Posted on November 26, 2015 by Jenny Cromack
Fuel Your Fitness!
Do you sometimes feel under fuelled for your session? Or worry that you are not taking in the best foods pre-exercise? This the question I get a lot from my personal training clients. “What should I eat before exercise?”.
If your goals are weight loss the obvious aims of your session are to eat away at those fat stores and get them mobilised to be burned off. So you may think why don’t I just not eat? This is an option most people take. People who train in a fasted state with the aim of using their fat stores as the primary source of fuel for their exercise but fat is not usually a primary fuel source so is not quite as efficient as carbohydrate. This may bring about some results for those who stick it out. However, it is not ideal as a lot of people cannot maintain their level of intensity. Also, the levels of hunger after may lead people to binge on all the wrong nutrition and negate any effect of being fasted by throwing out the rest of their daily nutrition. So finding the balance between not hindering fat mobilisation and having enough efficient fuel to work out is key.
My general advice to my clients to ensure that they are not only sufficiently fuelled for their workouts but also keep their body in an optimal state to achieve their training and health goals are as follows.
- Eat a high protein and “good fats” breakfast.
A breakfast consisting of eggs and fish/lean meat source will provide a great combination of proteins and fat to keep your insulin levels under control throughout the day and prevent those insulin ups and downs that will disrupt our fitness and health goals.
- Keep your intake regular!
Avoiding long periods of time where you do not feed yourself will prevent the previously mentioned ups and downs. Keeping a regular intake of protein, moderate fats and small amounts of complex, high glycaemic index (GI) carbohydrates will keep hunger and binging at bay but also keep our body in an optimal state for achieving our goals and ready to complete our workouts with vigour and enthusiasm.
- Avoid simple, high GI, carbohydrates pre-exercise!
Simple, “quick release” sugars will send our insulin levels skyrocketing shortly followed by that energy sapping “crash”. This not only reduces our ability to keep our intensity levels up and get through our sessions without crashing and burning, but it also keeps our body in a state of optimal fuel production and thus supports our fitness and health goals.
- Don’t eat too late!
Your body will need time to digest the food you put in so try not to leave it too late to eat before you train. Allow at least 1 hour before your session this will avoid workout disrupting stomach discomforts or premature crashes in energy levels.
- Minimise caffeine intake (especially if fat loss is the game!)
Coffee has been suggested to have some beneficial effects on metabolic activities within the body. This has us thinking “Great!” we can sup on our flasks before training and be pumped and ready to achieve success. However, it is only some of the ingredients of coffee that have been linked to these effects. The caffeine in coffee and other caffeine based drinks/snacks (for all the pumped up pre-workout worshipers) have been shown to prevent the levels of cortisol from dropping. This is our stress hormone which can sabotage our health and fitness related goals. Therefore, minimising this caffeine intake will help keep our cortisol levels low.
I will now provide a general overview of my training day nutrition when working towards any “beach body” goals.
Breakfast: 3-4 egg omelette with spinach and spring onion, smoked salmon
Mid-Morning: 1 Chicken Breast with mixed vegetables; broccoli, green beans, cauliflower
Lunch: Omega-3 rich fish (i.e., salmon, mackerel), mixed green salad, small portion of quinoa.
Pre-Workout: Handful of walnuts and avocado.
Post-Workout: small handful of blueberries, almonds, and whey protein supplement
Dinner: Lean meat source (i.e, fish, chicken, beef), mixed vegetables (beans, leafy veg), small portion of sweet potato.
The above is just a general guideline and is by no means the “be all and end all” of nutrition. In terms of pre-exercise nutrition the take home message is to keep it high protein, moderate fats (high in omega fatty acids), and avoid simple, high GI carbohydrates.