Simplifying What To Eat Before And After Training

So this week its all about pre and post workout nutrition! I’m sure at some point in time you’ve asked yourself one of these questions.

‘What should I eat before training?’

‘What should I eat after?’

‘How long after I train do I need to eat?’

I want to start by saying that just like supplements, this is one area that people stress themselves out about when in reality, their energy would be better spent else where like sticking to their calorie target, getting enough protein, getting enough sleep and working hard in their gym sessions! These will all have a much bigger impact than making sure you drink a protein shake as fast as you can post workout!

BUT that’s not to say that pre and post workout shouldn’t be considered as if you have a goal of fat loss or muscle building, there are a few things you can do to help you on your way and maximise result if you are already doing everything else.

Good post workout nutrition has the main aims of restoring energy stores (glycogen), decreasing muscle breakdown and increasing muscle growth (muscle protein synthesis). This can help reduce muscle soreness, maximise recovery, and improve the bodies ability to build muscle.

Good pre workout nutrition has the main aims of improving performance, preserving muscle mass and maximising available energy.

Lets now explore this in relation to the goals of fat loss and muscle building.

Fat Loss

1.If you’re trying to lose body fat then you will be in a calorie deficit. It might therefore be worth considering timing your meals with more of your calories 1-2 hours before your workout so that you have the energy to get through it, enjoy it and maximise what you can achieve. This is especially important when you consider you are in a deficit to achieve fat loss and so already low on energy. I typically go by how clients feel for this and if they start to struggle with energy in workouts. This however comes secondary to adhering to their deficit consistently.

2.Because you have fewer calories to play with across a day when your goal is fat loss, you might not have as many spare to have straight after a workout to maximise recovery and minimise muscle breakdown, so I personally get clients to focus on prioritising pre and forgetting about post apart from something like a low calorie protein shake(but again with the main priority being adherence to the calorie deficit).

3.If you do however have the calories to spare, then protein post workout can help reduce muscle breakdown, which we are at increased risk of when in a deficit. However I would always advise my clients to drip feed their protein throughout the day anyway to reduce this, to help to keep them full, and more likely remain in a deficit.

Muscle Building

1. The most important thing when trying to build muscle is working hard in the gym and progressively overloading your muscles. This is from either pushing extra reps or heavier weights and we obviously want to have as much energy available to maximise this. Because we want to be in a surplus of calories when building muscle, we have the calories to play with to maximise this and therefore carbohydrates 1-2 hours before makes perfect sense to maximise energy and performance in your session.

2.There is research to suggest protein before exercise can also help reduce markers of muscle damage, which means less potential damage after the session and therefore increased recovery time and performance in your next session. It also means there are amino acids in the bloodstream (types of protein) to boost your bodies muscle building ability which maximise potential growth. Again as we are in a surplus of calories and eating regular meals throughout the day this shouldn’t be an issue anyway!

3.Intra workout carbs, such as taking a carbohydrate powder like maltodextrin is a great way of hitting your surplus calorie target with liquid calories. It’s an easy way to get more calories in and why not have them intra workout as a way of maximising fuel that’s readily available. It might also be useful if you haven’t managed to eat much before your but still want to fuel your session well.

4.There is research that suggests intra workout protein in the form of EAAs can help give a small advantage by stimulating muscle protein synthesis and therefore maximise potential muscle growth. Not crucial but no harm in doing it either!

5.Post workout protein follows the same principles as for fat loss clients in that it helps reduce the risk of muscle breakdown. However again, as you are in a surplus, you aren’t really in a great risk of this happening anyway!

6.Post workout carbohydrates help maximise recovery and future performance by restoring the stores of muscle and liver glycogen which can be depleted in exercise, meaning you have topped up your levels ready to go next time!

An important note on timing

A guide for pre workout nutrition timing is 1-2 hours but I tend to go off what works best for that client with adherence to a calorie deficit being the most important factor for fat loss clients and performance being most important for those trying to build muscle. For example, I am fine having a meal and then training within an hour of eating whereas I have clients who need to leave a good 2 hours before they feel they can train well.

For post workout timings, a window of 1-2 hours is a good guide to go by to maximise its benefits but again this depends on other factors such as when you ate your last meal and if you had anything intra workout.

But remember, for most people timing comes secondary to total amounts of carbs, protein and calories eaten across the course of the day.

I hope this has helped given you a bit more understanding on pre and post workout nutrition. If you only take away one thing from the day then remember that hitting your set calorie target, eating balanced meals, working hard in the gym, and getting adequate sleep will hands down beat the extra bonus you can get from pre and post workout nutrition so make sure you have those nailed down first!

Have a great week

Lizzie

The One Percent Club