Fitness gains don’t just come from what we do in the gym, but what we eat before and after workouts. Pre and post workout nutrition will help us maximize the 20, 30, 60 minutes we spend training our body in the gym.
I interviewed the fittest 50 year old woman on the planet a few months ago and she kept using the term, train or training instead of working out or exercising.
I think that thought process adds so much value to the time spent lifting weights, pulling bands, hopping on the bike, treadmill, elliptical, pushing play on YouTube, showing up to the fitness class.
We are showing up to train our body to manifest at its highest level in life.
It isn’t to burn a bunch of calories, to burn off the milkshake from the night before or to punish our body because it isn’t as aesthetically pleasing as we would prefer it to be.
So in light of that, it is high value we consider how we are preparing our body to train via our nutrition and then how we are supporting our body to recover as efficiently as possible after our training.
What to eat before and after workouts to build muscle
Pre Workout
If you are getting up and training at 5am, it is best to limit your pre workout food intake. The body pre 5am, is not ready for a bunch of food.
The digestive process is still in repair and refresh mode so consuming a meal is going to pull way too much blood into your digestive tract and keep your muscles, heart, lungs, and brain from being able to function at a high level.
A few pre workout food options include:
- Half of a banana
- A couple of dates
- An egg
- 10-15 grams of clean supplemental protein
- 2 ounces of yogurt
- A slice of turkey
- 5-10 grams of essential amino acids
Post Workout
Load up. Have yourself a great breakfast, aiming for at least 30 grams of protein and 50-100 grams of carbohydrates. Ideally within a 1-2 hour window. Right at 60 minutes would be perfect.
If you eat a big meal immediately after a workout, you will likely end up feeling bloated and lethargic because all the blood has gone to your muscles from your training, but if you fast after workouts especially in the morning, you will end up with excess cortisol production, potentially lasting for 24 hours following your workout.
A few post workout food options include:
- Eggs
- Meat
- Goat whey protein
- Sweet potatoes
- Quinoa
- Back or wild rice
- Figs
- Dates
- Berries
- Whole milk yogurt
The key is to find the food routine that keeps you feeling sharp and energized throughout your training session so you can get the most out of it.
Our bodies require carbohydrates (fruit, sweet potatoes, squash, oats, sprouted grains, wild/black rice, raw honey, dates, figs, oats) to replenish our glycogen stores post workout to enable us to show up for our next training session fully charged.
Eating a fiber or cellulose dense food like broccoli, kale, cabbage, lettuce before a workout or after a workout is likely to make for a sluggish workout and slower recovery, because it takes so much energy to digest these foods.
The fiber content is going to keep energy sitting in your digestive tract rather than to filling up glycogen stores or used as fuel during your training session.
It doesn’t make them bad, it just means ideally, you would want to consume them as part of your meals rather than loading up on them before or after a workout.
Beyond the carbohydrate dense foods needed to replenish glycogen stores, we require protein to repair the muscle tissues that have been broken down.
If there is insufficient amino acids showing up to the muscle, bone, and connective tissue cells post training session, then adaptation to the training session will be compromised, resulting in less strength, less power, less muscle and bone density being created.
Ideally we match our glycogen replenishing foods with raw milk, eggs, lean cuts of meat, fish, goat whey protein smoothie, or plain yogurt.
I usually workout around 4-4:30pm and I found that on the days that I had a salad for lunch my training sessions would be flat. So, I switched to plain yogurt, 2 scoops of goat whey, homemade granola and berries for my lunch. Now walking into my late afternoon training sessions, I feel light and have great energy.
Aim to shift your mindset to “I wonder what my body is actually capable of.”
