Best ways to power your workout with pre-exercise nutrition

Want to get the most out of your workout? Eating the right food before you start exercise is a great way to put your best foot forward.

Like a machine, your body needs fuel.

And if you want to boost how it performs, the food you consume and the timing of your meal can play an important role – especially when you’re exercising.

“Nutrition can help you to get the best out of a training session, providing fuel to help you work hard and achieve better results,” sports dietitian Lisa Middleton says.

• Fitness routine: Amazing changes you can expect through your exercise journey

Is eating before exercise important?

The short answer is yes, Lisa says.

“The only time you might not need to eat before a workout is if you have an early morning light training session, or if your workout is purely aerobic, such as a light recovery run,” Lisa says.

“But if you are doing anything higher intensity and want to push yourself, it’s best to eat something beforehand.”

How long before training should you eat?

Lisa says, in theory, eating 2-3 hours before exercise is ideal.

“But it can be trial and error, depending on the time of day you train, type of training and individual tolerance,” she says.

“For example, some people can eat a bowl of porridge 10 minutes before a run, while others find it difficult to eat too close to training.”

• Maximise it: 5 Ways to get more out of your workout

What are the best pre-workout foods?

Even if you think carbs are the devil, Lisa says you should include complex carbohydrates in your pre-workout meal.

“Carbohydrate is our body’s fuel, so having enough to power through a session is important,” she says.

Sports dietitian and former professional triathlete Pip Taylor agrees.

“This is the time when carbs are the focus – easily digested forms of energy,” the performance dietitian for Pillar Performance says.

“Think banana, porridge, a fruit smoothie or half a bagel with jam and peanut butter.”

Lisa says some pre-workout protein is also beneficial.

“This will get some amino acids into the bloodstream and help start your muscle recovery processes,” Lisa says.

Lisa recommends incorporating leafy greens to help give aerobic performance a lift.

“Nitrate assists with aerobic performance, so beetroot juice, or just getting more leafy greens like spinach, kale and lettuce into your diet is good,” she says.

Early morning: if you can’t eat a proper meal, try a smoothie, fruit, or yoghurt.

Strength training: fuel up on protein.

Cardio: eat carbs with some moderate protein.

• Powerful punch: Why HIIT and TRE is the fitness-diet combo you need

Should you eat after exercising?

During exercise, our bodies use glycogen – the fuel stored in our muscles – for energy.

So, it’s important to top up these energy stores with a mix of protein and carbohydrates after working out.

This will also aid recovery, helping the body to repair and build muscles that have broken down during training.

“Post-workout – and especially if you are training again later that day or within 24 hours – meals or snacks soon after are key,” Pip says.

“Muesli topped with high-protein yogurt and fruit, or a stir-fry chicken with rice are both great examples of meals that double as optimal recovery fuel.”

Written by Dimity Barber.