I get questions all the time asking what types of foods people should eat following a workout. Protein shake? Carbs? Trail mix? Unless you have super specific goals in mind, exact nutrient timing does not necessary matter AS MUCH as people think. However, will timing certain nutrients make you feel better and perform a little better in the gym? Probably.
So, what does that look like? Leading up to a workout, most people do not want to have a ton of food sitting in their stomachs or they will feel lethargic and slow. To prevent this, I recommend eating a meal or snack about an hour before you start working out to give the body time to digest. As far as what to eat, you want to avoid fats around your workout. Fat is slower digesting than carbs and protein so you do not really want your body working to digest that while you are trying to exercise. A meal consisting of primarily carbs and protein an hour or so before will give you energy and help fill you up enough to get through your training.
Post workout nutrition is fairly similar to pre-workout nutrition, potentially just higher carbs. Again, we want to keep fats low so the body can use it’s energy to refuel and build the muscles. When we exercise, we pull glycogen that is stored in the muscle and turn it into energy. To replace that glycogen we have to consume carbohydrates, which is why we want our post workout meal to have plenty of them. Exercise also creates mini microtears within the muscle and protein is what helps to rebuild and fix those tears, helping us get stronger.
Ideally, the post workout meal will happen within an hour to 90 minutes of finishing your workout. If you are someone who does not like eating a full meal after training then things like: smoothies, yogurt and granola, or fruit and a protein shake would be sufficient until you are able to have an actual meal.
If you have any questions about your personal nutrition plan, feel free to reach out!
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