What Do You Need to Eat Before Your Workout?

Wait, you’ve always heard that you shouldn’t eat before any workout session, haven’t you?

Well, let me burst that bubble of myth with the next sentence. You need to eat before a workout. Simple.

“But, why?”

Legit question. Thank you.

Here’s a little science. Your body is under constant stress when you hit that gym. All the exertions of lifting weights, doing cardio, or just simple stretching takes a good amount of toll on your muscles.

We all are equipped with a definite amount of energy reserves within our cells and within our liver in the form of glucose and glycogen, respectively. The former is an instant energy injection, while the latter takes some time (not hours, please) in replenishing cells with energy because it has to be first changed into glucose. However, both run out after a strenuous activity.

Therefore, when we don’t eat anything before a workout, the chances for these reserves to run out almost triples. What we experience, as a result, is a lag in the session and lethargy – two things detrimental to your workout life.

So, the best practice to be vibrant during any workout session is eating before it.

What should you eat?

We are omnivorous, meaning we can eat a variety of food. Our food comprises largely of three main components:

· Carbohydrates,

· Proteins,

· Fats.

All of these three components have their own function and provide energy at different levels.

Carbohydrates or carbs are the fuel of your cells. You need to have them if your workout comprises of high-intensity exercises. Like I said at the start, the glucose and glycogen are both short energy resources. They run out quickly and they need to be replenished faster. For that, you can rely on carbs.

You might have heard about the carb loading. Gym-goers and workout enthusiasts take a diet having a huge amount of carbs for a period of 7 days. This maximizes the glycogen storage in their livers so that they can outperform their previous workout routines.

Proteins are the major components of muscles. If you don’t have enough proteins, your muscle growth will be scant and their recovery process will be slow. Consuming proteins before a workout is known to increase anabolic or constructive activities in your muscles; thus, leading to a lean body mass and increased performance.

Fat is the nutrition component that you might be afraid of. There’s a good reason of that, but you should know that consuming it is equally important. When you run out of glycogen, your body shifts its energy processing machinery to using fats as fuel. However, that only happens in longer or low-intensity exercises. So, if you perform those, eat fats before your workout session.

Some example meals

· Sandwiches

· Brown rice

· Eggs with toast

· Protein Smoothie

· Cereals/milk

· Oatmeal

· Bananas

· Roasted veggies

Or, anything that suits you (avoid fast foods). However, keep in mind that you only have to eat all of this without over-burdening yourself. A one or two serving(s) would suffice.

When to eat?

Pre-workout meals don’t mean that you’ve to eat them a few minutes before your workout. At least, there has to be an hour gap between the meal you take and the workout timing. Also, keep in mind that depending on the heaviness of the meal, this time could extend well to two or three hours. That could be the case when you prefer eating sandwiches, eggs or another high-protein meal.

I mentioned a few of the meals above. But if you need more assistance you can simply contact me. I can devise the perfect meal routine in accordance with your workout and your body capacity.

This is me – Hagar Shafir. I’m waiting to become your personal trainer and help you transform your body the way you like. All you’d have to do is email me at hagarshaf@gmail.com.