What Should I Eat Before A Workout?

It is possible to eat before training and thus help our muscles to work at their optimal state. It is important to choose the right carbohydrates and proteins.

Ensuring our diet before, during and after performing exercise is of great importance in improving our training quality and body composition. Therefore, if you are exercising, we will tell you what to eat before you work out.

Remember that with rest, nutrition is fundamental to ensuring recovery. It is also used to maximize performance and reduce the risk of muscle damage. You shouldn’t overlook this aspect if you are thinking about exercising.

What to eat before a workout

Whether or not you want to eat before working out depends a lot on your goal, the time that has passed since your last meal and the composition of your last meal. For example,  if the main goal is to lose fat and you are going to be training at a moderate intensity, the ideal pre-workout meal in the majority of cases is to not eat it at all. On the other hand, if the goal is to gain muscle mass, training on an empty stomach is unlikely to do much.

If you eat before exercising, to avoid possible gastric and intestinal problems that could reduce performance and endanger sports, it  is generally recommended not to ingest excessively fatty foods.

The purpose of consuming pre-workout foods is to:

• Increase the levels of hepato-muscular glycogen  and glucose circulating in the blood – the main energy substrate during a resistance training session.
• Release amino acids  – the functional unit of proteins – into the blood stream so that they are available during training and thus reduce muscle catabolism.
• Prevent insulin resistance  and inflammation during the post-exercise recovery phase.
• Optimize post-exercise recovery . According to a study published in Nutrients , ingesting protein, for example, is essential for repairing damaged tissue after exercising.

Carbohydrate intake

Eating carbohydrates should be the priority before exercising. During physical activity,  glycogen reserves are so important that if they are low – less than 1g / 100g of muscle – athletic performance decreases significantly.

However,  you have to be careful about the type of carbohydrate you eat. Indeed, if we consume a source of carbohydrates that requires a long digestion process, whether it is because of:

• Low glycemic index.
• Presence of lipids.
• Resistant starch.
• Large amounts of fiber.
• Consumption just before training.

There may be an unwanted effect on performance as we will begin to exercise by further digesting the food ingested.  They will therefore not be used as an energy source for training.

This is why the most recommended carbohydrate source may be that of disaccharides or pre-digested – hydrolyzed polysaccharides. For example, we can meet the needs of this ingestion through the consumption of 20-30g of carbohydrates,  such as a banana or the flour of a hydrolyzed cereal – rice, corn or potato maldodextrin.

If we consume large amounts of carbohydrates throughout the day, our needs decrease. On the other hand, if there is an energy restriction, this ingestion will be even more important.

According to a study published in Nutrients , it is possible to provide carbohydrates during sports practice through the consumption of drinks. This facilitates the recovery of lost glycogen and reduces the need to consume huge amounts of carbohydrates.

Eat protein before training

The purpose of pre-workout protein consumption is to release amino acids into the blood stream. The goal is to increase the synthesis of muscle proteins and to avoid any degradation. If your pre-workout food is a main course, that is, breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, or dinner, you can consume protein in proportion to the total amount you need to consume per day. . For example, if you ingest 100g of protein per day, divided between these 4 meals, this would amount to 25g of protein.

If you want to make a special pre-workout meal, you can introduce around 30g of protein. One could use a little serum protein or directly from a protein food.

Remember that ensuring protein intake has a significant impact on recovery and the capacity for muscle hypertrophy.

Fats

It is important to reduce fat before training because it delays gastric emptying,  that is, it slows down digestion. Hence, we should avoid fatty foods or fatty sauces. If we take our pre-workout food 30 minutes before it, the fat should not be more than 3-4g.

Supplements

There are many supplements that can be used before training,  but the most useful supplement for increasing performance is caffeine. To benefit from it, it is recommended to take 3 to 9 mg / kg 60 minutes before the workout, normally in capsules or powder. The dose must be modulated because each person has a specific sensitivity to caffeine.

The pre-workout meal can be very important

We can eat before training. It is not prohibited and there are also no contraindications. However, it is recommended that this food be properly thought out so as not to have a negative impact on exercise.

We have to be careful with the carbohydrates we choose and acquire proteins that help the muscles to work. If we can avoid fat, even better. And if we want to choose a pre-workout supplement, then caffeine is recommended.