Pre-Workout Nutrition- What to Eat before a Workout

Athletes and fitness enthusiasts are always looking for ways to improve their performance and achieve their goals. Fueling your body with the right nutrients prior to exercise will give you the energy and strength you need to perform better.

Depending on what suits your individual needs, you can simply have normal meal in the few hours before exercise or you can have a snack just before your exercise session. Your meal or snack should help you sustain energy, boost performance, preserve muscle mass, speed recovery and not to forget ‘hydrate’.

A good thumb rule is to eat a mixture of carbs and protein prior to exercise. Small amount of healthy fat can be included few hours before the exercise but it neither improves nor diminishes your performance. So it may be better to eat a meal that focuses more on protein and carbohydrates than fats.

Ideally, a person should eat a meal rich in complex carbohydrates and protein around 2–3 hours before exercising which allows the body enough time to digest the meal.

However due to time constraints, a person may prefer a smaller meal or snack that is mostly made up of simple carbohydrates which can be consumed 30–60 minutes before working out.

Here are a few pre-workout snacks & meal I recommend:

30-60 minutes before exercise

- Fruits such as Banana, Orange or an Apple

- Handful of nuts and raisins (two parts raisins: one part nuts)

- Energy Bar/Nutrition bar (Check out the recipe)

- Fruit smoothies

- Greek yogurt with berries

2-3 hours before exercise

- Brown rice with roasted veggies & lean protein

- Egg omelet and whole-grain toast

- Whole-grain Bread with peanut butter & fruit jam

- Sweet potatoes, Broccoli & grilled chicken

- Banana Peanut Smoothie (Check out the recipe)

Keep in mind that you don’t need to eat many pre-workout meals at different times. Just choose one of these to meet the nutritional requirement of your body.

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Which is the quickest snack that you grab before your workout? Do let me know in the comments below. Tag @MyCalorieCrunch on Instagram with your ideas on Pre-workout snack