Ever been in the middle of an intense training session and all of a sudden hit a wall like BAM! Or maybe you have this sudden onset of not so pleasant digestive symptoms? To be honest, we’ve all been there at least once in our training lives. This can be a reflection of what you put into your body prior to training. Yes, that cheese and egg sandwich you scarfed down on route to the gym, or that heavy dinner you had “to give you energy” before an evening session are doing more harm than good. You probably are sitting there reading this and asking why…? Well let’s talk about pre-workout and break it down to understand the what, when, whys and how’s to creating a simpler formula to feel your best during your workouts.
WHY IS YOUR PRE-WORKOUT IMPORTANT
What and when you eat before exercise can make a big difference to your performance and recovery. Having foods that are easy to digest before a workout can help you push harder, lift heavier, ward off energy crashes mid workout from low blood sugars, avoid hunger pangs mid workout, and prevent nasty GI symptoms like nausea/ abdominal cramps. It’s more than just physical energy too. Having a good pre-workout can help with mental focus during your session and ability to stay focused to push throughout. Many people who exercise on an empty stomach find they mentally start to drift off on top of feeling low on energy. From this standpoint, having good fuel can help prevent injury by keeping you mentally alert, focusing on muscle activation, and maintaining proper form/ cues important to keep movement safe.
WHAT IS THE IDEAL COMPOSITION PRIOR TO TRAINING
Let’s keep this simple for everyone. There are 2 main components to a good pre-workout meal or snack. Yes just two things! Drum roll please – protein AND carbs. Protein prior to training will elevate blood levels of amino acid levels and is proven to help increase protein synthesis. It also will help prevent blood sugar fluctuations and keep you full throughout the session, then if you are to have carbs on their own. Generally 15-35g is enough to do the trick. Some lean protein options include protein shake/ powder, egg whites, turkey jerky or other lean jerky, leftover chicken breast, tuna, nitrite/ sulphite free deli meats, powdered peanut butter, low fat dairy, smoked tofu.
Pre-workout nutrition is pretty simple when it comes to carbs. Eat them! Carbs are your friend when it comes to training. If you are training at a pretty high intensity, ie/ interval training, metabolic conditioning, heavy weight training, then you need carbs to fuel those sessions. Restricting carbs pre-workout will have a detrimental impact on performance. Overwhelmingly, the research points to the fact you should have carbs before you train. And if you are already in a calorie deficit and targeting fat loss then it becomes even more important. Because your workouts are already in danger of being a bit off due to being on restricted calories. So you don’t want to make your workouts any worse by limiting carbs. In fact, if you manage things right you should still have great workouts. There is no need to suffer with crap workouts for months on end. Quick release carbs are the most effective. And that is especially true if you’ve got a short window before you train. You want something that your body can absorb quickly and feel the effect of. Example quick digesting carb sources can include rice cakes, saltine/ rice/ simple crackers, white rice, tortilla, banana, grapes, watermelon, rice crispy squares, cereal (Shreddies, Life, Chex, Rice Krispies), dried mango/ dates…
