Pre-Workout Nutrition – What to Eat Before you Exercise

Is there such a thing as a pre-workout nutrition plan?

Certainly, and following a correct one will yield you great results than either exercising on an empty stomach or one filled with the incorrect food.

Actually, a correct pre-workout nutrition plan will be one that can supply quick energy sources, mostly carbohydrates, that can preserve your energy reserves, and also able to provide added blood flow to the muscle tissue.

The Pre-Workout Essentials; Carbs and Proteins

Carbs

When you work out for periods longer than 30 minutes, you start using up your energy reserves. These energy reserves are merely glycogen, it is the sugar stored in the liver and muscles.

Exercising will burn your stored energy quickly, and it can’t use the oxygen kept in the fat deposits as a fuel. Therefore the body needs to find sugar fast, and does so in the muscle tissue and from the blood.

So, it’s best to eat something with simple sugars in it just before training. This will reduce the amount of body glycogen used during your training.

An added benefit is that eating the simple sugars before training will give you a sustained performance. It must also be mentioned that keeping your glycogen levels high, along with those of insulin, make the best environment for muscle growth.

Proteins

As mentioned above, you need to get the blood flowing into those working muscles during a workout. It is very important then, to insure that you have enough available amino acids for muscle tissue.

A lot of people think that proteins are necessary after the workout.

They are not wrong, but they error if they think they are not needed BEFORE the workout.

In fact, it is proven that if you can supply available amino acids to your body before the workout, it will be more easily taken up by the muscles than it will after the workout.

Research has proven “the response of net muscle protein synthesis to consumption of a protein solution immediately before resistance exercise is greater than when the solution is consumed after exercise”.

The reason for this is consumption of protein before the workout.

What to Eat Before a Workout

An excellent choice would be slow cooked oatmeal with honey and milk with a protein mix added. As an alternative to oatmeal, try a bagel or similar, with honey, again with the protein mix.

There are also many commercial drink mixes available with exact proportions of the carbs, sugar and protein you need plus added vitamins and minerals, and other additives.

You must see what works best for you. However, you should not be too full of food or drink in any case, before the workout. Moderation is called for.

A perfect time is to eat or drink your nutrition one hour before the workout. You will find that the digestion has already well progressed, and that your body is primed and ready to workout and train.

A final note. The commercial mixes are usually expensive, and have set ratios of nutrients available. Your own mixes can provide an economic alternative with at least equal results.