Pre and Post-Workout Nutrition

Confused about what to eat BEFORE and AFTER a workout?

Pre-workout nutrition is important. I don't believe it is necessary or wise to workout on an empty stomach. I've read conflicting articles on "fasted" workouts. For instance, working out first thing in the morning before breakfast. Some claim you burn more stored fat, others claim you burn muscle.

I have tried both methods, fasted and fed. I have found in my own personal experience, I cannot workout to my full potential while fasted. I simply don't have enough energy or strength to power through. Some people might be able to do it, but I cannot. A friend and fellow fitness instructor cannot eat before teaching her morning class - which is high intensity cardio. I, on the other hand, cannot sustain the energy required to teach on an empty belly. So I make sure I allow myself enough time to eat at least an hour before class. You have to listen to your body. All the articles in the world make no difference if they don't work for YOU. The only way you will know, is to try both ways and do what works best for your situation.

That being said, pre and post-workout food is not all created equal. Pre-workout foods should be mostly slow burning complex carbs such as fruits and whole grain rice, pasta and cereal. And this should be eaten 30 minutes to an hour before you workout. I have found that I can perform my workouts quite well eating 1 hour prior to working out, and the foods I generally eat are:

Ezekiel Sprouted Grain toast and two whole eggs
or
oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts
or
Greek yogurt with berries

Carbs are digested faster than fat and protein so eating too much fat or protein before a workout will make all the blood flow to your stomach to digest rather than to your muscles. Low GI & low fructose foods provide best pre-workout burn.

"Low GI foods are slow to release in the bloodstream and fill up glycogen stores allowing you to go a little longer and harder." - Jasmine Jafferali

Now I've read that it is crucial to consume your post-workout food within 15 -30 minutes after your workout and it's good to have a little quick digesting carbs, (sugar) to help quickly shuttle nutrients to the muscles. Good for growth and repair. However, again, I read conflicting information saying that hitting your daily nutrient target overall is more important. In my opinion, and since I am working towards muscle GROWTH, I personally want to feed my muscles at the optimal time, which I do believe is right after tearing them apart in the gym. My post-workout meals generally look like this:

Whey protein shake with some pure maple syrup or banana

Even white potatoes, pasta. white rice and cereal (heaven forbid) are ok to eat at this time.

I want to make sure I get a substantial amount of protein and a quick digesting carb to shuttle the nutrients quickly to the muscles. Solid proteins like chicken, fish or eggs which are normally good to eat, are not ideal at this time because they digest slower. Whey protein is ideal since liquid meals digest faster and also whey is the fastest digesting protein.

Quick carbs restore muscle glycogen that was depleted during your workout.

Again, I'd like to remind you that I do NOT hold a degree in nutrition or exercise science BUT I have read extensively about these topics and feel like I have gained a lot of valuable knowledge from the resources I have found. I like to read both sides of every argument and test both myself to come up with something that works for my body and my situation. I suggest everyone else to the same. Not everything works the same for everyone.

I hope this has been a helpful post to you all!!