Whether and what to eat before and after a workout?

The composition of the pre-workout meal is determined by our individual preferences and caloric needs. However, it is certain that it should take into account the time and type of exercises performed.

What and when to eat before training?

The key rule of physically active people is the time to eat the last meal through exertion - A minimum of 2 hours before the start of the exercise.

So, when there are 2-3 hours left for training, you can eat a normal, full-fledged meal. A typical dinner will be perfect, which will provide the body with:

• carbohydrates, e.g. in the form of porridge, rice, potatoes or pasta,
• protein - meat, fish, legumes, eggs, cottage cheese,
• fats, e.g. olive oil, rapeseed oil, seeds, seeds, nuts, avocados.

However, if there is less than an hour left for training, you can reach for quick and easily digestible snacks such as: fruit smoothie, ripe banana or wheat roll with jam.

A full belly hurts

Exercising on a full stomach will not only be ineffective, but can also bring a lot of trouble. Nausea, indigestion will appear, and throughout the training we will be accompanied by a feeling of heaviness. We are even at risk of so-called colic, which causes pain that prevents us from freely performing many movements.

Too short an interval between meals and physical activity can also adversely affect the activity of muscles, which will be deprived of sufficient oxygen. Then the blood will accumulate in the area of the stomach and intestines to take the valuable substances supplied with food, so that the skeletal muscle tissues will be less well supplied with blood.

What to eat after training?

The post-workout meal is aimed at regenerating muscle and liver glycogen and accelerating the restoration of muscle fibers. In people who are more than 24 hours apart, the glycogen will be rebuilt during the day, so the meal does not have to be eaten immediately after the end of the activity. However, it is worth remembering that it is in the first two hours after the completed exercise that the restoration of muscle glycogen is fastest.

The recommended meal should include complex carbohydrates with a low glycemic index, e.g. whole grain bread, coarse groats, barley or oatmeal, and protein. So, you can reach for sandwiches from whole grain bread with lean poultry meat, fish or egg, fruit with cottage cheese or salads from coarse groats and lean meat.

Professionally or recreationally?

As you know, training makes a master. However, many people do not realize how important a role pertraining nutrition plays in the success of athletes. Therefore, anyone who intends to start an amateur adventure with sports (and more and more people decide to do so) should carefully plan their nutrition schedule. For amateur athletes, the meal before and after the training unit will be a key component of recovery and performance. Especially when the time between scheduled activities is less than a day.

People who practice recreational activities do not have to pay so much attention to the time of eating before and after training. It is important that the food does not weigh on the stomach during movement. Another aspect is building muscle mass. In this case, it will be important to distribute the protein throughout the day into individual meals and the post-workout meal consumed up to an hour after the end of the activity.

It is worth emphasizing that training women, struggling with hormonal disorders, should also take care of the meal after training or the supply of carbohydrates (eg in the form of isotonic) during activity. This is an essential element due to the sensitivity of the female pituitary gland (the site of hormone management) to the lack of energy availability.

Food on the eye

We already know that peri-training nutrition is of the greatest importance for those who train professionally. Recreational physical activity does not require keeping an eye on the composition or timing of meals before and after the activity. However, if, despite regular activity, there is no improvement in the condition or appearance of the figure, it is worth paying more attention to the meals consumed.

Bibliography:

1. Bean A.; Energy and performance; Before, during and after training; Nutrition in Sports; Gains and S-ka Publishing; Ed. I; 2008; 17-31; 51-55
2. Swiss Athlete Nutrition Pyramid [accessed 21/04/2022] https://adst.mp.pl/s/www/pacjenci/piramiada_zywienia_sportowcow.pdf
3. Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians of Canada, and the American College of Sports Medicine: Nutrition and Athletic Performance; Journal Of The Academy Of Nutrition And Dietetics, 2016; 116, 501-528