Posted on February 06, 2015 by Jenny Cromack

Pre Workout Meals

Many people believe a post workout meal is the most important meal of the day to ensure macro nutrients replenish the body and often more effort is made to prepare and consume these. However, Your PRE workout meal is the meal that plays the largest role in supplying your body with everything it will need to ensure optimal performance during your workout. Eating a meal or at least taking on board a snack before training is essential because without  this you will find reaching your maximum training potential extremely difficult especially during a morning workout.

Early Morning Training
Even if you are in a race against time to get out of bed, make it to the gym and get to work on time that is still no excuse to avoid fuelling your body up! Just a handful of nuts such as almonds and walnuts contain essential fats and proteins which will prepare the body better than working out in a fasted state.

Using a variety of different meats for breakfast helps control insulin levels through the day and will aid motivation, interest and drive to train. Eating high carbohydrates breakfast will cause peaks and troughs of insulin and can dramatically effect your training.As you are taking the time to fit in a pre workout meal or snack it is worth your while to ensure that what you are putting into your body is suitable for your workout, after all the hard part of getting out of bed is over with!

Training Later
If early mornings are not good for you and you’re training later in the day make sure you consume a meal 45-60 min before that contains protein, omega 3 fats and a small portion, less than 15g of very complex carbohydrates, this will allow for a greater calorie burn from the workout great calorie burn

Don’t Be Fooled By the Pre Workout Banana 

Food high on the glycemic index have been shown to reduce the capacity of work during training. When deciding what to eat before a workout focus in foods that will keep the blood sugars very stable or only slightly elevate them. Many people believe a banana before training is a perfect option but research has changed and shows that the high sugars in a banana can negatively effect your training.
Omega 3 Before Training
Consuming omega 3 fatty acids improves blood flow resulting in your blood pressure to drop. The knock on effects of this is better insulin sensitivity, which means energy into the cells to be utilized as fuel is improved. Food items like salmon, walnuts and almonds are therefore great options pre workout

Ensuring your body has the correct fuel to get the best our of your workout is extremely important. Next time the thought of skipping a pre workout meal crosses your mind give these quick and easy recipes a try, you can always double up and have a post workout meal waiting for you too!

Smoked Salmon, Scrambled Eggs With Wilted Spinach
Serves 2

Ingredients
small knob of butter

• 6 large free-range eggs
• freshly ground black pepper
• 4 slices smoked salmon, from sustainable sources, ask your fishmonger
• 1 lemon, quartered
• handful of spinach

Method

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a moderate heat until it’s foaming. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and add to the saucepan. Stir the eggs continuously with something flexible like a spatula to get right into the corners, and cook until little pieces of cooked egg are surrounded by soft, smooth and still quite runny egg. The egg will continue to cook even when the heat is turned off, so undercook them slightly and leave them in the pan. Cook the spinach in boiling water till wilted. Drape the salmon over the eggs and serve it with the lemon wedges and serve immediately.

Zesty Roast Salmon & Cod

Calories 407, Protein 41g, Carbs 15g Fat 21g Sat 3g
Serves 8

Ingredients

• 800g thick skinless boneless salmon fillets, cut into 8
• 800g thick skinless boneless cod loin, cut into 8
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 oranges, zest and juice
• 85g raisins
• 3 red peppers, halved, seeded and each half cut into 3
• 3 orange peppers, halved, seeded and each half cut into 3
• 50g pine nuts
• large handful flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped

Method

1. . Place the fish in a large bowl, add 2 tbsp of the olive oil, orange zest and season well. Carefully toss the fish to coat, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 1-2 hours. Put the raisins into a small bowl, pour over the orange juice and set to one side. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.
2. . Place the peppers in a large shallow, ovenproof pan (approx 35cm diameter) or large shallow roasting tray and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Season, toss together and roast in the oven for 30 mins. Toast the pine nuts on a baking tray on another shelf of the oven for 8-10 mins, until golden.
3. . Arrange the fish and raisins on top of the peppers and pour over the juices. Scatter the pine nuts over and season with a good pinch of salt. Cook in the oven for 12-15 mins until the fish is just cooked through. Scatter with parsley