Pre-Exercise Nutrition

Pre-exercise nutrition is actually more important than the post-exercise meal in generating muscle growth. You need to know the correct amount of carbs and protein to consume at the right time to synthesize muscle recovery.

Whether you're a professional athlete or a recreational jogger, these strategies apply to you. You need to give your body what it needs to repair and grow after exercise. I recently finished a course on Nutrition For Fitness And Performance, and boiled it down to these basic guidelines. I hope you find it helpful.

3-6 Hours Prior To Exercise

It's important to have something to eat a few hours before you exercise, but make it healthy. Low glycemic carbs are most important in a pre-exercise meal with low amounts of protein and no fat. Fat will only slow you down and upset your stomach. Protein is not needed in this stage but vitally important later.

The research suggests 2-4 grams per kilogram of body weight of carbs. To find kilograms just divide by 2.2. A 200 pound person is about 91kg. So this person should consume between 182-364 grams of carbs 3-6 hours before exercising. A 150 pound person (68kg) should eat 136-272 grams of carbs. The harder you plan on exercising the more carbs you should eat, but stay within the 2-4g/kg.

Drink water until your urine is clear or pale yellow. Sports drinks are O.K. but water is better. The carbs in sports drinks are high glycemic (simple sugars) and do not help you several hours from now. Also, the carbs in sport drinks count toward your carb intake so go easy. Drink water.

1-2 Hours Prior To Exercise

A couple hours before you exercise or compete you should have an easily digestable snack. You should become familiar with your body's tolerance to different kinds of foods. Find out what your body digests easily and what doesn't. Obviously avoid anything with spices or any fat content. Dairy should be avoided along with animal protein as it takes longer to metabolize than a plant based diet. Personally I like to have a shake with low fiber, low protein, no fat, with several kinds of carbs spanning from high to low glycemic. That way I get a steady flow of metabolized energy without a spike in insulin which makes you "crash". A shake or smoothie is much easier on your stomach than "real" food. See my Products Page for smoothie packets and products.

The recommended amount of carbs is 1-1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight. First divide your weight in pounds by 2.2 and then multiply by 1 or 1.5. A 170pound person (77kg) should eat 77-116 grams of carbs before exercising. Remember, this is a very smalll amount. Your body has huge stores of ready-to-use carbs in the form of glycogen already. If your body is not tolerant to eating before exercising then skip this step or eat more 3-6 hours before you exercise.

As long as you drank enough water in the last couple hours you can stop drinking water or limit it. Especially if you are going to go for a long run where there are no bathrooms! If you are well hydrated by now don't over do it.

1 Hour Prior To Exercise

 The hour leading up to exercise or competition is crucial. Bottom line: Don't eat and don't drink a sports drink. Water is O.K. but like I said "don't over do it". If you drink a sports drink an hour before you exercise it will spike your blood sugar. Your body releases insulin to metabolize the spike in sugar, which leaves you carb-deficient right at the start of exercising. Research has shown a significant drop in performance due to this phenomenon. Drink only water 1 hour prior to exercise. This does not apply to the last 15 minutes before you exercise.

15 Minutes Prior To Exercise

Just before you exercise it's O.K to drink about 10 oz of a sports drink. This will raise your blood sugar slightly but as long as you start exercising soon your body will not have the time to release insulin and make you "crash". Exercise actually inhibits your insulin production to help maintain a constant blood sugar level.

What about protein? There has been much debate about whether or not consuming protein before exercise helps muscle synthesis. The research is in and it has been proven that a small amount of protein just before you exercise increases muscle synthesis after your workout. If you do not consume any carbs or protein before exercising your body still repairs and builds muscle (muscle synthesis). If you consume protein and carbs only after exercising it increases muscle synthesis up to 150%. Consuming low amounts of carbs and protein immediately before exercising increases muscle synthisis up to 200%!

How much protein? Studies show that all you need is 6 grams of protein and 35 grams of carbs to produce this gain. There are new sports drinks on the market with small amounts of protein to cater to this new research. Or you can mix a small portion of protein powder with any commercial sports drink. Just make sure you do the math to make sure you are getting the right amount of each. Usually a half or third of a scoop. See my Products Page for some good sources of protein.

I hope you find this helpful and reap the benefits of the latest research development. Remember to listen to your body, relax, warm-up, and enjoy your work-out.

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