The Best Foods To Eat Before And After Your Workout

Whether you’re an aspiring athlete or someone who simply wishes to lose a few extra pounds, purely exercising is not going to get you there fast enough. If you want quicker and maximum results, combining the right foods with your workout regime is a must. It’ll help you power through grueling exercise sessions as well as the rest of your day without any major energy loss or muscle damage (1).

Here’s the lowdown on everything you need to know about the best pre- and post-workout foods!

Foods To Eat Before A Workout

What you need to eat before working out is not a simple matter. Your individual nutritional needs can vary depending on the type of exercises you intend to do. Nonetheless, your body needs certain macronutrients before you hit the gym:

• Carbohydrates: Carbs are the fuel your muscles need while working out. Your body makes and stores glucose in the form of glycogen. If you go for high-intensity, short workouts, you’ll need more carbs, while for longer, less intense workouts you may need lesser carbs (2).
• Protein: The importance of protein in pre-workout meals has been established by several studies. Having protein-rich foods before exercising increases the synthesis of protein in your muscles (3). Whey protein is particularly beneficial and improves muscle recovery as well as strength (4), (5).
• Fat: Fat serves as the fuel needed to keep up with low-intensity, long workout routines (6). Fat in your diet can also increase your endurance in the long run when had in moderation (7).

Apart from including these 3 macronutrients in your diet, you should also pay extra attention to the timing of your pre-workout meals. Ideally, you should have a complete meal 2 to 3 hours prior to exercising. But in case you can’t do that, try eating an hour before working out, focusing on carbs and proteins. Here’s a list of example meals you should eat before exercising:

Meals 2-3 Hours Before:

• Whole-grain sandwich with lean protein and salad
• Whole-grain toast with an omelet and fresh fruits
• A cup of brown rice with roasted veggies and lean protein

Meals 2 Hours Before:

• Milk-based protein smoothie with bananas, berries, and protein powder
• Whole-grain cereal with milk
• 1 cup of oatmeal with bananas and almonds

Meals 1 Hour Before:

• Fresh fruits with Greek yogurt
• A highly nutritious protein bar
• Fresh fruits such as bananas, apples or oranges

Depending on the timing that suits you, you can choose any one of the meals mentioned above. Now, let’s move on to what you should eat after you’re done sweating it out.

Foods To Eat After A Workout

If eating before a workout is necessary, eating after is crucial. When you work out, your muscles use up your glycogen reserves, which means they are depleted. Besides, the proteins present in your muscles are also damaged or broken down (8), (9). At this time, your body is trying to restore its glycogen reserves and repair its muscles, so if you eat right, you can speed up all of these processes. The macronutrients you need post-workout are pretty much the same as you need before:

• • Carbohydrates: To ensure the speedy restoration of your depleted glycogen reserves, you should have carbs after working out. That said, if you opt for endurance workouts such as swimming, running, etc., your body will need more carbs as compared to a bodybuilder (10).
  • Protein: Muscle protein breakdown is an eventuality post every workout session, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro (11), (12), (13). Hence, consuming protein after you’re done working out is vital as it provides your body with amino acids, which it needs in order to repair and reconstruct damaged muscles (14), (15). Besides, protein also acts as the basis for developing new muscles (16). You should have carbs and proteins in a 3:1 ratio in order to derive maximum benefits from them.
  • Fat: Fats are not a no-no after a workout. Fats may slow down digestion, but they won’t hinder the absorption of nutrients. In fact, fats can actually help promote muscle growth and do not affect muscle glycogen synthesis in any way (17), (18).

Again, the timing of your post-workout meals is very important. You should eat carbs and proteins ASAP (within 45 minutes max) after exercising to reconstruct protein and glycogen. Eating 2 hours or later after a workout can reduce glycogen synthesis by 50% (19), (20).

Here’s a list of example foods you should eat after exercising:

Carbohydrates:

• Chocolate milk
• Fresh fruits such as bananas, berries, pineapple, kiwi, etc.
• Sweet potatoes
• Rice or rice cakes
• Potatoes
• Pasta
• Oatmeal
• Leafy, green veggies (dark)

Proteins:

• Plant or animal-based protein powder
• Greek yogurt
• Eggs
• Salmon
• Protein bar
• Tuna
• Cottage cheese
• Chicken

Fats:

• Nuts
• Butters made of nuts such as peanut butter or almond butter
• Avocado
• Trail mix of nuts and dried fruits

You can have a combination of any of these food items for your meal as long as it contains all three macronutrients. It’s time to eat your way to more effective workouts!

Know a fitness enthusiast who could use some workout nutrition tips? Share this article with them or tag them in the comments below!

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