{"id":7703,"date":"2010-02-15T17:02:28","date_gmt":"2010-02-15T22:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/?p=7703"},"modified":"2020-09-30T15:59:02","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T19:59:02","slug":"pre-workout-drinks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/pre-workout-drinks\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Eat Before a Workout: 5 Keys to the Pre-Workout Meal Everyone Should Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

What to eat before a workout has long been an area of uncertainty for runners and athletes… should we just eat the same stuff we consume during a workout or race?<\/p>\n

What about a simple protein drink or meal-replacement shake?<\/p>\n

Far too often, the result of my confusion has been a few swigs of Gatorade, a simple banana, or worse \u2014 nothing.<\/p>\n

A few bad bonks have pretty much eliminated the chance of my starting a workout on an empty stomach, and I’m happy to say I hardly ever drink commercial sports drinks from 7-Eleven anymore.<\/p>\n

Proper\u00a0workout nutrition<\/a>\u00a0is critical, and it all starts with knowing what to eat before a workout<\/a>. Let’s dig in.<\/p>\n

What to Eat Before a Workout: The 5 Essentials of Pre-Workout Nutrition<\/h2>\n

1. Consume carbohydrates and protein in a 3-to-1 ratio, and include healthy fat (but just a little). <\/strong><\/p>\n

There are few arguments about this point.\u00a0 The 3:1 ratio is almost universally advocated for optimal absorption of nutrients.\u00a0 For a big workout, or if you have some time to let your stomach settle, 30 grams of carbs and 10 grams of protein is great.\u00a0 Otherwise, halve the amounts.\u00a0 Mark Verstegen, of Athletes Performance Institute, recommends a scoop of protein powder in a half-glass of Gatorade or watered-down orange juice.<\/p>\n

As for the fat, a teaspoon or so of healthy oil, such as flaxseed or Udo’s blend, is all you need to help deliver nutrients where they need to go.\u00a0 Coconut oil is even better for workouts, as the liver treats it similarly to glucose, a carbohydrate.<\/p>\n

2. Include quick-working, high-glycemic carbs for energy now, sustained release (but not starchy!) carbs for energy later.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I first learned about this one from Brendan Brazier’s and Vega Sport<\/a>.\u00a0 In many of his recipes for pre-workout drinks, Brendan uses dates (glucose) as the high-GI, instant-energy sugar, and agave nectar (fructose) for slower energy release.<\/p>\n

Why no starchy bagels or bread?\u00a0 To convert starch into usable sugar requires your body to work, and during a workout you’d like to use your available energy for movement, not digestion.\u00a0 If you’re going to consume something starchy, a sprouted<\/a> version is best.<\/p>\n

3. If you’ll sweat during the workout, you need lots of electrolytes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lack of electrolytes can do more than just bring on a nasty bonk; in fact, it’s downright dangerous.\u00a0 Hyponatremia<\/a> is the condition of having too much water and not enough sodium (an electrolyte) in your system, and it has proved fatal for endurance athletes who load up on water but don’t replace lost electrolytes.<\/p>\n

Lots of salt is lost through sweat, and you should take in electrolytes during your workout.\u00a0 Coconut water contains electrolytes; so do most sports drinks and gels, so most of us get them during workouts.\u00a0 But you can get a head start on electrolyte replacement simply by adding salt or dulse powder to your pre-workout drink.<\/p>\n

4. Consider caffeinating for improved performance.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Caffeine has been shown to significantly improve performance in endurance events and workouts.\u00a0 Whether you want to use it is your own decision, but it’s certainly not something you should rely on for every workout—doing so will result in increased adrenal fatigue and slower recovery afterward.<\/p>\n

To add caffeine to your pre-workout smoothie, you can replace the water component or your pre-workout drink with brewed yerba mate<\/a> or tea, or even add ground mate leaves directly to your smoothie.\u00a0 Alternatively, you can drink a cup of coffee as many runners do, but that can be rougher on both your intestines and your adrenal glands.<\/p>\n

5. Add optional superfoods to go the extra mile.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the above guidelines should be enough to give your workout a swift kick in the ass, you can always make your pre-workout drinks even better with the addition of a few superfoods.\u00a0 Chia seeds<\/a> are a popular one these days, and your body will absorb them in either whole or ground form (be prepared for them to gel though).\u00a0 Maca powder is another one, great for helping the adrenal glands recover from the stress of a workout.\u00a0 Acai, goji, chlorella, greens powder, ground flaxseed, hemp… the list goes on.<\/p>\n

For a great ideal pre-workout drink recipe that makes use of all of these concepts, head on over to my Thrive Fitness<\/em> review<\/a>, where I included such a recipe at the end of the post.\u00a0 The book, incidentally, is a fantastic resource for delving deeper into the ideas of workout-specific nutrition.<\/p>\n

Check out Part II of this series, focusing on what to eat after your workout<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What do you think; how many of these keys does your pre-workout smoothie use?\u00a0 What do you eat before a workout?\u00a0 Feel free to leave a link to your pre-workout meal in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What to eat before a workout has long been an area of uncertainty for runners and athletes… should we just eat the same stuff we consume during a workout or race? What about a simple protein drink or meal-replacement shake? Far too often, the result of my confusion has been a few swigs of Gatorade, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":36235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat to Eat Before a Workout<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Five keys to the pre-workout meal everyone should know.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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