughout a rather long exercise. If you have enough time to eat a full breakfast two to three hours before your exercise, then do so.

However, since most cannot manage waking up early enough for this, I'd suggest eating a quick and nutritious, light snack at least 15 minutes before your workout. This can be a granola bar, energy bar (packed with carbohydrates and protein, it’s a complete snack food), a banana or an apple maybe, two to three pieces of pandesal with whatever spread or filling you fancy, cut pieces of fresh fruit. This will ensure you have something in your tummy before you start hitting the treadmill, and since it’s just a small amount, you won’t feel any heaviness or the discomfort of having the walls of your stomach grinding against each other. You'll be more in the proper disposition to enjoy your morning routine this way.

 

'If you have enough time to eat a full breakfast two to three hours before your exercise, then do so. But if you can't wake up early enough for this, eat a quick and nutritious, light snack at least 15 minutes before your workout'

After your one and a half to two or maybe even three-hour workout, immediately hydrate and eat the second part of your breakfast. Only this time, make it a heavier meal with rice, potato or more bread together with your choice of viand: sausages, bacon, omelet, etc. This should be done immediately after your workout to immediately replenish your body’s supply of carbohydrates and salts.

If you're planning to just do some brisk walking or a few laps in the pool worth 30 minutes or less, you may opt to skip the snack, go right ahead with your exercise and down a good nutritious meal afterwards.

But there are different strokes for different folks, and so it would be advisable to study what eating habits are hiyang and work for you. However, always make sure not to skip the meal altogether!

 

Physical exercise won't be complete without the natural occurrence of muscle discomfort. Oftentimes, the reason why muscle pains develop is because the aching muscles are not used to the amount of stress it has just received. Either that or it has already borne too much stress over a long period of time.
 
In the case of the former, one way to avoid muscle pain is to condition your muscles gradually to take on the aches through regular exercise with a slowly increasing intensity and duration. Combine this with the proper intake of minerals, sugars and salts in your diet. Stay hydrated with water or better yet, any of those commercially available sports drinks (i.e. Gatorade, Rush, Gatorade Propel, Pocari Sweat, to name a few). Sip small quantities during your workout to also slowly replenish your body's supply of energy. This doesn't replace drinking water, which is also essential. You should take in copious amounts before and after exercise.
 
Avoid muscle cramps by taking the right amount of salt in your diet. I love to eat tuyo or dried salted fish the day before an endurance activity. It seemed like a good idea and I can say that I haven't experienced any cramping when I observe this habit. But of course, salts can be obtained from other food sources in a less concentrated form such as bread and cereals, as recommended by Graham McGregor and Hugh Edward de Wardener in their book, Salt, Diet & Health.

 

'One way to avoid muscle pain is to condition your muscles gradually to take on the aches through regular exercise'

 
Too much stress over a long period of time, on the other hand, may involve the build-up of lactic acid. If so, your body needs you to replenish the liquids and salts with the right diet while modifying the intensity of the workout by adopting an interval training session which allows for an alternating of high intensity and low intensity training days, says Miriam Nelson of WebMD. Sometimes, though, active rest is the most appropriate solution for these pains.
 
Pain is a biological fact of life, so you might as well be thankful and enjoy the pleasant soreness of your body earned from a hard workout. Put it this way: Having the sensation of pain means you're still alive! That definitely beats being numb and dead.

How much and how frequently must one exercise? The answer to this is as relative as what your reason is for exercising. Hopefully, your honest and consistent response is for overall fitness, and not just because you want to get away with wearing a two-piece suit during a summer beach outing with friends.

Weight loss and health. Some come to a radical decision to cut down on or cut out cholesterol, sugar or carbs from meals because of undesirable health conditions. And in most cases, physicians recommend some form of light exercise to complement this new diet such as walking, swimming, golf, yoga, Tai-Chi, etc. Regularity of the exercise is best consulted with one's doctor.

General Fitness. Most young females would probably find themselves wanting to be active and physically fit to have enough energy to do daily tasks such as school work, office work, and house work. In addition to this, of course, is enough energy to attend to their social life. The key is to maintain a regular exercise regimen by choosing an activity that can conveniently be included in your week’s schedule. Ideally, it should allow you to sweat out the toxins in your body and raise your heart rate which can be achieved with a minimum of 30-45 minutes worth of physical activity. And most especially, it should be enjoyable for you! This last condition is usually what determines if you will be motivated enough to engage in your chosen activity as scheduled. One and a half hours of badminton, tennis, frisbee or flag football twice a week is a good start. In elementary through tertiary education, Physical Education was scheduled twice a week. Hopefully this is enough practice and reinforcement to make you stick to at least two workouts a week. Soon, you’ll be asking for more and making time for exercise three to four times a week. And what’s great about playing a sport is that it’s also a social activity you can do with family, friends, and colleagues at the office.

 

‘Maintain a regular exercise regimen by choosing an activity that can conveniently be included in your week's schedule’

 

Competition. If you're an athlete preparing for a sporting event or race, however, exercise is taken a bit more seriously. College varsity players as well as national athletes are known to train every day, oftentimes even twice or thrice a day.

So, unless you'll be representing the Philippines in the August Beijing Olympics or in the October Asian Beach Games, I’d recommend exercising with general fitness as the end in mind. While a sedentary lifestyle is not at all ideal, don’t overdo your exercise and re-evaluate the expression: "No pain, no gain."

 

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