Eating before exercise: What's important in a pre-workout snack?

Eating before exercise can help you and your body perform better. But you don't know what and when? We'll show you the best pre-workout meal here.

We've all been there: In an hour, it's finally closing time. Then it's straight off to training. But then the stomach makes itself known. The stomach growls.

The question quickly arises: Eating before exercise: Yes or No?

A legitimate question. The answer is definitely yes! A delicious meal before exercise can not only taste good.

You also need to consider your goal. Depending on whether you want to lose weight or build muscle, what you should eat before training will also change.

Eating something solid before a workout will do your body good and help you perform better.

Why training hungry is not smart

You think not eating before a workout is better? That's not true.

Since the Stone Age, we humans have been able to perform without food. Due to the released stress hormones, our body increasingly resorts to the fat reserves. Especially the stubborn belly fat.

Sounds optimal, doesn't it? Not quite.

There is a catch here as well. If your glycogen stores are completely empty, then the body also falls back on your muscle mass to gain energy.

So if you want to maintain and build muscle, then you should definitely eat an easily digestible meal before training, with sufficient distance.

Do you already know the 13 best Pre Workout Meals?

How your muscles benefit from a meal before exercise

Without the right food before exercise, muscle loss can occur. Why?

When your stomach is empty and the body cannot find glycogen, it resorts to other sources of energy. In addition to fat reserves, the body then unfortunately accesses and burns muscle mass.

But why not turn it around and build muscle instead of muscle loss?

And it's not hard at all! You can easily incorporate protein into your pre-workout meal. Proteins ensure that amino acids are released into the blood during training. This subsequently leads to the fact that the muscle protein buildup is promoted.

When to eat before exercise

Between 2 and 3 hours should pass after a low-fiber, low-fat meal and exercise.

However, only you can figure out which time works best for you. Every body ticks a little differently.

For some athletes, a break of one hour is enough. Others prefer four hours between eating and exercise.

Just try it and you will develop a sense of your body's needs.

When big sporting challenges are waiting, you should prepare earlier. You should then eat carbohydrate-rich food already the day before and not just before the workout.

In this way, you ensure that the blood is available for the muscles and is not needed for digestion. 60-80 percent of the calories from the previous day's meal should come from carbohydrates. Valuable carbohydrates are starch and fructose.

However, there is a difference between a regular main meal and a snack.

The last Snack you can even still 15 to 30 minutes before sport to eat. If you eat the snack too early, the energy kick will be over before you even start your workout.

However, you should choose a snack that doesn't sit in your stomach for long. A simple snack like a banana is just right.

It is important that the body should not deal with digestion. That is why you do not eat large portions.

Yummi! You should try these muscle building snacks!

What is the right amount for the pre workout meal

When eating before exercise, it is important to pay attention to the amount. You should eat enough but not too much.

Full but not stuffed to the top is the motto.

Unfortunately, you'll have to figure out for yourself how big this meal should be for you.

Later, we'll show you some tasty recipe ideas that are ideal as a meal before sports.

Why carbohydrates are a good idea

Your pre-workout meal should contain carbohydrates. They should be easily digestible and provide energy. This does not include sweets, juices or white flour products.

These shoot into the blood much too quickly. It is better to get the carbohydrates from fresh fruit or whole grains. Low-fiber fruits such as peaches or bananas are particularly suitable as a meal before exercise.

But you should not eat too much fruit either. Your carbohydrate storage in the muscles is limited.

In addition, a small portion is also much easier to digest than a large plate of pasta. For small and light training sessions, the body has sufficient carbohydrate reserves available anyway.

Eating after sports or before? Which is better?

Endurance athletes sometimes even follow a low-carbohydrate diet for longer periods. This is intended to optimize fat metabolism. For intensive interval training, it makes sense to use easily digestible carbohydrates beforehand.

When you eat carbohydrates, you supply your body with glycogen. Your muscles get about two-thirds of the glycogen.

Glycogen is your body's energy source. A meal before the workout is therefore important to provide your body with enough carbohydrates and thus glycogen for your workout.

Food for the muscles!

If you don't know which meals contain a lot of carbohydrates, here are a few tips for you:

• Pasta - uncooked pasta has 75 KH/g with a KH/K value of 2.0
• Rice - uncooked rice has 78.6 KH/g and a KH/K value of 2.2.
• Potatoes - uncooked potatoes have only 18 KH/g, but also few kcal and thus a good KH/K value of 2.3
• Oatmeal - it offers 63 KH/g and a KH/K value of 1.8

KH/g: Carbohydrates per gram

KH/K- Value: Carbohydrate/Calorie ratio. Provides you with the information how many grams of carbohydrates are supplied per kcal. A larger number means that you get more carbohydrates per calorie supplied.

However, you should not neglect the other factors for enough energy. Examples of these are getting enough sleep and drinking enough. Especially these two factors are important to have enough power for the workout.

Wow. This is what you need to eat to prevent sore muscles!

When eating protein before exercise is a good idea

Are you also wondering if you need protein bars or protein shakes to supplement your workout? Clearly: NO!

Marketing experts would have us believe that protein bars are the only way to achieve our goals. However, this is wrong. It is completely sufficient if you eat a healthy and balanced diet with whole foods.

Common protein bars are often highly processed. They are also full of artificial ingredients and sugar. Trail mixes or energy bars are also not good sports nutrition.

Although they contain only ingredients like nuts. Why is that? Simple. Such foods have a very high fat content.

This means that our body needs a very long time to digest them.

An energy bar as a meal before exercise can even make you weaker during the workout. The body puts all its energy into digesting the bar. So you have less power during the workout.

This is how easy you can make protein bars yourself!

Why eating before exercise decides your goal

Eating before exercise makes sense in principle. With carbohydrates you simply perform better in training. Snacking before the workout intensifies your entire sports session.

Your metabolism then has everything it needs to run at full speed. You'll also make better progress and reach your goals faster.

The optimal pre-sport meal should give you energy and be easily digestible. The different nutrient components have different digestion times.

Your body needs about 8 hours to digest fat. For carbohydrates and proteins it is only two to three hours.

An ideal meal before exercise is:

• Low fat,
• low in fiber,
• Protein rich,
• high in carbohydrates,
• and aligned with your goals.

Eating before sports in muscle building

You want to build muscles? Then the food before the sport should Carbohydrates and proteins contain

This way you can give it your all during strength training. Carbohydrates protect your muscles in this context. Because only if your body has carbohydrates as an energy source, it can use them for your muscles.

If your carbohydrate storage is empty, then your body gains the energy from protein. However, if your goal is to build muscle, then this should be avoided at all costs.

Carbohydrates are the most important source of energy for your body. With them you should pay attention to a low glycemic index.

This states that the carbohydrates are released more slowly into the blood. Thus, a longer energy supply is given and the muscle building process is stronger.

Proteins are just as important as food before sports. In fact, they are the basic building block of muscles.

If you take protein before the workout, amino acids are already available during the workout.

These can then be used by your body immediately for muscle building. For protein intake, you can eat eggs before your workout.

They are not only well tolerated, but also provide high-quality protein. Curd cheese and fish are also a good choice before exercise.

The most delicious DIY protein shakes

Eating before exercise when losing weight

You want to lose weight? You think it's a good idea to get on the treadmill in the morning without breakfast? Well, that is only partly the case.

One thing is certain: When exercising on an empty stomach, your body gains energy from fat. This is how it learns to burn fat particularly effectively.

However, only if your training is very moderate and slow. That means very slow and long training.

However, it would be better if you do a short and intense workout. This is also guaranteed to fit better into your everyday life.

Then you will consume significantly more calories and increase the afterburn effect.

It's best to reach for a high-protein meal and not overeat with it.

When it comes to proteins, it is a good decision to resort to low-fat dairy products, as these contain the amino acids that the body cannot produce itself.

If you want to lose fat, you have to pay attention to the amount of energy you consume! The fat should be burned for the most part.

It's no use just exercising a lot. If you want to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume.

What to look for when drinking before a workout

The ideal sports diet also includes drinking. Especially in the hours before the workout, it is important to make sure you drink enough fluids.

This allows you to prevent fluid loss through sweat during exercise.

However, the body can absorb a maximum of 300 ml per 15 minutes. Therefore, you should drink enough throughout the day.

It's best to reach for water or unsweetened tea and coffee. Depending on their activity level, women should drink at least 2.2 liters of fluid.

Remember: Instead of drinking 1 liter at a time, spread the liquid out over a longer period of time.

What coffee before training really brings

Have you also heard that caffeine is useful before a workout? Yes, that is also true. Caffeine can improve your strength, energy and performance during a workout.

In addition, you can also delay the feeling of exhaustion. Caffeine also has a positive effect on your fat burning.

You can take it with a freshly brewed coffee or tea. There are also special preparations with caffeine, but this is not necessary at all. A delicious espresso has the same effect.

You get the biggest caffeine boost about 90 minutes after ingestion. If you drink a cup of coffee about 15 to 30 minutes before exercise, you can benefit from the positive effects.

Our conclusion

In any case, it is not easy to keep track of the diet before the sport. But it is definitely worth it! With great sporting challenge, you have to think about the day before.

The timing of meals and what you eat are factors that make a big difference. One must be careful not to stress the digestion in order to have blood available for the muscles.

To browse further:

• These 17 protein-rich foods are vegan!
• This is my LiveFresh food cure experience!
• Can you freeze a smoothie?

* Advertising & affiliate links: Our website is financed by advertising and affiliate links. As a partner of linked stores (e.g. Amazon) we earn from qualified sales.
Read more