What to Eat Before a Workout

Looking for ways to boost your stamina before a workout? Don’t panic because we got you!

We all want to get the most from our training sessions. But for that, you have to keep the basics in your mind. Good nutrition and healthy dietary habits are as important as a fine-quality workout to accomplish fit health. The time of food, the type of food, and the choice of food take a strong toll on your performance. Pre-workout nutrition acts as fuel to your workout that makes a considerable difference in your endurance and energy levels, thus having a great influence on your health.

Importance and Benefits of Pre-Workout Nutrition

The right choice of foods as pre-workout nutrition helps the body to achieve good training sessions, recovery after the performance, maximized muscle growth, minimized body damage, improved strength, better cognition, more fat loss, enhanced focus, and decline in the risk of injury. 

Role of Each Macro-Nutrient

Each macronutrient has a specific role in human body mechanisms but before your workout, eating a combo of carbs and protein is recommended. This combo helps the body sustain energy levels and to build more lean muscles.

Easy-to-digest carbs

Eating a rich carb source before your workout helps maintain the blood sugar levels steady during high-intensity workouts. Glycogen stores are limited so easy-to-digest carbs act as the main fuel and reload your glycogen stores in the muscles and liver.

Rich and complete proteins

Consuming protein-rich sources with carbs assists in protein synthesis while reducing the degeneration of muscles. Enhanced lean muscles, stimulated recovery and improved performance can also be achieved by adding proteins as pre-workout nutrients.

Healthy fats

Consuming healthy fats, however, have also some effects on your training. Fats are used as fuel for longer and moderate/low-intensity exercises. They provide energy slowly but more efficiently. Moreover, fats take more time to digest than any other nutrient so if you consume fats before your workout, consume them 1-2 hours before.

What to Eat Before a Workout?

Remember that pre-workout nutrition is as essential as post-workout and intra-workout nutrition. To keep your energy levels high, here are some food options for you that you can consume as your pre-workout nutrition.

• A bowl of Greek yogurt with fruits, nuts, or granola.
• Oatmeal with sliced bananas and nuts on top. 
• Smoothies of different fruits.
• A protein bar
• A bowl of cereals with low-fat milk.
• A handful of nuts.
• An apple or a banana.
• Scrambled eggs with brown bread.
• Granola bar.
• Brown bread with peanut butter.
• Chocolate milk.
• Nut butter with sliced bananas on top of whole wheat bread.
• Grilled chicken with side veggies.
• Seasoned chicken with rice.
• Sandwich with smoked chicken and veggies. 
• Protein powders mixed in favorite beverages.

Time Matters!

Time of intake is the key feature to gain the most benefits. Consume a full proper meal at least 3-4 hours before your workout. After that, consume a good easy-to-digest carb or rich protein snack 30 minutes before your training.

Bottom Line

To achieve the perfect workout, add pre-workout nutrition to your routine. All three macronutrients have major roles but carbs and proteins are the two most important. Keep the time intervals and hydration in check during the training sessions. Pick the easy above-mentioned food options as your pre-workout nutrition to achieve high energy and maximum recovery.