What to Eat and When to Eat: Pre and Post Workouts

What to Eat and Drink

When to Eat and Drink

How The Right Foods Can Increase Performance and Maximize Results

Athletes need to plan the times before and after workouts to consume adequate foods, ensuring they refuel muscle glycogen levels for the next workout session and to prevent injury.  

For the rest of us, we also need to consume proper foods pre and post workouts to reduce chances of injury, inflammation, and to increase lean muscle mass, aide in weight loss, and prevent weight gain. However, for the average person who is trying to fit in a 30-60 minute gym session, your focus should be more on maintaining an overall healthy diet and not necessarily consuming high amounts of foods pre-workouts. To lose weight, you must eat fewer calories than you use, but not less than your body needs to function, while taking your resting metabolic rate into account. This is the amount of calories you burn doing daily activities such as sleeping, eating, walking, talking, etc.  

• Before Workouts:
• What to eat: The foods consumed throughout the day are consumed in your muscles as glycogen, fueling the body for your workouts. Opt for complex carbohydrates, liquids, which are quickly digested, or energy bars. 
• When to eat: I would not recommend exercising on a full stomach and instead would suggest you consume food 1-4 hours prior to exercise, to ensure proper digestion and prevent stomach cramps, discomfort, and bloating. 
• Fluids: Being well hydrated means the body will function more efficiently. You should be consuming anywhere from 16-20 ounces of water a few hours before a long, intense workout session. Sports drinks are not necessary unless you are exercising for more than an hour or taking part in an endurance event such as running, biking, or swimming. It is very important to intake the perfect amount of fluids, as too little fluids can cause dehydration and too high amounts of fluids can cause an intoxication of fluids in the body system, pushing nutrients and electrolytes out of the body, both which can be fatal. 

           Examples of foods for pre-workouts/events:

• For the Athlete:

• Whole grain bagel or whole grain pasta a few hours before as this is slow to digest
• Peanut butter sandwich on whole grain, also a few hours before, slow to digest
• rice cake with peanut butter or almond butter, slow to digest
• energy bar (powerbar, Cliff Bar, etc) 
• Smoothie, quicker to digest, could consume within an hour of exercise 
• 
  
  
  • 1 C frozen berries 
  • 1/2 C soy milk, almond milk, or skim milk
  • 1/2 banana
  • optional 1tbs peanut butter, almond butter 
  • Blend thoroughly, adding more milk of needed. This will be digested quicker than a solid food. 

• As for myself, I consume 1 protein bar (Clif Blueberry is my favorite) about 1-2 hours before and consume minimal fluids hours before and right up until the race starts. I also avoid all fruits, vegetables, dairy, and high fat foods days before a long race, and typically consume electrolyte enhanced fluids and carbohydrates only. During a running event, I drink electrolyte enhanced fluids such as any sports drink. Consuming protein is more adequate during events longer than 2 hours, as this is the point at which the body will most likely start using protein stores for energy. I highly recommend you try a few different foods on different days before workouts to experiment what works with your stomach and what makes you feel best and compete at your highest level. 

• The night before a run- 1/2 or full marathon, I carbohydrate overload, but not to extremes. The fact is, consuming too high levels of carbohydrates will only be stored if not used and act as dead weight. I also only consume about 200-400 calories the next morning, to top off the liver glycogen stores I lost in my nights sleep. I avoid fiber, fat, and heavy foods the morning of, and typically eat a small bowl of pasta or a protein bar such as the Clif bar, my favorite being blueberry and banana. I also consume an energy drink such as Gatorade or an electrolyte and sugar enhanced drink with minimal amounts of caffeine. Typically, as an endurance athlete, I recommend consuming gatorade or sports drinks a few days before to store electrolytes and avoid nutrient loss through urination. 

• For the Average person:
• Before a workout session at the gym, if you are running on low and haven't eaten for at least 3-4 hours before, a few options I would opt for are: 
• piece of fruit- orange, cherries, grapes, berries 
• protein bar
• handful of raw nuts
• handful of vegetables plain or with hummus
• a few whole grain crackers
• handful of edamame
• celery with peanut butter/almond butter
• Or, my preference is to make a juice with my juicer or drink a juice such as Green Plant or Garden Patch from Trader Joes. These drinks will not only fill you up for a workout session, but they are light on the stomach, easy to digest, and will increase the amount of nutrients absorbed from vegetables and fruits for that day. 
• As for fluids, consuming water all day and sips throughout your workout should provide you with adequate hydration. If you are experiencing a dry mouth, you are probably dehydrated, and should definitely re-think the amount of water you drink everyday.

• As for myself, before a short workout session at the gym or a short distance run or weight session, hike, swim, bike, etc, I make sure I am hydrated and consume sips before and during the workout, and opt for a small snack if I am feeling extremely hungry pre-workout, typically consuming a raw juice.  

After Workouts:

• What to eat: Protein and carbohydrates, no fat as it slows down digestion. Consume foods high in antioxidants such as berries as well. Protein supplies the body with proper amino acids to rebuild muscle tissue and increase immune function.  

        3:1 ratio, of approximately 30-90 grams carbohydrate to 10-30 grams protein 

• When to eat: as soon as possible, optimally within an hour and no longer.
• Fluids: Restoring fluid balance is important for sodium in the body and for injury prevention and to prevent dehydration. If you have the time and think about it, weigh yourself naked before and after a race. For each pound lost, that equals about 16 ounces of fluid to consume. 
• Type of protein: Protein in the form of powder such as whey, soy, rice, or hemp, mixed into a smoothie or with another liquid. This is the quickest way for the protein to reach the muscles post workout, in liquid form.
• Other protein sources such as tuna, beans, legumes, lean meat, or tofu are solid sources of protein that reach the muscles slower in digestion, but are also great sources after a liquid form. 
• Carbohydrates are also ideal to consume in a post workout meal as they restore muscle glycogen, to prepare the body for the next workout session. 
• Carbohydrates consumption after a workout also causes an insulin spike, pushing nutrients into muscle tissue quicker. 
• Type of carbohydrate to consume: Fast digesting carbohydrates, such as dextrose and foods containing sugar. Dextrose is found in fruits and honey and simple carbohydrates. Bananas contain high amounts of dextrose once ripe.
• For the average person who works out for 30 or more minutes, I would suggest you consume adequate amounts of protein post workout with minimal fat and a complex carbohydrates. I typically consume protein from tofu or fish with vegetables or vegetables with a complex carbohydrate such as brown rice or quinoa. I also suggest consuming adequate amounts of water after a workout and sips during. 
• For myself and all endurance athletes, I consume protein in a liquid form such as smoothies with protein powder. My favorite recipe is a banana, frozen strawberries, frozen berries, about a half cup of unsweetened almond milk mixed with GoTein protein powder or hemp or brown rice protein powder, blended thoroughly. Typically the remainder of the day I eat mainly vegetables and fruit and protein in the form of egg whites, fish, or tofu and little fat if I am training for an endurance event. 

Overall, I suggest you sweat at least 4-5 days a week at the gym or outdoors, doing some type of physical activity. The major rule of thumb for me for fluids is to never reach the point where I actually feel thirsty, which is a sign of dehydration. Dehydration can actually cause one to consume more food when actually there is a need for more fluids. So, stay hydrated with water throughout the day, and consume fruits, vegetables, lean protein sources, and complex carbohydrates pre and post workout for maximum results!