Eating the right combination and amount of food before and immediately after a workout is critical in order to aid in recovery, reduce post exercise fatigue, and get you ready for your next workout.
Balancing carbohydrate and protein is important. A high carbohydrate meal with a small amount of protein is best to consume any where from one hour to four hours prior to exercise. Carbohydrates are your first source of energy; this is the fuel source that will sustain your workout. Protein is also important for muscle building and repair. People tend to misunderstand this concept, carbohydrates will give you the energy to perform your workout whether it is a run or weight lifting and protein will repair and rebuild muscle. Eat to much and it gets stored as fat.
Timing is everything, eat at least four hours prior to a workout and then again one hour after you workout. Carefully assess your food choices, although sport bars are convenient they can be “glorified candy bars”. If you must, choose a bar that has about 200 calories, 5 grams of protein, and 25 grams of carbohydrate. A better choice would be a piece of fruit such as a banana and skim milk.
Try not to undo all your hard work, just because you just did this great lung searing workout it does not give you a license to over eat. A workout lasting about an hour, be glad you did it, bypass the smoothie and have a bottle of mineral water and your next scheduled meal. If your workout is more than one hour have that banana waiting in your locker or car. A little timing and planning will help you on your way to achieving your goal.
