<iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-NQRKNFQH&gtm_auth=6ykA1exRiHyCmKeVKe0Q2g&gtm_preview=env-1&gtm_cookies_win=x" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>
NUTRITION

Whether and what to eat before and after a workout?

It’s common knowledge that physical activity has a positive impact on health. It helps maintain a healthy body weight, supports the blood system, promotes fitness and prevents a wide range of diseases of affluence. However, to make it beneficial and help you lose weight or sculpt your body, you should focus on well-balanced meals that will not only energise you for the workout session, but also help you regenerate after the effort.

The composition of a pre-workout meal is determined by our individual preferences and calorie requirement. It is obvious, however, that it should take into account the time and type of exercise.

What should I eat before workout and when?

The rule of thumb for physically active people is the time of having the last meal before the workout – at least 2 hours before you start your session.

So if you have 2-3 hours left before you go, you can eat a regular, complete meal. A great choice would be a typical lunch that will deliver:

  • carbohydrates in the form of groats, rice, potatoes or pasta,
  • proteins such as meat, fish, pulses, eggs, cottage cheese,
  • fats, e.g. olive oil, rapeseed oil, seeds, nuts, avocado.

If, however, you are starting within an hour, you can grab a quick and light snack, such as a fruit smoothie, ripe banana or wheat bun with jam.

Not on a full stomach

Working out when your stomach is full not only is ineffective, but can also get you in some serious trouble. You will experience nausea, indigestion, and a feeling of fullness will accompany your entire session. You may even get a stitch, causing pain that will hinder you from moving freely.

A too short time interval between a meal and physical activity can also adversely affect muscle activity due to insufficient oxygen supply. In that case, blood accumulates around your stomach and intestines to take up the valuable nutrients from food, diminishing the blood supply to skeletal muscle tissues.

What should I eat after the workout?

The purpose of a post-workout meal is to replenish glycogen in your muscles and liver and to accelerate the recovery of muscle fibres. For working people who maintain intervals of more than 24 hours between workouts, the glycogen will be topped up during the day, so the meal does not need to be consumed immediately after the activity. However, you should remember that muscle glycogen recovery is the fastest during the first two hours after a completed workout.

A recommended meal should include complex carbohydrates with a low glycaemic index, such as wholemeal bread, coarse groats, barley or oat flakes and proteins. For instance, you can choose wholemeal bread sandwiches with lean poultry meat, fish or egg, fruit and cottage cheese or salads with coarse groats and lean meat.