Pre and Post Workout Nutrition

Pre and Post Workout Nutrition

When it comes to nourishing your body before and after a workout, many people think about three big meals a day. However, one of the best things that you can do for your body is to provide it with more immediate nutrition.

Try timing your workout so that it is in between meals with a nutrient and protein-packed snack to bookend it on either side. There is a key 90 minute period in which you want to work out; eating a meal 90 minutes before you exercise, a quick energy and "fuel" meal right before your workout, again right after your workout, and another meal 90 minutes later.

Remember, the point of your pre-workout meal or snack is to provide your body with the materials it needs to fuel your workout. Don't be fooled by weight-loss theories that focus on how many calories you'll burn exercising. Any time you are increasing strength and building up your body, you need to provide your body with the nutrients it needs to carry it through the workout-- otherwise, your body will consume reserve resources in the body, which are much harder to replace.

The point of eating after your workout is to provide your muscles with the materials that they need to build themselves back up. When you do any kind of weight training, your muscles actually break themselves down in the form of small tears in the muscle fibers and then rebuild themselves even stronger in the hours and days that follow your workout. In order to successfully rebuild themselves, your muscles must replenish their resources. Providing your body with the raw materials it needs to rebuild and refuel itself is the entire point of your post-nutrition meals.