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Before talking aboutwhat we should eat before a workout, what about not eating at all? A popular fat-burningstrategy is to exercise first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. In his bookBody for Life, Bill Phillips states that performing 20 minutes of intense aerobicexercise after an overnight fast has greater effects on fat loss than performing an entirehour of cardio in a sated state.Indeed, there is evidence that training on anempty gut can increase fat oxidation and allow greater mobilization of stored fat forfuel. But using more fat doesn’t necessarily mean increased fat loss, since most ofthe fat used comes from inside muscle cells, not from the fat below the skin. And onceexercise has ended, any fats that are not oxidized will ultimately return to adiposetissue. This essentially cancels out any fat-burning benefits of pre-training fasting. Andworse, protein from your precious muscles will be burned for energy as well. A studypublished in the Journal of Applied Physiology found that nitrogen losses fromprotein breakdown were more than doubled when training in a fasted state. This is bad newsfor those seeking to maximize muscle mass. Tooptimize your performance, you need to eat. Research has established that carbohydrateintake during exercise delays the onset of fatigue and improves endurance exerciseperformance. This happens because carbs enhance the availability of blood glucose toactive muscle. Roughly 70% of the energy in your pre-workout meal should come from carbs,but choose low-glycemiccarbs like oatmeal, veggies or sweet potatoes instead of simple sugars or candy toavoid wild fluctuations in your blood-sugar levels. Protein is thenext important nutrient to consider in order to decrease muscle breakdown during and afteryour workout. Fat takes the longest to digest, so a pre-workout meal should be relativelylow in fat. Your biggest challenge will be knowinghow much food you can eat pre-workout, based on your own experience. Some guys can eat afull meal an hour before a rigorous workout, while others with more sensitive guts mighthave to wait three to four hours. In general, a meal that is around 500-600 calories andis eaten by a 180-pound man two to three hours before a workout should be fine. Smallersnacks of 300 calories or less can be eaten one hour pre-workout, but you shouldexperiment with the timing and meal size to suit your individual needs.If you’re fueling for an intense endurance activity, then morecarbs should be added. Those who are weight-lifting or building muscle should add moreprotein. Depending on your activity, the foods listed here will ensure that you get thebest out of your workout. Continue Reading
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