What To Eat Before Going To Gym

Many people complain that they are not getting fit even after going to the gym or doing a proper workout. Do you know the reason behind it? If not, then let us understand this in a very comprehensive way. this happens because of pre-workout nutrition.

Only going to the gym and doing workouts does not affect your fitness. There is a scientific reason behind it that workout will not work when you eat fast food or less nutritional food. Exercise changes your food into energy or muscles, so you need to have proper pre-workout nutritional food. Several aspects work in your body while you exercise. The most important one is your metabolism and the nutritional converting rate. 

Many scientists have defined the workout process as a better conversion nutrition process. Athletes and fitness enthusiasts always look forward to improving their performance while doing gym or getting good results from their workout. So they prefer eating food that has a reasonable nutritional conversion rate.

Here the question arises: what are the best pre-workout nutrition or meals that one must have to get better and faster results.

What To Eat As Pre-Workout Nutrition

A pre-workout meal works as fuel when we go to the gym or work out. The right nutrients will give you the energy and strength you need during the workout. Several macronutrients play a specific role in your workout. Let’s have a look at them.

Carbs

If you have muscle pain after a workout, it means that you are not taking the right amount of carbs in your pre-workout meal. The carbohydrates work as fuel for your muscles. 

Our body stores glucose in glycogen, which is mainly stored in the liver and muscles. And when one does short and high-intensity exercise, your body stores the glycogen in your muscles, resulting in pumped-up muscles after the workout. 

Many fitness pandits state that if you are doing more extended exercises, using carbs depends on various factors like the type of training, intensity, and overall diet. Many scientific studies have shown that carbohydrates increase glycogen stores and utilization during exercise. This is why one must have a high amount of carbohydrates in their pre-workout nutrition. 

Protein

Protein is the most important and essential to improve performance and get better results from the workout. When one eats protein before doing exercise, muscles increase the protein synthesis process. When we damage our muscles during exercise, these synthesized proteins heal the damage and pump up muscles.

Although there are other benefits of consuming protein in your pre-workout meal like:-

• It fastens the muscle growth process
• Improves muscle damage recovery
• Also works on increasing strength and body mass
• Increases muscle performance while exercising

Fat

As we talked about, glycogen is used for short and high-intensity exercise. Fat works as a fuel for more extended and moderate-intensity exercise. However, some scientific studies have proven that fat intake affects athletic performance. In the study, a person was given a four-week diet of 40% fat before the workout. And as a result, their endurance was increased while running. 

When To Eat Pre-workout Meal

As we discussed, several factors work together for a better conversion rate of nutrition taken in pre-workout meals. The second most important factor is the pre-workout meal timing. 

According to studies, if one person wants the maximum results of exercise, then they should try to intake the meal ( consisting of carbs, fats, and protein) 2 to 3 hours before exercise. But many of you might not get this much time to have the pre-workout meal. 

Then you can eat a decent pre-workout meal. One must keep in mind that if you eat your pre-workout meal just before the exercise, it will not work correctly on your body. Scientists have suggested having a smaller and simpler mele if one wants to take ek this 40 to 45 minutes before exercise.

In some cases, when a person tries to have a full-fledged meal consisting of carbs, proteins, and fats, they might feel bloated during exercise, which will directly result in it and discomfort during the workout.

Some Of The Best Pre-workout Meal

You all must be confused about what to eat and what not to eat before a workout. What to eat depends on the intensity of the workout and the type of food. The answer to this question is that one must eat a mixture of protein and carbohydrates as a pre-workout meal. 

Tip- if you are consuming fats in the meal, you should take it at least 3 hours before exercise.

The type of food also depends on when you take your pre-workout meal. According to the period, here is the list of some of the best pre-workout meals.

2-3 Hours Before Exercise

• You can make whole grain bread, salad, and lean protein sandwich.
• An avocado spread on whole-grain toast
• Egg omelet and a cup of fruit
• Roasted vegetables, lean protein, and brown rice

Within 2 Hours

• You can make a delicious protein smoothie with banana and mixed berries blended with milk and protein powder.
• Milk with a whole-grain cereal
• Banana and sliced almonds on the top of oatmeal ( 1 cup )
• You can also eat a fruit preserve sandwich with natural almond butter spread on whole-grain bread

Less Than One Hour

• Fruits and 1 cup of Greek yogurt
• Protein nutrition bar
• Banana, Apple, or orange

It would be best not to eat many pre-workout meals at different times. Any of these will work for you. However, you can experiment with your timings for better results.

Pre-workout Supplement That You May Use

Usually, scientists do not suggest taking supplements, as they might harm your body after a long period. But nowadays, supplements are made organically. So you can take pre-workout supplements as pre-workout nutrition. 

Usually, athletes and sportspeople use supplements. Supplements may enhance your performance and improve your body strength. They also work on increasing lean body mass and reducing buddy fatigue.

Here is the list of best pre-workout supplements for your body

Creatine

Creatine is the most famous and commonly used supplement by athletes and sportspersons. It results in increased muscle mass and fiber size. All over body muscle strength and power are also increased by using creatine. Although we are mentioning it as a pre-workout supplement, it is more effective as a post-workout supplement. 2-5 grams of creatine monohydrate per day is enough for one day.

Caffeine

Today’s youth is taking caffeine as a pre-workout supplement, which has shown massive results. Caffeine improves performance and strength during the workout and also reduces body fatigue. 

Caffeine is commonly consumed in coffee, tea, and energy drinks. Although caffeine also comes in pills, scientists do not prefer it. 

Caffeine will work at its peak when taken 90-60 minutes before workout. However, it is useful even when taken 15-60 minutes before the workout. 

Branched-chain Amino Acids (BCAAs)

Some essential amino acids like leucine, isoleucine, and valine are present in BCAA. According to studies, it helps reduce the chances of muscle damage and increases the muscle protein synthesis process if taken before a workout. An hour before the workout, a daily dose of 5 grams will be very useful.

Multi-ingredient Supplements

Before those supplements, many of the athletes contain all the essential supplement substances in one product. Multi-ingredient supplements contain all the supplements that are mentioned above. 

Combining these all ingredients works very effectively, and it may improve the performance. The benefits of multi-ingredient supplements are increased work output, strength, anaerobic power, focus and alertness, and good endurance.

Hydration 

The last but most important part of pre-workout nutrition is water. Our body needs lots of water to function smoothly. The right amount of water has always shown enhanced and sustainable performance during the workout. The scientists recommend consuming water and sodium as pre-workout nutrition. 

According to the American College of sports medicine report, one should drink half-liter water 4 hours before the workout and one glass of water 10 to 15 minutes before exercise. 

Final Words

If you are not satisfied with your workout or cannot see any positive workout response, you must take this pre-workout nutrition. They work as fuel to our body, and do not forget high protein and carbohydrates in your pre-workout meal. The most important part is proper hydration and focuses on fitness. 

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