The Pre-Workout Snack - Fuel For Your Workout!
Nutrition, Timing & Importance
Many gym-goers are still victim to the myth and broscience that if you want to get shredded or build mass you need to be consuming a meal every 2 - 3 hours.
This has been proven to be absolutely false, as the extremely minor increase in your metabolic rate from doing so isn't actually enough to induce any further fat loss etc.
Pre-workout nutrition is the real deal though, by strategically eating prior to your weightlifting workout you can optimize your performance.
Eating a small meal containing protein and carbohydrates between 30 - 60 minutes prior to your workout will give you the boost I'm talking about (eating fats pre-workout have no proven enhancement on performance, they will instead leave you filling full and sluggish due to the rate at which they're digested).
The Best Pre-Workout Snacks (Try These!)
Proats (protein Oats)
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1 small banana
- 1 scoop whey protein powder
Mix together with water and consume.
Want more proats recipes? Check out my full recipe post here.
Energy Rice Cakes
- 2 wholemeal rice cakes
- Peanut butter or Nutella spread
Spread the condiment of your choice on the rice cakes and consume.
Pre-Workout Yoghurt
- 1/2 cup low fat Greek yoghurt
- Small handful of blueberries/raspberries
Mix berries in with your low fat yoghurt and consume.
Protein Power Smoothie
- 1 scoop whey protein
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 banana or handful of assorted berries
Place all ingredients in a blender and process for 20 seconds.
Home Made Pre-Workout Drinks
Hyphy Mud
- 2 heaped teaspoons instant coffee
- 200mls of dark soda (Pepsi or Coca Cola)
Combine and drink as fast as you can, this stuff kicks in quick.
You You can read more about there here.
DIY Pre-Workout Supplement
- 200 - 350mg of caffeine
- 5g beta alanine
- 5g creatine
- 8g citrulline malate
Combine and enjoy, feel free to add calorie free flavouring to taste.
You can read more about this here.
Honey Coffee
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee
- Hot water
- 1 tablespoon honey
Mix and enjoy!.
Nutrient Profile Of Your Pre-Workout Meal
The above are my favourite pre-workout snacks as I find my body responds the best to them in terms of energy/endurance during my workout which shortly follows.
A pre-workout meal should contain roughly 30 grams of protein and 30 grams of carbohydrates, give or take a bit of each.
Your pre-workout meal should be quite light and low in calories, a meal containing 30 grams of carbohydrates and 30 grams of protein as stated above will contain 240 calories (as 1 gram of protein and 1 gram of carbs each contains 4 calories).
In terms of carbohydrates in your pre-workout meal different people respond differently to simple carbohydrates (sugars) and complex carbohydrates (oats etc.) experiment with these and find out what works best for you!