The Best Pre-Post Workout Options

Pre and Post meals and snacks are important to ensure your body maintains adequate fuel and hydration and kick starts recovery post workout.

Gearing up for a run or swim or bike ride or heading to the gym? Top up your tank with the right hydration and foods for better performance – and a better body. Try these pre and post workout meals and snacks.

BEFORE YOUR WORKOUT

Food consumed before exercise is only useful once it has been digested and absorbed. This means you need to time it right for the food to be broken down and available during your workout. While there’s no hard and fast rule, eating a meal roughly 2-4 hours before or a lighter snack roughly 30-60 minutes before exercise is enough time, thought to have a positive effect on training, boost energy levels and prevent hunger and fatigue. Timing and type of meal or snack should be ‘tested’ during your training to ensure there isn’t any gastric upset and it suits your personal and racing needs.

If your goal is body fat loss, you may be tempted to train on an empty stomach (or as some do, a coffee before heading out the door), however this can result in low blood sugar levels, which makes it less likely that you will be able to power through an intense training session. What’s worse, training on an empty stomach can cause muscle loss. Why? Low blood sugar levels will force the body to burn body fat, as well as protein from muscle. When this happens, you lose muscle mass, which can ultimately slow your metabolism and make it harder for you to lose weight. It’s important to experiment to find the right timing and amount of food that best suits your individual needs, exercise, and exercise intensity.

There are scientific sports studies that does provide sound evidence for fasted exercising in specific circumstances in your training cycle and for shorter low intensity workouts – more on this topic in the future [Peter Richards].

What should I eat?

Despite the popularity of low carb, banting or paleo diets, which have created hysteria around grains, pasta and potatoes, carbs are your exercise BFF. Also, a cup of coffee as you head out the door simply won’t cut-it either. The key is to choose wholesome, low GI carbs, with a small amount of protein to ensure a slow, gradual release of energy. Fatty foods and food rich in protein tend to take longer to digest than other foods. Likewise with large portions, which also tend to cause tummy upset

Try these:

2-4 hours before exercise

• Baked beans on toast
• Roll made with lean ham, chicken or fish and salad, plus a banana
• Pasta with a sauce based on low-fat ingredients (e.g. tomato, vegetables, lean meat, legumes).
• Baked potato with reduced-fat cheese
• Toasted sandwich made with reduced-fat cheese and tomato, plus a 200g tub natural yoghurt

Up to 1 hour before exercise (ascending order by time)

• Small piece of fruit – a ripe banana is good.
• Cereal bar
• Glass low-fat milk
• 200g natural yoghurt
• Bowl of wholegrain cereal/muesli and skim milk
  

AFTER YOUR WORKOUT

After you’ve cranked out that last high intensity lap or long workout, your body is ready to replace depleted fuel, repair muscles and rehydrate. Eating (or drinking) something that combines equal amounts of protein and carbohydrates, ideally with 30- 60 minutes post- workout, is your best option to start the recovery process. The carbohydrates replenish muscle glycogen and increase insulin levels and that helps the muscles take in the protein (amino acids) they need to build new muscle.

To provide your body with the best opportunity to fully recovery, it’s recommended these post-workout options be followed up within 2-3 hours with a macro-balance, carb, protein and good-fat, meal.

Try these:

• Flavoured cow milk (quick and convenient)
• Fruit smoothie made with yoghurt
• Veggie omelette
• Wholegrain bread with lean protein, such as eggs, fish and salad
• On-the go options include a milk-based drink with a fruit or cereal bar, wholegrain crackers with hummus or cheese.

Rehydrate

Good old H2O (water) is critical for rehydrating, however the benefits of consuming a sports drink depend on the duration and intensity of the exercise. For example, when exercising at high intensities or long durations (greater than 90 minutes) a sports drink is effective as it contains electrolytes (e.g. sodium) which will enhance absorption of fluid compared to drinking water alone.

The use of flavoured milk as a rehydration drink post workout is a good and convenient option. Milk naturally contains water, carbohydrate, electrolytes and high-quality protein – a precise combination which helps the body’s fluid balance after exercise and help to build and repair muscles post workout. What’s more, the calcium in milk is not just for strong bones and teeth, it also plays a key role in muscle contraction and nerve function.

Edited by Peter Richards, original article by Kathleen Alleaume from How Fit Feels, 2015.