Fueling your body before, during and after your workout is essential to obtaining the right results. Dialing in your pre-workout nutrition can ensure you get the most benefit from your time spent exercising. If you go into a workout under-fueled it can lead to poor performance, fatigue and hinder your recovery.
For any moderate or high intensity workout where your main emphasis is on overall performance or seeing improvements in strength or endurance, aim to do the following: Enter your activity with enough fuel to give your maximum effort.
Top off your fuel tank with a small, balanced snack containing a high-quality carbohydrate, fluid and a small amount of protein about 1-2 hours before activity. Additionally, make sure to hydrate with 16-20 ounces of water.
Pre-workout snack ideas:
¾ cup yogurt with ½ cup berries and ½ cup high fiber cereal
Small bowl of cereal or oatmeal with milk and 1 sliced banana
½ turkey sandwich and 1 medium apple
½ peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Homemade trail mix (see recipe below)
Homemade Trail Mix Recipe
Step 1: Choose ingredients
BUILD: 2-3 types of nuts/seeds
Almonds
Walnuts
Pecans
Sunflower Seeds
FUEL: 1-2 types of high fiber cereals (≥3g fiber/serving)
Kashi GoLean Crunch
Kashi Heart-to-Heart Toasted Oats
FiberOne
PREVENT: 2-3 types of dried fruit
Raisins
Craisins
Pineapple
Banana
Apricot
Step 2: Mix the nuts and the fruit
Mix equal parts of the chosen ingredients into a large bowl.
Step 3: Portion out into Ziploc Bags
Weight Gain: 2 handfuls
Weight Maintain: 1 handful
Weight Loss: ½ handful