What is the best fuel to eat before a workout?

mystikalbeanz

I recently started a new workout routine and keep finding myself running out of energy half way through which is frustrating, I finish the routine but feel like im doing it half a$$ed at the end. So im asking for the best thing to eat before working out that will keep my energy levels up and keep me going? Any suggestions.. Thanks in advance..

hipsdontlie1

I've heard carbs before and protein after! Im no expert but this is what my friend told me Carbs give you a quick energy boost!

El_guapo22

I think you'll get different responses from different people. But from what I've read and what I do is about two hours to an hour before workout I'll eat a meal with complex carbs. Sweet potato, brown rice etc. protein also depending on the type of workout you are doing. Protein if you doing weight training. You can look into a preworkout supplement if you choose. I will drink a pre workout from time to time and it does help you through longer workouts.

So hit the complex slow digesting carbs before workout and also get some protein post workout if you're weight training.

I'm sure this is a very simple answer and other maybe be able to give you better guidance but that's my advice. Hope it helps.

mystikalbeanz

I think you'll get different responses from different people. But from what I've read and what I do is about two hours to an hour before workout I'll eat a meal with complex carbs. Sweet potato, brown rice etc. protein also depending on the type of workout you are doing. Protein if you doing weight training. You can look into a preworkout supplement if you choose. I will drink a pre workout from time to time and it does help you through longer workouts.

So hit the complex slow digesting carbs before workout and also get some protein post workout if you're weight training.

I'm sure this is a very simple answer and other maybe be able to give you better guidance but that's my advice. Hope it helps.

Thanks ill try this!! I was eating a whole wheat bagel before exercising because i figured it would give me more energy and for longer and then would have a banana after but i would start exercising within 20-30 mins of eating breakfast. I am doing weight training so maybe i need to eat more before working out as well.. You would think eating healthy and exercising would be easy but all the different takes on what you should eat when doing certain types of exercise etc gets confusing. lol.. Thanks for the advice!

Acg67

Caffeine

jacksonpt

Unless your workout is longer than the typical workout (2+ hours), you probably don't need to eat anything before the workout, you probably need to drink more. Hydrate better and I bet you'll see an improvement.

ATT949

I recently started a new workout routine and keep finding myself running out of energy half way through which is frustrating, I finish the routine but feel like im doing it half a$$ed at the end. So im asking for the best thing to eat before working out that will keep my energy levels up and keep me going? Any suggestions.. Thanks in advance..

Why do you feel you need to eat something?

The human body has about 2k cals of energy in the form of glycogen in the bloodstream and muscles. if you're doing a workout that burns about that many calories, you might want to "top off your tank" when you get to that point in your workout.

If you're not exercising enough to burn off that amount of energy there is no value to your body to ingest food. There is, no doubt, emotional value but your body does not need more energy until the glycogen in the bloodstream has been depleted. In fact, eating food to close to a workout will reduce your capacity to exercise.

If you ingest food within about a couple of hours, depending on the food, you will hamper your "exercise systems" because your body will be shunting blood to your stomach to carry away the nutrient-rich blood. This increases the demand you're placing on your body during your workout because there's less blood to carry oxygen to the muscles and less blood to carry away waste products that are a result of exertion. That's not necessarily a bad thing (though it's probably hard to measure).

We here on MFP are, or were, food addicts which makes it very hard to break the mentality that "I need food to…". There's a desire to "make sure I'm doing everything right" (I do this a lot). In addition, we are bombarded by companies that want to sell us "stuff". Consuming "lots of water" and "eat a snack before your workout" are the results of really smart people creating really neat products and then hiring highly skilled marketing people to help convince us that we need them.

I started running about a year ago and have learned a lot about that sport. One of the books that's helped me is by Hal Higdon, who has run dozens and dozens of marathons and is a very famous marathoner from "the old days". In one of his books, he reveals that his favorite beverage before a marathon is…a can of Coca Cola!