What to Eat Before a Workout

What you eat before a workout plays an important role in raising energy levels and optimizing the function of the body’s critical organs, both of which directly affect your workout performance.

- Fundamentals of Pre-Workout Nutrition

- Importance of Carbs for Workouts

- Best Type of Carbs for a Workout

- Protein in a Pre-Workout Meal

- Pre-Workout Light Meal Ideas

- Diversity in Food Choice Is Important

- If Your Goal Is Weight Loss...

Fundamentals of Pre-Workout Nutrition

The food we consume provides us with energy, and any type of physical activity needs energy. The energy that a food provides is expressed as calories. So, calorie-dense foods can generate more energy than low-calorie foods.

Our body stores energy-generating nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, proteins) obtained from the food in the form of glycogen or body fat or muscle depending on the need.

Glycogen (chains of glucose) is the primary source of energy for our body, followed by body fat.

But some organs, like brain and muscle, can’t metabolize or derive energy directly from fat. Hence, these organs need readily available glycogen for energy. Otherwise, the body can break down muscle mass to get protein, which can then be converted into glucose to feed these organs.

There is another process called ketogenesis in which the liver converts fat into glucose to fuel the brain.

But as your glucose requirement is high during a heavy workout, the process of ketogenesis might not be enough to meet the demand of glucose in the body.

The conclusion is that you should eat more carbs before a workout to prevent your glucose reserves from running low.

Our body can burn muscle at critically low levels of glycogen and fat.

Importance of Carbs for Workouts

As glycogen is the primary fuel for the body and the only fuel for some organs, make sure that your glycogen reserves are full before a workout.

Even if you didn’t perform any physical activity after your dinner, your body needs some energy just to keep you alive while you are even sleeping. Consequently, your glycogen reserve is lower in the morning. Your glycogen stores get almost empty if you haven’t eaten anything for 24 hours or after an extremely intense workout session.

Types of Carbs

Therefore, in my opinion, the best pre-exercise meal is a high-carbohydrate (high-carb) meal.

There are two types of carbohydrates: simple carbohydrate and complex carbohydrate.

Sugar is the simple carbohydrate. So high-sugar foods, like table sugar, fruits, and desserts are sources of simple carbs. Simple carbs are an instant energy source, which means that these carbs are easily and quickly processed by the body to generate calories. You can feel that energy burst after eating some sweet stuff.

On the other hand, starch is the complex carbohydrate. Starch is the primary energy source of humans found in staple foods, like bread, rice, potatoes, corn, and beans. It’s called complex because the body takes relatively more time to break down this substance to get glucose, which provides energy.

Among complex carbs, whole foods are better than their refined forms, e.g., an unpeeled potato loses many of its health benefits after being peeled. As whole carbs are high in fiber, the processing of these carbs happen more slowly than refined carbs. So, go for whole carbs in your meals and snacks as well as before a long workout session.

Best Type of Carbs for a Workout

From experience, I have found that the best food to eat before a workout should be high in complex carbs with some simple carbs to initially provide energy when the digestive system is still working to digest the complex carbs completely.

Protein in a Pre-Workout Meal

As several muscles are worked in a workout, and the process of muscle recovery begins right after the muscle is stretched to microtears in the workout, you should also consume some protein in your pre-exercise meal to make sure that your muscles start getting recovered for more strength and mass even during the workout.

Protein is more important for strength-training workouts, e.g., bodybuilding and powerlifting, as the primary goal of such workouts is more muscle mass or strength.

On the other hand, cardiovascular workouts, like running and jogging, and exercises that aim at improving muscle endurance and not increasing mass or strength, like bodyweight squats or pushups with high repetitions, are performed to control weight or improve cardiovascular health and endurance level.

I have listed down the best pre-workout foods with a short description of each. Some of these are also suggested by top-ranked fitness/health blogs.

Timing of Pre-Workout Meals

You can have a main meal or a light meal (snack) before a workout depending on what you find more appropriate for you.

But you should give some time to your body to break down the food you’ve eaten and fill up the glycogen reserve.

It is recommended to wait for 45-60 minutes after a snack and 2-3 hours after a main meal before starting your workout.

But the gap between your meal and the workout should not be so long that the glycogen level starts dropping or you start feeling hungry.

Pre-Workout Main Meal Ideas

Some main meal choices before a workout for optimum performance are given below:

Lean protein sandwiched between 2 pieces of whole-wheat bread, accompanied by a vegetable salad: This meal is suggested by Healthline. Lean protein includes fish fillets and chicken/turkey breast. This meal provides a good amount of complex carbohydrate, high-quality protein, and many important vitamins and minerals, like magnesium, potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and Vitamin B6.

Brown rice with lean protein and baked vegetables: This meal is suggested by Myprotein. This is a very popular pre-workout meal high in all those nutrients that you must have in your body before an intense session. To get the most of this meal, you are suggested to have a colorful serving of the vegetables, which means including a variety of vegetables rather than eating the same vegetable, like potato, everytime.

Brown rice with kidney beans and steamed vegetables: This meal is primarily for vegan people, but anyone can enjoy it. Beans are an excellent source of protein, about 15-gram protein in a cup of boiled kidney beans, and when combined with brown rice, gives all essential amino acids your body needs. Kidney beans are a good source of micronutrients like iron, magnesium, and potassium.

Vegan pasta with chickpea salad: Another vegan dish, vegan pasta has many varieties. In the basic recipe, boiled pasta is cooked with olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, and parsley. This dish is very nutritious but lacks protein. For protein, there are several options, but I prefer chickpeas, which are high in protein (19% raw weight) and dietary fiber but inexpensive.

Pre-Workout Light Meal Ideas

Provided below are suggested light meal/snack options to enhance performance before a workout:

Oatmeal cooked in reduced-fat milk with fruit on top: This snack is suggested by WebMD. This snack can be prepared in no time but is very filling and nutritious. You get complex carbs, protein, calcium, and vitamin C, or everything you need before a challenging workout. You can include nuts for some extra protein and essential fatty acids.

Greek yogurt with fruit or a fruit smoothie: This snack is suggested by MayoClinic. Yogurt has all the goodness of milk, like complete protein, calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B12. Additionally, it contains probiotics, which are beneficial for our immune system. Yogurt can also improve the digestion of lactose in the body, which is not easily digestible in milk consumption for many people.

Peanut butter sandwich with whole-wheat bread: Peanut butter sandwich can be called one of the perfect pre-workout vegan snacks. Protein has the lowest cost but highest protein content of all nuts. It provides 26 g protein per 100 g.

(NOTE: You can replace peanut butter with hazelnut cream, or any other healthy paste made with nuts. A healthy paste doesn’t have more than 100 calories per tablespoon and is free of added sugar and trans fat while low in saturated fat and sodium. Full-fat milk, butter, and cream are high in saturated fat. The World Health Organization recommends decreasing the consumption of saturated fat to enhance well-being and lower the likelihood of cardiovascular diseases.)

Whole-Wheat crackers: Whole-wheat crackers are the most convenient of all recommended pre-workout snacks. Crackers provide starch and dietary fiber, which can keep you energized throughout the session. But avoid crackers high in added salt or fat.

(NOTE: Many brands use partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, which contains trans fat, the worst substance for our heart. I’d recommend you look at the ingredients before buying. And don’t rely on the ‘healthy’ label printed by the manufacturer on the container. I’ve found that even these so-called ‘healthy’ snacks are very unhealthy for the body. If possible, try making cracker at home. You only need flour, a little bit of salt and sugar, some healthy oil, and water to bake the healthiest and delicious crackers on your own. For protein, put on some cheese before eating them.)

Coffee: Coffee is a perfect drink before any vigorous workout. Coffee contains caffeine, which is known for enhancing mental alertness and diminishing the feeling of tiredness and sleepiness. Caffeine can also improve endurance according to a NIH-published meta-analysis. Both these effects can boost your performance in the workout.

Diversity in Food Choice Is Important

For more gains, don’t eat the same food everytime before your workout. Instead, have a different meal or snack to benefit from the nutritional value of different types of foods.

By doing so and experimenting with different foods everyday, you’ll eventually find the foods that are most effective for you before a workout.

I have observed that many fitness enthusiasts only care about protein, and many of them stick to no more than 3 protein sources. This approach can be destructive both for your aspiration and health.

Our body needs many other nutrients, especially micronutrients, to optimize the function of different organs and systems. The deficiency in just one essential nutrient can have severe impacts. For example, iron is one such nutrient found in red meat, poultry, legumes, and leafy greens. Iron deficiency can lead to a weak immune system, which can make our body vulnerable to disease-causing viruses.

All food groups should be given equal importance, especially vegetables. No food group can replace another food group, nutrition-wise. Every food group is unique and contains unique nutritional content.

And even within one group, different food items offer different nutrients.

For example, among vegetables, spinach is high in minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, and potassium, but these nutrients are relatively low in carrots. On the other hand, carrots have a higher amount of vitamin A than spinach. Therefore, one can’t be healthy without consuming all types of foods.

If Your Goal Is Weight Loss...

If you want to lose weight, you can work out on an empty stomach, i.e., right after waking up.

As you’re losing weight, you should avoid high-intensity workouts, like heavy lifting for muscle gain, which require a calorie surplus.

Instead, perform low-intensity workouts, i.e., low-weight high-rep exercises, light jogging, walking at normal pace, etc.

And doing these exercises before breakfast forces your body to use body fat for energy, which can lead to gradual reduction in the waistline.

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