Exercise Nutrition
Foods to eat prior to your workout.
2-4 hours before your workout you should aim for slow-release carbohydrates as well as protein, fat and fibre. Foods like pasta, potatoes, rice, nuts and seeds.
30-90 minutes before your workout you should aim for fast-release carbohydrates, like toast, honey, oats, dates, banana, apple, fruit muffins.
5-10 minutes before your workout, if you need anything at all, aim for rapid release carbohydrates like berries, watermelon, rockmelon or an electrolyte drink.
Note that you don’t need to have food at each of these time frames, just the one that suits you best. If you are training at 6 am the rapid release carbs might work better for you, whereas if you are training at 5 pm you could make your lunch include some slow-release carbs, protein, fat and fibre or include a fast release carb snack in the afternoon. Listen to what your body needs.
Pre-workout drinks: you DON’T need a pre-workout unless you are an athlete training multiple times a day! The best pre-workout I can recommend is a black coffee, not a milk coffee, a black coffee.
Foods to eat after your workout.
Post-workout nutrition: AKA recovery nutrition: What to eat after your workout to recover well.
An easy way for you to remember what you need after your workout is to remember the four R’s of recovery - refuel, repair, reinforce, rehydrate.
1. Refuel with carbohydrates. Carbs are our primary energy source and the fuel our bodies use most during a workout. Replenishing carbohydrates is important for our energy balance and is also required for essential bodily systems like immune system function and repairing of tissues. The amount of carbohydrates you need after a workout depends on the duration and intensity of your workout.
Some examples would be; oats with fruit, vegetable fried rice, pasta, chicken and potatoes, turkey and salad sandwich.
2. Repair muscle damage with protein. Protein is our primary building block for muscle, tissue and ligaments. If you are working out with the goal of building muscle, gaining strength or losing fat then your protein intake is extremely important.
The amount of protein you need will vary depending on your body weight, a general rule to follow is; 1.5-2 times your bodyweight = how many grams of protein you may need.
Some examples of protein sources; red meat, fish, chicken, eggs, dairy products, protein powder, legumes, beans and nuts.
3. Reinforce your immune system with a variety of colourful fruits and vegetables. We often focus a lot on MACROnutrients and forget about the importance of MICROnutrients (vitamins and minerals). Exercise IS a stressor, a good stressor IF you are replenishing and reinforcing your immune system after your workout. Eating a variety of colours ensures you are getting a variety of vitamins and minerals in your diet which allows for your body to recover from any stress you throw at it.
4. Rehydrate to replenish fluids and electrolytes lost as sweat. This doesn’t mean you have to drink water constantly while you are exercising, you WILL survive without your water bottle for 45-60 minutes. This means to make sure you are drinking plenty of water after a hot and sweaty workout. The more you sweat generally the more water you need. If you often exercise in hot climates add a pinch of sea salt to your water to really help replenish your electrolytes.
Working out often and hard will show you no results if you aren’t supporting your body in recovery. A few other areas to consider if you are wanting to see better results:
Sleep - are you getting enough and is it good quality sleep?
Stress - other than exercise, how many other stressors do you have in your life?
Programming - does your program include rest days or recovery days?
Downtime - are you giving yourself enough downtime to really relax?
Nutrition - how is your nutrition? Are you eating and drinking junk? Are you eating enough?
