Does eating or drinking before exercise, competition, or other physical activity really matter?
Were you told you shouldn’t eat or drink anything prior to physical activity because it would cause cramping?
This article provides clarity around these questions while providing useful information regarding nutrition prior to exercise.
The simple fact is that a small snack or meal (generally no more than 1000 calories) prior to working out provides you with energy and helps you to stay focused during exercise. This in turn can help you perform better and recover faster. However, timing of what you eat and drink prior to physical activity is important. If you eat too early, the beneficial effects from eating could be gone by the time you exercise. Alternatively, eating too close to your exercise session could adversely affect your performance by causing abdominal discomfort. As such, a good option for most people would be to eat up to 1000 nutritious calories about 2-4 hours prior to physical activity.
You may now be wondering how to best utilize this information to make a plan for your pre-workout nutrition. In general, your best options will be to eat a balance of healthy foods such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and low fat dairy, and to include adequate water to stay hydrated. This helps to ensure your pre-workout snack/meal is higher in carbohydrates and lower in proteins and fats, which should deliver an adequate supply of energy to meet the needs of your planned physical activity.
At DrAC Preventative Group, we can provide you with a plan for pre-workout nutrition, post-workout nutrition, and for a healthy lifestyle in general.
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