Eating: When you exercise, you do it in order to try to maintain good health.
You know that you have to eat so that your body has the energy to perform the workouts that you do as well as for everyday tasks.
But, just what you should eat before and after you workouts is essential for making the best of your workouts.
Also, how long you eat before and after each workout is equally important.
Whether you are going to be doing a cardio workout or a resistance workout, you should try to make it a point to eat a mix of carbohydrates and protein.
What determines the percentage of carbohydrates and protein you should consume is whether you are doing cardio or resistance and the intensity level you will be working.
How Long We Should Be Eating Before We Start To Exercise?
The ideal time to eat your pre-workout meal is 1 hour before you start.
When you are working at a lower intensity level, keep this meal down to around 200 calories or so.
But, if you are working at a higher intensity level, you may need this meal to be as high as 400 to 500 calories.
If you are doing a cardio session, you will need to eat a mix of around 2/3 carbohydrates and 1/3 protein.
It will give you longer sustained energy from the extra carbs with enough protein to keep muscle from breaking down during your workout.
If you are doing a resistance session, you should eat a mix of around 1/3 carbohydrates and 2/3 protein.
It will give you enough energy from the carbs to perform each set you do, and the extra protein will help keep muscle breakdown to a minimum during your workout.
It has shown that your body most effectively uses protein during exertion meaning that taking in more protein before resistance workouts aids in faster recovery as well.
Now, eating after a workout is just as important as the pre-workout meal.
Remember that when you exercise whether it is cardio or a resistance session, you deplete energy in the form of glycogen.
Eating The Main Source Of Fuel For Brain And Nervous System
Our brain and central nervous system rely on glycogen as their primary source of fuel.
So if we don’t replace it after exercise, our bodies will begin to break down muscle tissue into amino acids.
Then convert them into usable fuel for the brain and central nervous system.
Also, mostly during resistance workouts, you break down muscle tissue by creating micro tears.
It means that right after a workout; your muscles go into a repair mode.
Proteins are the key macronutrient for muscle repair. So you must know what you are eating.
So you don’t want muscle breaking down further to create fuel in place of lost glycogen.
If you have just finished a cardio session, you will need to consume mostly carbohydrates, preferably ones with high fiber.
Oatmeal, rice, whole wheat pasta, and most northern fruits are good sources.
Try to consume around 30 to 50 grams of these carbohydrates after a cardio session. After cardio, it is okay to eat within 5 to 10 minutes of completion.
Eating With The Combination Of Carbohydrates And Protein
If you have just finished a resistance session, you will need a combination of carbohydrates and protein.
Because unlike cardio workouts, with strength exercises you are breaking down muscle tissue by creating micro tears.
The protein is needed to build up and repair these tears so the muscle can increase in size and strength.
The carbs not only replace the lost muscle glycogen. But also help the protein get into our muscle cells so it can synthesize into structural protein, or muscle itself.
Chicken or fish with a potato. Egg whites with a piece of fruit. A protein shake with fruit mixed in is good meals after resistance workouts. But remember to keep the fiber small here.
High fiber slows down digestion, meaning the protein will take longer to reach the muscle cells.
After resistance, it is recommended to wait 30 minutes before eating so as not to take blood away from your muscles too soon.
The blood in your muscles helps with the repair process by removing metabolic waste products from them.
Any fats should be consumed well before and after exercise.
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