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Fuelling Up: What to Eat Before Exercise

Finding the right balance of nutrients before you work out is crucial for performance, energy, and health. At the end of the day, what we fuel our bodies with can be the difference between a record-setting session and fizzling out mid-workout.

Importance of Pre-Workout Nutrition

Consuming the right nutrients before exercise ensures that you maximise your efforts in the gym or on the field. This fuel not only helps you perform better but also protects your muscles from excessive damage, and reduces fatigue, allowing you to push further.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the primary fuel source for your muscles. Before exercising, it's important to boost your glycogen stores, as glycogen is the form in which your body stores carbohydrates. For short- and high-intensity exercise, your glycogen stores are your muscles' main source of energy.

Protein

Including some protein in your pre-workout meal can also be beneficial. It helps build and repair muscle tissue, especially if you're doing strength-based or resistance training. Furthermore, proteins in your pre-workout meal can help to reduce muscle damage.

Timing Your Pre-Workout Meal

The timing of your meal also plays an important role in how you feel during your workout. Ideally, you should eat a complete meal containing carbs, protein, and fat about 2-3 hours before exercise. However, you may not always have the time for a full meal, so if you are eating closer to your workout, opt for a snack or lighter meal that focuses more on carbs and some protein. This meal should be consumed about 30-60 minutes before exercising.

Examples of Pre-Workout Meals

• A peanut butter and banana or PBJ sandwich
• Greek yogurt with berries and granola
• A smoothie bowl with a scoop of protein powder
• Oats with banana and almonds
• Whole grain bread with a couple of slices of lean meat

Recovering Right: What to Eat After Exercise

Eating after exercise is crucial for recovery and preparation for your next session. The goals here are to replenish the glycogen that has been depleted, promote muscle repair, and rehydrate your body.

Carbohydrates Again!

Yes, carbohydrates are just as important post-workout. After exercise, your body's glycogen stores are depleted, and consuming carbs helps replenish them. This is vital for recovery, especially if you exercise frequently.

Protein for Muscle Repair

Protein is crucial after a workout as it provides the amino acids necessary for muscle repair and growth. After deconstructing muscle tissue during exercise, protein helps rebuild it to be stronger.

Fats Are Not to Fear

While it's a common myth that fat slows down digestion and therefore replenishes nutrients slowly, a little fat can actually benefit your recovery. However, it's advisable to keep fat intake moderate post-workout.

Timing Your Post-Workout Meal

The optimal time to consume your post-workout meal is within 45 minutes of finishing your exercise. This is when your body's ability to rebuild glycogen and protein is enhanced, so try not to delay too long.

Examples of Post-Workout Meals

• Grilled chicken with roasted vegetables and quinoa
• Salmon with sweet potato
• Egg omelette with avocado spread on whole grain toast
• Cottage cheese with fruits
• Protein shake with banana and mixed berries

Practical Strategies for Meal Planning

Understanding what to eat and when can streamline your routine and optimise your fitness results.

Keep It Simple

Start with simple meals that are easy to prepare and consume. Complexity doesn't always mean better.

Stay Prepared

Prep your meals in advance to ensure you're never without proper nutrition before and after exercising.

Listen to Your Body

Every individual is different. Pay attention to how your body responds to different foods and meal timings and adjust accordingly.

Hydration Is Key

Never forget to rehydrate. Water supports every metabolic function and nutrient transfer in your body and is crucial for a good recovery and overall health.

Supplement Wisely

If you're not managing to get enough protein or carbohydrates in your diet, supplements like protein powder and creatine can be useful. However, try to get most of your nutrients from whole foods. Supplements should only complement your diet, not replace any part of it.

The role of proper nutrition in fitness is pivotal. By eating suitable, timely meals before and after exercising, not only are you enhancing your performance but you're also paving the way for faster recovery and better overall health. This can make your training more enjoyable and effective, ensuring that each workout session leads to visible progress. By understanding these nutritional foundations, you equip yourself with the tools needed for success in both the gym and in everyday activities.

How are you feeling?

It is really important that when we need help, we feel able to ask for it. This could be speaking to a parent, a close friend, a teacher or someone else you trust. Sometimes it can be really hard to share our feelings with other people but if we are feeling low or don't know where to turn, sharing with others is really important. Teachers will always take you seriously and listen to your problems in confidence if you approach them for help. Likewise, parents, siblings or friends will help you if you reach out to them.

If you feel like you can't speak to anyone you know, there are people and organisations that can help support you:

• Childline - Call them on 0800 1111 any time of the day or night, every day of the week
• NSPCC - Call them on 0808 800 5000 between 10am and 4pm Monday to Friday or email them on help@NSPCC.org.uk
• The Samaritans – Call them on 116 123 any time of the day or night, every day of the week
• SANE – Call 0300 304 7000 for support (4:30pm - 10:30pm every day)
• Mind – Call 0300 123 3393 (9:00am - 6:00pm Monday to Friday)

*Sometimes we will use real life examples in our articles to aid understanding. When we do, names and ages will be changed.