Pre & Post-Workout Nutrition – How important is it?

 

You’ve been making great progress in the gym, you’re crushing your workouts, and you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of each session. You might be curious about the best way to fuel and refuel your body before and after a tough workout, but is it really that important? Well, it depends. Since most of us are not competitive, high-level athletes or training several hours of the day, we’ll keep things simple.

 

Pre-workout:

Let’s start with pre-workout nutrition, since many people tend to put a little thought into this and wind up more confused than anything. A pre-workout meal or snack may have a small, positive impact on your performance. There are, however, some caveats. 

1. When did you last eat? Whatever time of day you typically train, if it’s only been 1-2 hours since your last meal and your energy is good, you likely won’t glean much from a dedicated pre-workout snack. A sports drink would be more than sufficient, if you need it. On the flip side, if you skipped breakfast at 7am and start your workout close to noon, consider a small snack before exercise. This will help keep your blood sugar regulated and help prevent energy crashes, light-headedness, or headaches.
2. How soon are you working out? A general rule of thumb is, the less time you have until your workout, the smaller the snack should be. This is better for digestion, and will mitigate the discomfort of your body trying to digest food while exercising.
3. How long/intense is your workout? Keeping the last question in mind, consider whether the duration or intensity of your workout actually calls for additional energy intake. Typical strength workouts around 45-60 minutes will likely not see any extra benefit. Longer duration workouts can benefit from a small pick-me-up before or during.

Post-workout:

Post-workout nutrition is more straightforward than it may initially seem. You might have heard of something called “the anabolic window”, which is the idea that your body has a finite amount of time to optimize post-workout recovery. While there is an element of truth to this, it’s definitely not as finite as some would have you believe. 

 

After your workout, when you and your muscles are hungry for fuel, blood flow is increased to deliver nutrients more efficiently for up to an hour, so it is theorized that this is the best time to recover. In reality, it’s not that clear cut and there is lacking evidence to indicate when exactly post-workout meals are best. For most people, waiting until your next meal is just fine, and post-workout meal timing isn’t a crucial component to your diet or fitness success. However, being somewhat diligent with your nutrient intake between workouts can promote better recovery from one training session to the next.

As far as balancing your next meal post-workout, prioritize carbohydrates and protein. Working out requires your body to extract from its glycogen stores (glucose stored in the muscles) for energy, and the fastest way to replenish these stores post-workout are with carbohydrates. Along with the glucose, your muscles will draw in water and other nutrients (such as protein) that can improve your recovery. Pairing carbohydrates with protein helps the body absorb more of the amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) to repair the typical, minor wear and tear on the muscles that occurs during training.

 

Conclusion:

With all that being said, keep in mind that for most people your calorie and macronutrient intake over the course of the day, and week, is far more impactful to your fitness goals than specific pre or post-workout meals. If you need help finding balance with your nutrition and adequately fuelling your workouts and recovery, fill out the form below to book your FREE nutrition consultation with Kate today!