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| Pre-workout nutrition tips from fitness coaches |
When we talk about pre-workout and post-workout nutrition, people are usually interested in post-workout nutrition. This probably means that many people are wondering what to eat after exercise rather than before exercise. It may be natural to think that once you've used up your energy through exercise, you'll need to eat something to get positive results afterwards.
While post-workout nutrition is certainly important for achieving good results and helping with recovery, pre-workout nutrition is just as important. Foods eaten before exercise can help prepare our bodies to improve athletic performance and promote post-workout recovery.
In this article, we'll cover what pre-workout nutrition is, why it's important, and how to use it to achieve positive results.
What is pre-workout nutrition?
Pre-workout nutrition means eating intentionally before exercise. This generally includes eating food, beverages, and sports supplements two hours before exercise to maximize athletic performance and recovery.
In terms of intent-driven training and exercise, pre-workout nutrition often means getting a good source of protein and carbohydrates, which your body uses to improve your athletic performance.
In reality, any act of feeding our body before exercise can be considered pre-workout nutrition, but for the sake of brevity and not off-topic, we limit the time range to 2-4 hours before exercise to determine the source of protein and carbohydrates. Let me explain the issue of nutrition before exercise, including.
Why is nutrition before exercise important?
Pre-workout nutrition tips from fitness coaches

There are many reasons to care about your pre-workout nutrition, but there are also many benefits to doing so.
Pre-workout nutrition is a topic of interest not only to professional athletes and weight training enthusiasts, but also to the general public. Small, intentional actions, when best practiced, can positively change athletic performance and body composition, and pre-workout nutrition can help support athletic performance and growth across many aspects of life.
recovery optimization
The number one reason pre-workout nutrition is important is that recovery requires nutrition. Our bodies continuously digest the food we eat throughout the day and then use those nutrients to generate and restore energy. The rate at which the various foods consumed through snacks and meals are digested can depend on a number of factors, but in general, there is always some degree of digestion, except when fasting.
People who do weight training for muscle growth are usually interested in muscle protein synthesis. When muscle protein is synthesized, the protein is utilized to build or repair muscle. A well-planned diet before and after exercise can create a favorable environment for muscle protein synthesis, which aids in muscle growth and recovery.
improve athletic performance
The second reason to take pre-workout nutrition is to increase your athletic performance. We all want to be at our best when we exercise, and we know how bad exercise can feel when you have low energy levels. So, by reducing the chance of energy loss through a strategic pre-workout nutrition plan, you can avoid the loss of performance due to inadequate nutrition.
The intensity and method of exercise vary from person to person. This means that pre-workout nutrition needs to be tailored to individual circumstances. In other words, your pre-workout diet should consist of favorite foods that are readily available and that give you peak performance. Basically, you need to plan for your individual needs and know that there is no perfect pre-workout diet that works for everyone.
How should we refuel our body before exercise?
Rather than directly recommending the best pre-workout diet, I will proceed in a systematic way of discussing the topic. Your nutritional needs can vary greatly depending on your individual circumstances, so you should take this into consideration when choosing foods for pre- and post-workout nutrition.
Here's how to organize your pre-workout diet based on several criteria:
type of exercise you are doing
intended adaptation
Types of readily available food
preferred food
Scientific Basis for Efficacy
If you can create a pre-workout nutrition plan that fits your lifestyle and exercise goals, it will be much easier to put it into practice.
When developing a pre-workout nutrition plan, the type of exercise should be considered first. Types of exercise include exercise that requires endurance for a long time, exercise that produces bursts of power, and exercise of moderate intensity. Each type of exercise uses different types of stored energy and energy systems between exercises. Taking these into account can help you choose foods that improve your athletic performance.
Here are a few examples of how to plan a diet for each type of exercise.
Endurance Workout: Low Fat, High Carb, Moderate Protein
Medium-intensity weight training: low fat, moderate carbs, protein
In order to achieve your fitness goals through exercise, following these diets is a prerequisite. For an athlete who needs endurance, for example, increasing their capacity may be a priority. In this case, a carbohydrate source that maintains energy levels during training may be a good choice. If you're an elite athlete, eating carbs between workouts may also help.
If your goal is to gain and grow muscle, it may make sense to consume a good source of carbohydrates and high-quality protein before your workout to increase muscle mass. Carbohydrates and protein are known to be necessary to increase muscle protein synthesis after exercise.
Once you have identified the content and intensity of exercise and set a goal, you can create an optimized diet according to your preferences, availability, and budget.
What foods should I eat before exercise?
Here are some basic tips to keep in mind when choosing foods for pre- and post-workout nutrition.
Eat a high-quality protein source as much as possible.
Protein powder and nutrient-rich natural food protein work well.
Eat carbs according to your type of exercise.
If you're doing endurance training, try increasing your carbohydrate intake a little more.
If you do moderate-intensity exercise, eat moderate carbs.
Let's look at some examples of pre-workout diets. The diets below are just examples, so try making your own diet with your favorite foods.
1st example: 1 hour before running


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