Howdy all. I’m starting the biggest block of training I’ve ever taken on while maintaining a career and juggling family life etc bright and early tomorrow morning… I’m hoping that the new Masters plan with lower frequency of intensity will allow me to add volume without overdoing it, time will tell. I go into the office a few days a week and therefore a 4am alarm with a 430-5am start time is unfortunately necessary. I’ve noticed on these days, if I ride an interval block I find myself extremely hungry that day. On the days I work remotely, I have time to wake up and cook a full breakfast before I ride, which seems to eliminate that nagging hunger. Any recommendations for quick fueling options for those early morning rides that start pretty much first thing?
What seems to work for me is load up on carbs the night before. If I have a hard early session planned I make sure to have a carb bottle made up the night before and take a gel as soon as I wake up. Also a great idea to have a decent sized breakfast afterwards focusing on good quality carbs and protein.
That makes since. I usual do a cup of Greek yogurt, cup of oats, 2 tbsp PB, and a tbsp of pure maple syrup for breakfast. I’ll try eating it right after I’m off the bike tomorrow and see how that goes.
I do most of my workouts at about 5am in the morning and the masters plans have been great in facilitating the balance between working out and work life. I have a pretty physically/mentally taxing job so I think you will like the masters plans.
For fueling I usually just have a cup of coffee on the bike while I am warming up for the endurance workouts and that gets me through.
For the harder workouts I mix a bottle of my carb mix and take a gel/energy chews before I get on the bike. On days I am really dragging I will take a pre-workout drink, but I hate the way they make me feel post workout so I try to limit them.
After workout I eat a pretty high carb/good fat meal. Usually centering around Ezekiel english muffins (so much better than the bread) and plain greek yogurt with cut up fruit/an avocado with everything but the bagel seasoning.
I always had a tendency to not fuel my body properly in an effort to cut weight, but I have found that if I actually give my body the fuel it needs after workouts it makes the following workouts that much easier.
My go to early pre ride meal is pb&j sandwich and a cup of yogurt. Quick and easy, pretty calorie dense, and no stomach issues for me jumping right into hard training. Once on the bike, I’ve got a flask of maple syrup that I’ll start on immediately. It’s really just a matter of figuring out what your body can deal with, but the main focus should be simple carbs if you are jumping right on the bike.
I second the bread/PB/sugar option. For me, it’s toast, PB and honey, plus a cup of coffee, and that is enough to get me started.
I also chow through nearly 100g of carbs in a bottle every hour on the bike, so the breakfast plus drink is enough. Then, adding a second breakfast after the ride basically gets me to ‘zero’ for the day.
If I know that the next morning I will have a low-intensity ride of up to 2 hours then I just make sure to eat well the day before and hydrate properly in the morning (some liter of water before I get on the bike), I smuggle in a little sugar (honey or sugar). If I’m going to have intense rides from 1h upwards then in the morning I definitely have to take in about 30-40min before the ride 60-80g of carbohydrates from simple sources (sugar, honey, jam, plum jam), during I drink water with sugar. Otherwise I just feel hunger during the day not to overeat.
If it’s an indoor workout, I usually just eat on the trainer.
If it’s an outdoor workout, for a 5am workout, I guess I need to wakeup at 3am to eat and then 
and by my record, even 2 hours is insufficient to get me out the door.
From bed to trainer in 15 min.
I usually eat white bread with a lot of jam ( or Honey ) and drink coffee that I prepare the night before (I warm it up in the morning).
Then on the bike i eat minimal 70g CH or more per hour.
After training drink Recovery Drink ( 60g CH + 30g Protein ).
Then eat normal size breakfast.
It depends.
How intense is your morning workout?
How does you body react to working out on a full stomach?
If you’re getting up at 4am, what time do you go to bed?
For a 5am workout that had z4+ intensity, I’d be setting my alarm for 4:45, 15 minutes is enough time to pee, put on clothes that I pulled out ready the night before and grab a bottle or 2 of sugar water out the fridge. I’d eat breakfast straight after my workout ( oatmeal cooked in the microwave while I’m in the shower) or in the office.
For anything 2hr + the routine is the same regardless of intensity (but vary the on the bike carbs depending on the intensity).
Night before I’ll have a bowl of granola and get kit etc ready. I like to give myself an hour to prepare for an early workout, I know this is excessive but like not to rush, give myself time to wake up, do a HRV readiness test, mentally get ready etc. Nutrition-wise I’ll have a couple of cups of tea with a protein bar and a slice of chocolate filled brioche loaf for carbs
If it’s a z4 workout, a bottle with carbs, if not just with an electrolyte tab. After an hour or so or at opportune moments between intervals I’ll eat some carbs on the bike - slice of malt loaf, banana etc
Post workout will be a bowl of porridge with some fat free yoghurt and fruit and more tea 
This has been my routine for way too long. I don’t do any special fueling / carb loading the night before. If the workout is 90 min or less of Z2 I won’t fuel on the bike but will put an electrolyte tab in my water. If longer than 90 min but Z2 I’ll fuel with EF Pro’s rice cakes (homemade) and water / electrolytes. Anything with intensity, regardless of duration, I’ll fuel with carb drinks and / or gels, both of which also include electrolytes.
I also need about 40 minutes to wake up in the morning, and will use the time to hydrate (water, no electrolytes until on the bike), restroom, etc.
I’ve tried a couple strategies when I’m on this schedule. First strategy was to prep some meals so I could eat quickly first thing, then get dressed and get on the bike. For me, that only worked if I had a recovery/endurance workout. Threshold or VO2max would just make me taste my breakfast a 2nd time.
The strategy that worked best for me was to eat some extra carbs before bed. On alarm, eat a 200 kcal granola bar first thing. Drink 300ml of water while dressing for the workout. Have waterbottles & in-ride nutrition ready to go the night before. Consume 80 to 90 grams carb/hour during my morning workout.
Now, I’m sure different athletes are likely to tolerate different strategies. So don’t take this as a certain sure recipe for success. Try it both ways and a third way and a 4th way until you find what works for you.
I’m doing twice a day workouts to build up volume for 2 reasons: 1) I don’t handle very well long endurance workouts indoor, so splitting them helps me. 2) more family time at the end of the day.
45min in the morning (SST), 1 cup of coffee 1 toasted bagel and honey - lots of honey (not liquid).
1:00 to 1:30hr (Endurance) afternoon/night workout, basically same thing.
During workout a mix of 30/40grs of sugar, 1 pinch of salt and half lemon squeezed. It’s getting the job done. Don’t feel hungry, my body weight is consistency, it’s all working ok for me.
I must add, I have a good - large and rich - lunch. Real food that I cooked.
Been getting up at 4:45am and on the bike around 5am since the pandemic started. My tips are:
- Liquid carbs on the bike. Max it out the harder the session (duration and/or intensity.) Still aim pretty high for endurance. I’m dealing with GI issues and cannot handle more than 90g/hr but would go higher if the gut allowed. I’ll be around 775-800 kCal/hr burned on z2 and < 1000 kCal/hr on the real calorie burners so still running a decent deficit. Probably want to scale based on FTP / expected calorie burn as no sense if intake > burn, but the closer to = the better without GI distress.
- Caffeine for intervals days a must
- Make sure I’m eating a decent breakfast the previous day and getting enough carbs overall so I’m recovering well.
This has worked fine for me for up to 4hr z2 (longest I’ve done, haven’t tried longer) and no issues with long z3/z4 interval days that burn a ton of calories. No issues with suprathreshold / vo2max other than they are difficult. I think the main thing with those is that going from asleep to max effort in 20-30min is mentally challenging. Prepping mentally the night before has been super useful.
I have been doing morning workouts for close to 6 years now (ever since we had our first kid). I don’t do anything special at night nor do I eat anything in the morning beforehand. I have plenty of nutrition on the bike 50–110 g/h, depending on workout type (I can warmly recommend @Dr_Alex_Harrison’s nutrition app called Saturday).
Afterwards I have breakfast with my family.
For several years I would not fuel at all or underfuel. That did not work out well, I was ravenous at breakfast and had trouble controlling portion size. Especially on off days or during the off season it would take a while until my satiety would catch up with my training load (or lack thereof). Just fueling every ride solved that very well for me.
Thanks all. Today I ate a breakfast cereal bar straight away upon waking, did 2 scoops of tailwind for a 1 hr 15 min VO2 effort, then are my oats/yogurt/peanut butter right after my ride. That puts me at about ~75 carbs total for just over an hour effort. So far so good, I haven’t been in the Cafe all day looking for snacks like I’ve been known to do in the passed.
I’ll definitely continue to play around with it and see what sticks.
Usually depends on the workout. But usually couple of toast with jelly and a redbull… if its longer than 60 minutes I add bottle of Gatorade endurance.
Going into a wo hungry is not fun. You need to experiment with how much can you tolerate pre-workout.
I’m up at 4:30 and on the trainer around 5. My workouts are 60-75 minutes.
I will have coffee while I’m getting set up. Then if it’s SS or Threshold workout, I will have a bottle of drink mix during the workout. If it’s an endurance, VO2 or anaerobic workout, then I just stick with water. It’s been working well for me. Not really sure I even need the drink mix, but it makes me feel better so I’ll stick with it.
This is something I’ve had to ease into. I first started with only endurance workouts, then brought it some sweetspot. Now I can do anything in the morning just as easily, if not easier, than in the afternoon/after work.
My early morning routine is to put the coffee on, then foam roll, stretch, and listen to music for 15 mins while the coffee is brewing. The next 15 mins is a coffee and bagel (the simpler carbs the better) while I’m getting dressed. Another 5-10 min bike prep while the caffeine and carbs are starting to hit the blood stream and I’m ready to go. Fuel with simple liquid carbs on the bike, and maybe another bagel after. You will absolutely need to eat again before lunch most likely, and be ready to hit the coffee again at noon lol.