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Are you a little confused as to when you need to eat and what to eat when you train? Read on…
The best way to fuel your body in order to maximise your results, whether it be weight loss or weight gain, is to fuel your body pre workout and post workout with the right food. It is important that we ingest our macronutrients which are our protein, carbohydrates and fats, 1 hour to 45 minutes before going to train at the gym – whether that is cardio or resistance based training. This will allow our bodies to have enough glycogen, which is the stored form of carbohydrates in our liver in order to give our muscles the energy we need to maximise our training. Depletion of our glycogen can lead to fatigue and lack of energy.
Post training, we want to refuel our bodies with carbohydrates, protein and fats within 30-45 minutes after we train. This allows our bodies to recover and replenish our glycogen is stores in the liver. Thus, it is crucial that we ensure good liver health to ensure correct storage of glycogen, excretion of toxins from our body, and allow detoxification processes which is our liver’s most important role. If you’re engaging in heavy resistance training, skipping your fat intake after resistance training and having protein and carbohydrates will help with faster absorption into the muscles creating protein synthesis which stimulates more muscle growth. For lean muscle development, protein and a small amount of carbohydrate would be required to help protein synthesis, but reduction of carbohydrates can be beneficial in this case.
Some of the best foods to eat pre and post training include:
Pre-workout
- 1-2 wholegrain toast + 2 poached or boiled eggs + avocado
- 0.5-1 cup brown or basmati rice + 100g lean beef of chicken mince + avocado smash
- Sweet potato omelette + feta cheese
- ½ rolled oats + blueberries + LSA or walnuts and almonds
- 1 wholegrain toast + sweet potato mash + lean mince or egg + avocado
Post-workout
- 80-100g sweet potato + 80-100g chicken breast + 25g feta
- 1 banana + 10-15 almonds
- 2 vita weats or crisp breads + nut spread + 0.5-1 banana
- 0.5-1 cup brown or basmati rice + lean mince + 10 cashews OR 1 egg
What about if I am training early mornings?
If you are training your body at 5:30-6am timeslots, ensure carb loading the night before. This means adding a carbohydrate such as rice, sweet potato, quinoa and barley the night before to ensure glycogen stores are full ready for the next morning. After training, if not eating breakfast within 30-45 minutes of your training ensure a quick snack such as 1/2 a banana or in this case a protein shake could be beneficial. At breakfast ensure to eat protein, carbohydrates and fats, again to ensure we keep our glycogen stores up ready for the day.
