51.6% of Americans report that they exercise 3 days per week or more. However, not all of them are getting as much benefit from their workouts as they could.
If you want to get results from your workout routine, you need to realize that a lot of your success will depend on your diet. While it’s important to have a diet in place for your entire week, it’s also useful to plan your pre and post workout meals carefully.
In this guide, we’ll tell you what you should know about maximizing your results with your pre and post workout diet plan.
To get the best results from a pre-workout meal, make sure that you don’t only consider what you eat. Also, consider the timing of your meal as well. Ideally, you should try to have a pre-workout meal anywhere from 1-4 hours before your workout begins.
If you have your meal 2 hours or more before your workout begins, eat a full meal that consists of balanced macronutrients. On the other hand, if you only have 2 hours or less, you may want to stick to simple foods that will be easy to digest.
Particularly if you don’t have much time before your workout, aim to avoid high-fat and high-fiber foods.
Ideally, you should consume between 20 to 30 grams of carbs before exercising. Carbs give you energy and allow you to get the most out of your workout. Your body breaks carbs down into glucose, which is stored in your muscles as glycogen, and you’ll use this when working out.
Not having enough carbs before you work out will cause you to feel tired and will make it harder for you to complete all of your sets or continue for a long period of time.
Make sure that you’re eating a good amount of carbs pre-workout. Focus on food with the healthy type of carbohydrates, known as complex carbs. This includes food such as fruit, vegetables, whole grain cereal, brown rice, and low-fat or fat-free yogurt.
You should aim to have 5 to 10 grams of protein before your workout begins.
Protein isn’t quite as important if you’re doing only cardio, but if you’re doing any strength training during your exercise time, you’ll want to be sure that you consume a sufficient amount of protein. Protein will help to rebuild the muscle fibers that you tear during a workout and give them what they need to repair themselves and make your muscles grow larger.
Like when consuming carbs, you’ll want to aim to use good sources of protein. It’s best to eat protein that is easy to digest. This could include protein that comes from eggs, greek yogurt, or lean meats such as fish and chicken.
Stay hydrated before a workout to ensure that you’ll have the best performance. If you get dehydrated during a workout, you can end up with muscle cramps and may not feel as energetic.
Consider the amount of water you’ve had throughout the day when deciding how much to have before a workout.
Ideally, most people should aim to have at least 2 cups of water before a workout. Drink these 2 hours before a workout and then have an additional cup about 15 minutes before your workout begins.
While there are many supplements that you can add as part of your pre-workout meal, caffeine is one that most people take at some point in the day anyway. Choosing to have your coffee for the day right before your workout can be a great idea and can help you get through the workout more easily.
Caffeine is a stimulant that can help you to be more alert, react more quickly, and have more endurance. Consider having 100 milligrams of caffeine or more if you want to get an extra boost before exercising.
You should be sure to eat a meal as soon as you can after a workout. Eating something right after a workout will allow you to get the most out of it.
Ideally, you should aim to have your post-workout meal before 1 hour has passed after your workout.
Because your glycogen stores will be used as fuel while working out, you need to eat carbs to replenish them.
Just like with the pre-workout meal, make sure to opt for complex carbs that will break down at a slower pace. Aim for a 2:1 ratio of carbs to protein to maximize your recovery and prevent muscle loss.
Keep in mind, however, that the ideal number of carbs you have will vary based on the type of workout and the difficulty. Endurance exercises will require more carb and glycogen replenishment than strength and resistance training.
Whether you’re lifting weights or performing another type of exercise, you also need to make sure to get enough protein afterward. Protein helps your muscles repair themselves and will help rebuild muscle fibers that have been damaged during the workout.
As before, aim to consume healthy and lean proteins. This includes the protein that comes from fish, chicken, tofu, or beans.
Keep in mind that although everyone should have protein after a workout, those working on weight training intensely may require even more.
The amount of water that you’ll need after your workout varies based on how hard you worked out, how long you worked out, and the specific needs of your body. Make sure to listen to your body and choose your water intake accordingly.
The American Council on Exercise suggests as a general rule that you should drink 16 to 24 ounces of water for every pound of body weight that you lost after the exercise.
So what are some of the best pre-workout and post-workout foods that you should eat? Here are some you should consider:
While this isn’t a comprehensive list of the foods you can eat before or after a workout to maximize your results, these are some of the best go-to recommendations.
If you want to maximize the results of your exercise routine, you need to have a workout diet plan as well. Be sure that you think carefully about the timing of your pre-workout and post-workout meals and that you have a sufficient amount of carbs and protein in each of them.
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