Pre-Workout Meal and What to Eat After a Workout

Pre- and post-workout meals are important when coaching for achievement. The problem: there may be a normal false impression about what meals and vitamins really do for restoration and reaching your exercise objectives. A examine amongst health fanatics reveals, as an example, that half of the contributors suppose that consuming carbohydrates after a exercise can lead to much less optimum outcomes. Moreover, one-third of the contributors don’t need to eat any energy in any respect instantly after a exercise.⁽¹⁾

When Googling “pre- and post-workout foods,” you get greater than 20 million outcomes. But what’s really arduous to discover is a clear and complete overview about what occurs to the physique when understanding, why the type of exercise you do issues, and how that relates to what wants to be in your procuring listing.

Nutrition can push your exercise to the subsequent degree

Your physique wants the power to perform and carry out throughout your exercise. By burning the three main macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, and protein), your physique positive aspects power within the type of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is a very powerful power supply on your physique.

If power isn’t wanted, it’s saved as creatine phosphate, glycogen and fats. Depending on the depth of your exercise and how shortly you want an power increase, you’ll get it from ATP.

Train Better With the Right Nutrition

Nutrition for Endurance coaching

• When you begin a cardio exercise, your physique burns the glycogen in your blood and your muscle tissue first. 
• These glycogen shops can present well-trained athletes with power for 1.5 to 2 hours. 
• When marathon runners hit the wall or bonk through the race, it means they’ve used up their glycogen shops, and their power degree crashes. 
• Electrolytes (natrium, chloride, potassium, magnesium, and calcium) preserve your physique going (fluid stability, muscle contraction, and nerve impulses).

Nutrition for Strength coaching

• Your muscle tissue want sufficient coaching to give you the option to adapt and enhance. 
• Intense energy coaching may cause micro-tears in your muscle fibers and tendons (micro-trauma). Protein helps restore these tears, and then the muscle tissue develop. This course of known as hypertrophy. 
• More protein isn’t at all times higher. Excessive protein can injury your kidneys and bones and improve the acidity of your urine. 

Try our calculator to determine how a lot protein you want:

Nutritional Info To Consider In Everyday Life

Daily Calorie Intake:

• 24 cal/kg of physique weight x 1.4-2.4 (relying on the exercise degree)

Daily Nutrient Intake for Optimal Performance:

• 4g of carbohydrates/kg of physique weight 
• 1-1.8g of protein/kg of physique weight 
• 1g of fats/kg of physique weight

Optimal Distribution of Macronutrients per Day:

The three macronutrients (carbs, protein, and fats) are the principle suppliers of vitamins in your food regimen. They present your physique with power and serve many different very important capabilities.

Your every day meals consumption ought to embrace this proportion of macros per day:

• Carbohydrates: 55-60% 
• Protein: 12-15%
• Fat: 25-30%

Learn extra about carbs, protein, and fats by clicking on the next picture:

What to Eat Before a Workout: Best Pre-workout Meals and Snacks

Food is fuel. A pre-workout snack is needed to power you through your run so you can complete it feeling strong. Get it wrong and you will feel it. Overeat and your stomach will let you know when you up the intensity. Too little and you’ll “bonk” or hit the wall and finish feeling weak. Keep it simple and balanced with adequate hydration.

Pre-workout nutrition

Nutrition for Endurance training

• Eat a proper meal two to three hours before a cardio workout. 
• The meal should include enough carbs as well as some protein. 
• You can have a small high-carb snack up to 10 minutes before the workout. If you want a blast of energy quickly, have something with a high GI (>70).⁽²⁾
• Don’t forget to hydrate before, during, and after your workout. You don’t want to get seriously dehydrated (loss of >2% of your body weight from sweating), which affects your electrolyte balance. This can really hurt your performance.⁽³⁾

Nutrition for Strength training

• Eat a proper meal two to three hours before your cardio workout. 
• Combine carbohydrates and proteins in a ratio of 3:1.
• You can have a small high-protein snack or shake up to 10 minutes before your workout.

Shopping List for Pre-workout Meals

Make sure you have these foods at home for a perfect pre-workout meal:

Carbohydrates:

• Bananas 
• Rice
• (Sweet)potatoes
• Oats
• Rice waffles 
• Quinoa 
• Bread
• Pasta

Protein:

• Eggs
• Nut butter 
• Greek yogurt
• Cow milk / non-dairy milk

Not sure if you remember all these foods to put into your shopping cart? Save the following infographic on your phone and take it with you next time you go grocery shopping:

These recipes are perfect before your workout:

Meals and Snacks Before Cardio Training:

Meals and Snacks Before  Strength Training:

What to Eat After a Workout: Best Post-workout Food

What you eat after you work out is just as important as what you eat before. Skip a post-workout snack or meal and you’ll slow down your ability to recover. This can range from feeling sore the next day and having to cancel your workout to feeling exhausted over the coming days and not performing at your best.

Protein is important after training. You need it for muscle repair and recovery after an intense workout. More isn’t always better: your body can’t store excessive amounts of protein – the extra amounts will get stored as fat.

Post-workout nutrition 

Nutrition for Endurance training:

• The optimal post-workout recovery window is about 30 minutes. Your snack should be a good mix of carbs and protein (2:1 ratio).⁽⁴⁾
• Carbohydrates are essential after a long workout to replenish your glycogen stores. 
• Your body loses electrolytes when you sweat, so feel free to add some salt to your meal. If your workout was long, a drink with electrolytes and carbohydrates is a good way to support recovery.⁽⁵⁾
• Weigh yourself before and after your workout. The difference will tell you how much fluid you need to drink. 

Nutrition for Strength training:

• Your body refills its energy reserves during the regeneration phase. When you consume macronutrients, this improves your recovery.
• The optimal post-workout recovery window is about 30 minutes. Focus on protein combined with a smaller portion of carbohydrates (more if you want to build muscles or gain weight). You should eat 20 to 25 g of protein right after your strength training to support muscle protein synthesis.⁽⁶⁾
• Don’t feel like you have to take supplements after your workout. Your protein needs can be covered in a balanced diet. If you don’t have time for a meal, a protein shake or bar is a good alternative. 

Shopping List for Post-workout Meals

Make sure you have these foods at home for a perfect post-workout meal:

Carbohydrates:

• Bananas
• Apples
• Berries
• Tomatoes
• Chickpeas 
• Kidney beans
• Sweet potatoes
• Spinach 
• Quinoa

Protein:

• Eggs
• Tofu
• Chicken breast
• Fish
• Cottage cheese
• Greek yogurt
• Cow milk/non-dairy milk 
• (Vegan) protein powder

Fat:

• Vegetable oils
• Avocado
• Unsalted nuts
• Nut butter

Electrolyte drinks:

Not sure if you remember all these foods to put into your shopping cart? Save the following infographic on your phone and take it to your next grocery shopping:

These recipes are perfect after your workout:

Cardio:

Strength:

Takeaway

Your pre-workout meals and what you eat after a workout significantly influence your performance and recovery. Follow our tips if you want to take your diet (and your workouts) to the next level. 

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