Have you ever wondered what to eat before your workout? Sometimes busy schedules can get in the way of planning. Planning is a good strategy to take the guesswork out, especially when you’re famished and want to pop a bag of Oreos into your mouth.
There are a few checks I like to tick off when deciding on pre-workout snacks. This post will cover 3 of my favorite snacks and how they benefit training.
First, let’s cover what we seek from this fuel
To maximize your fitness outcomes, choose foods and nutrients that minimize fatigue, maximize performance, support healthy blood flow, enhance mental focus, ease inflammation, and speed recovery. Check. Check. Check. Alright, we’ve got a good starting point. These snacks are best consumed 45-minutes to 1 hour before training.
1. Hummus
Hummus is a heavy hitter. It covers a lot of fronts that benefit our health and enhance our fitness efforts. It comprises complex carbs for sustained energy and protein to build and repair muscle damage.
Chickpeas include resistant starch. Resistant starch is beneficial for healthy gut bacteria, immunity support, and lessens inflammation. Wait, what is resistant starch? Visit this link to read more on that topic.
“Resistant starch has characteristics of both insoluble and soluble fiber. Much like insoluble fiber, it’s “resistant” to digestion and passes into the colon undigested, but once there, it behaves like soluble fiber and is fermented (digested) by the good bacteria that live there.”
What is Resistant Starch? cleaneatingmag.com
As a pre-workout snack, I slather it on crackers or have it with carrots and pop a few kalamata olives. Then I’m ready to rumble.
1. Cottage Cheese with Fruits and Seeds
Cottage cheese is also popular as a post-workout snack. It contains both whey protein (replenishes muscles quickly after a workout) and casein protein (a protein that is slowly absorbed). I use the low-fat variety to keep calories from piling. Fat slows down our digestion it’s best to keep it low before workouts. Add fruit, seeds, honey, and granola to power your HIIT workouts with additional carbs.
1. Matcha Green Tea Overnight Oats
This is my favorite snack, pre/post-exercise, morning, mid-day… you get my point.
So many benefits come with matcha green tea. Green tea offsets the jitters from caffeine so your energy is focused, your reaction time is enhanced, and your endurance gets a boost. Effective for cardio and strength training workouts.
Studies have shown that green tea enhances metabolism and promotes fat burning. It contains a potent antioxidant, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), that may inhibit the growth of cancer cells. Add it to overnight oats with fresh fruit and honey for both quick and slow energy release.
What will your next pre-workout snack be? Hope this post has given you some ideas.
Thanks for stopping by!
Stand tall Breathe deep,
Corina Miranda-Risnes
Integrative Fitness Therapy 