Pre Workout Fuel & Post Workout Nutrition
Whether you are looking to lose fat or build muscle… if you don’t give your body the right nutrients (pre & post workout), it won’t happen fast enough.
There is a misconception out there that to lose fat it is best to workout on an empty stomach. The idea behind this is that by not eating before a workout your body will be forced to burn energy in the form of fat, ie. from your beer gut, love handles or back. It then becomes easy to convince yourself that eating before a workout isn’t worth it if you want to tap into your fat stores.
So if you eat something before a workout you would be wasting your time right?
Not quite.
Let’s take a closer look. When you break it down, our bodies number one priority is survival. Because of this, we need to give it a good reason to lose fat, and this only happens when we keep our metabolism high by constantly providing it nutrients (this is where quality counts and NOT quantity).
Going into a workout with an empty stomach, tells your body that it doesn’t know when or where the next feeding will come from. At this point you risk entering starvation mode and not only will your body fat become more stubborn and harder to burn off, you will also run the risk of breaking down your hard earned muscle. Exactly what you do not want!
The easiest way around this is to have a little protein prior to exercise. This will provide easy to use energy and stabilize blood sugar levels without breaking down muscle because there will plenty of protein shuttling around for your body to pull from.
If your goal is fat loss, use the following protocol:
10-15 minutes before a workout:
100-140 pounds: 0.5 – 0.75 scoop of protein powder
140-180 pounds: 1 scoop of protein powder
180-230+ pounds: 1.5 scoops protein powder
Note: You want to ensure that your protein powder contains little to no fat. Without going into too much detail, directly before and directly after your workout is the one time of day you do not want to consume any fat. The best choices for protein are whey isolate, casein, and rice.
Our favorite choice for whey protein is Prograde Protein
And for those of that might be sensitive to whey we found an awesome rice protein you should check out called Sun Warrior Protein
Now we’ll tackle what to eat following an intense workout.
Research tells us that the hour immediately following a workout is a window for nutrient timing that we must not miss.
Consuming protein and carbohydrates right after or during a workout will assist in recovery, muscle building and allow you to keep the intensity high during future training sessions.
Aim to consume the following 5-60 minutes after a workout:
100-140 pounds: 0.5 – 0.75 scoop of protein powder + carbohydrate
140-180 pounds: 1 scoop of protein powder + carbohydrate
180-230+ pounds: 1.5 scoops protein powder + carbohydrate
Carbohydrate options:
- Dried fruit (raisins – handful, apricots – handful, dates 2-4 regular sized)
- Banana (1/2 to full)
- 12- 16 oz low fat chocolate or skim milk (note: since milk contains protein you have to adjust your powder down if you choose this option)
- 1-1.5 cups of your favorite breakfast cereal (note: we don’t suggest eating the typical breakfast cereals as part of your daily diet, however, during the post workout window they are highly effective and easy to bring with you wherever you train)
- Blend ice, water, protein powder and mixed berries or a banana for an awesome post workout shake. Be creative.
- Just eat something – if you don’t have access to any of the above options, consuming something is better than nothing!
Whatever time of day you workout begin to implement proper pre and post workout nutrition. If you feel you have hit a wall when it comes to fat loss this is likely the jump start your metabolism needs.
On the other hand, if you are struggling to put on lean muscle mass, consuming extra calories around your workout will ensure they end up in the right place- your muscles and not your gut.
Whatever your goals- remember, no more cardio sessions at 6 am on a empty stomach!
Stay Strong,
Drew
