What to eat before, during and after training

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

It's important to keep track of what you eat. What about when you eat? Is it important, especially with an active lifestyle? This article contains facts about sports nutrition, regimen, practical recommendations and recipes.

In the field of sports nutrition, there is the term nutrient timing - this is a special nutritional scheme in which it is important which nutrients, in what amount and at what time, entered the body. But the specialists of the organization of professional trainers and nutritionists came to the conclusion that an ordinary person who exercises regularly does not need any supplements and a special regimen.

Athletes have special needs

Nutrient timing makes sense if:

• You are training for endurance. Participate in high-level competitions, running many kilometers every week with high intensity. Then, during the workout, you can consume drinks with added protein and carbohydrates (P + C).
• You are a bodybuilder. Lift large weights and work to build muscle mass, want to gain weight. Sports drinks will also help.
• You are preparing for a fitness competition. You train for hours on end. You want your body fat percentage to be written down with a single number. The branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), which stimulate and preserve muscle fibers, will help achieve this goal.

The diet is not for athletes

If:

• you are exercising to improve your overall health and fitness;
• you have no ambitious goals;
• you have no special physiological needs;

… then you don't need a specific nutritional strategy. This is not to say that the regime is good or bad. It is only a tool that you need to be able to handle.

The regime is not needed by office workers who have never been involved in physical education and brought themselves to a pre-diabetic state, but professionals need it.

In fact, only athletes can benefit from a tight nutrient schedule. The mode is not a magic wand, it will not have an immediate effect on your well-being and appearance. Especially if you only stick to it from time to time.

First, let's figure out what happens in the body before, during and after training, and then we will find out what you need to eat in order to get the most in each case.

Before training

Three hours before exercise, you need to eat something that will help:

• stock up on energy;
• increase activity;
• protect yourself from dehydration;
• maintain muscle mass;
• recover quickly.

ProteinEaten before exercise helps maintain or increase muscle volume, avoid over-damaging the muscles, and fill the bloodstream with amino acids when the body needs them most. It is important for everyone who improves health at the same time as body proportions.

Until you rushed to do it: protein before training is important, but the speed of its digestion does not affect the result so much. So any protein you eat a few hours before your workout will have the same effect.

Carbohydratesprovide fuel for long hours of workouts and accelerate recovery after intense exercise, stimulate insulin production. They also store glycogen in the muscles and liver, thanks to which the brain receives signals of satiety, so that the body can calmly spend energy on muscle growth.

Influence fatthe quality of the upcoming workout has not been confirmed. But they slow down the digestion process, which helps maintain a constant blood glucose level and a stable condition, and are involved in the absorption of vitamins and minerals that play an important role in any diet.

Pre-workout nutrition: practice

Have lunch (or breakfast) a couple of hours before your workout. Or take a smaller portion almost before class (and if you want to gain mass, then eat twice).

2-3 hours before training

Eat a set meal and drink something calorie-free (plain water is better).

For men, lunch should consist of the following foods:

For women, the composition is slightly different:

These are general guidelines that can be modified based on your weight, goals, genetics, duration and intensity of your workout.

One hour before training

Some people prefer to eat something light just before training. One problem: the less time is left before the start, the faster you need to digest food. Therefore, it is better to use something of the liquid type.

Recipe example:

• 1 scoop of protein powder
• 1 cup vegetables (spinach is great for smoothies)
• 1 cup carbohydrate foods (like bananas)
• 1 teaspoon of fatty foods (nuts or flax seeds)
• water or unsweetened almond milk.

Or a more delicious option:

• 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 banana;
• 1 teaspoon peanut butter
• chocolate almond milk (sugar free).

It may not be worth mentioning, but only foods that do not irritate the stomach should be consumed before exercise. Otherwise … Well, you know it could be different.

Nutrient Requirements During Exercise

List of nutritional goals during exercise: prevent fluid loss, provide immediate replenishment, increase activity, maintain muscle, and recover quickly.

Admission proteinsrescues muscle tissue damage, aids rapid regeneration and improves training efficiency in the long term. This is especially important if more than three hours have passed since the last meal. To maintain muscle, you need a little, 15 grams per hour. But this advice is only relevant for hard-working athletes who exercise on a daily basis and on a varied program, or for athletes seeking to gain weight.

Carbohydrateseaten during training is a source of energy that will be used here and now. The result is activity and a high recovery rate. Plus, carbohydrates reduce the production of stress hormones (cortisol), and increase the production of happiness hormones. But! Again, only for the pros. How many carbohydrates do you need? It depends on why. The maximum that the body can process during exercise is 60–70 grams. But if you mix carbohydrates with proteins, then 30–45 grams of the former will be enough for you.

Fats before and after training is good. But in the process, they must be abandoned due to the difficulties of digestion. Fat combined with exercise puts too much stress on the stomach.

Eating while exercising: practice

If you work on yourself for less than two hours, then all attention should be paid to the flow of water, especially if you have properly organized your meals before and after training. for activities that do not last up to two hours are not needed.

Exceptions:

• you exercise in heat and sweat a lot;
• in less than eight hours another workout awaits you;
• you are working on gaining mass;
• you take a few sips at the very end of your workout to maintain energy.

If you spend more than two hours training in heat, don't rely on water alone. Otherwise, you run the risk of critically lowering the sodium level, which will cause interruptions in the work of the heart.

Nutrient Requirements Post Workout

Goal list:

• recovery;
• replenishment of fluid reserves;
• refueling;
• muscle formation;
• improving stamina in the future.

Use squirrel after exercise, it leads to the growth or at least the maintenance of the amount of muscle tissue. You still have proteins in your blood from pre-workout foods, so the rate at which a new meal comes in isn't too important. This leads us to conclude that fast-digesting proteins from protein powders are no better than normal meals. But it’s no worse. What do you like - choose for yourself. For speed and convenience, prepare a protein shake, or if you want a "real" meal, make a high protein lunch. For men, the norm is within 46-60 grams, for women - 20-30 grams.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not at all necessary to consume refined carbohydrates and to provide insulin release and post-workout muscle recovery as soon as possible. In fact, a mixture of minimally processed carbohydrates (whole grains, for example) and fruits will work better because it is better tolerated, helps maintain glycogen levels for about 24 hours, and results in more energy the next day. Athletes who do two difficult sessions over eight hours are of course the exception. For everyone else, a normal meal and fruit are preferable.

Fats it is strictly forbidden to use after training: they slow down the absorption of nutrients. This is the truth, which in most cases nobody needs. Since the rate of nutrient intake is not important, as we have already found out.

Post-workout nutrition: practice

No need to skip to the refrigerator, barely leaving the gym. But you shouldn't forget about food either: you need to be in time within two hours after completing the exercises.

Eaten before exercise will affect post-workout nutrition. If you just had a snack before training or several hours passed between lunch and exercise, then it makes sense to hurry up with reinforcement and have time to eat within an hour. If you've been exercising on an empty stomach (for example, exercising before breakfast), then you need to chew something as quickly as possible.

But if you've followed the nutritional advice in this article, you can wait an hour or two after exercise to get the most of your nutrient intake.

Immediately after training

The approach is the same as the pre-workout meal: a balanced meal.

Approximate diet for men:

• 2 cups of protein foods
• 2 cups vegetables
• 2 cups of carbs
• a teaspoon of fat;
• non-nutritive drink (water).

The approximate diet for women is exactly the same, just less in volume.

Sometimes, after training, the feeling of hunger does not arise. In this case, back to smoothies.

Conclusion

There are no uniform recipes for nutrition before, after and during training. This is obvious and has been said many times.

Meals always depend on individual conditions. A runner who weighs 70 kg cannot eat the same as a bodybuilder whose weight has passed over a hundred. They have different needs and different types of training. The duration of the classes also dictates the conditions and needs of the recovery period. The same bodybuilder will change his diet when he starts preparing for the competition.

For you and me, people who do not have a looming participation in a sports competition on the horizon, there will be enough high-quality varied food, in which all nutrients, vegetables and fruits, vitamins and microelements, antioxidants will be proportionally present. Such food will fill you with energy, provide material for building muscles, relieve irritation and dramatically accelerate recovery. You can eat your usual food or drink a smoothie. You can eat more or less depending on your feelings and preferences.

As for the time, we have two hours before training and the same after. And the total amount of protein, fat and carbohydrates consumed throughout the day has a much greater effect on our body, mass, fat percentage and endurance than a watchdog regimen.

Enjoy eating and exercising.