It's best not to eat immediately before a workout because while your muscles are trying to do their "thing," your stomach is trying to simultaneously digest the food in your stomach. These competing demands are a challenge for optimal performance. And, even more of a factor, eating too close to a workout may cause you to experience some discomfort while you train or play.
When you eat food, it takes your body several hours to fully absorb the nutrients contained in the food. The larger the meal, the longer it takes research shows that absorption can take anywhere from 2 to 6+ hours.
This means that if you had eaten a sizable amount of protein an hour or two prior to working out, your plasma (blood) amino acid levels would be quite high come workout time. In this state, it’s unlikely that more protein before training would make much of a difference in terms of helping you build more muscle because your body is already in an anabolic state.
- An smoothie with 1 cup of fruit and 2 cups of vegetables or this protein-packed green smoothie recipe (drink half before the workout and half after)
- An apple or pear with 1 tablespoon of nut butter
- ¾ cup of Greek yogurt with 1 tablespoon granola and ½ cup of berries
- 2 tablespoons of dried fruit and 1 tablespoon of raw, unsalted nuts
- 100-calorie granola bar
- 1-2 rice cakes topped with 1 tablespoon of nut butter
- Oatmeal with a tablespoon of peanut butter and ½ cup of fruit
- 4-ounces of baked salmon, ¾ cup of brown rice, with 1 cup of roasted veggies
Unfortunately most pre workout nutrition meals – shakes, bars, and drinks are plain wrong and counter-effective. What makes them wrong is the fuel. High glycemic fuels in particular. Pre-workout meals that are high glycemic or loaded with simple carbs shatter your ability to deplete energy. Carb loading prior to exercise will inhibit fat burning and abolish the impact of your exercise even if it enhances short-term performance.
Wrong fuel will compromise your capacity to lean down, utilize energy, sensitize your insulin, and rejuvenate. The ideal time to eat is between 30 minutes to three hours before your workout. You may have to experiment to see which timeframe does your body good. If you're working out first thing in the morning, you probably won't be able to eat a whole meal before you hit the gym. A small snack or mini-breakfast should suffice. Start sipping on this protein-packed green smoothie 30 minutes to an hour before I hit the gym, and finish the other half when I'm done. If you are exercising later in the day, I recommend having a 100- to 150-calorie snack 30 minutes to an hour before your workout, OR working out 2-3 hours after a well-balanced pre workout nutrition meal.
