If you’ve been following a training program for a while, you may be a little more mindful of trends and little things that impact your performance in the gym.

Have you ever noticed that on days when you fueling your body with foods throughout the day, you just feel stronger and more energetic as you train? On the flip side, on a day when you haven’t had as much to eat, you might feel as if everything is just “off” and find yourself feeling weaker than usual.

Take some time to think about the following questions: 

Q: Have you ever felt light-headed or sluggish in the gym?

If you’re not eating enough, or not eating before your workout, you may find yourself lagging during your training session. As a good rule of thumb, if you’re training early in the morning or you haven’t eaten for 12+ hours, you may want to consider having a quick snack before hitting the gym.

Q: Did you work through your lunch break so you could get in a workout before dinner time?

Consider having a quick meal or snack on the way to the gym!

How much should you eat before your workout and when?

Plan to have 20-30 grams of carbs 30-60 minutes before your training session.

Here are some of our coaches FAVORITE pre-workout snacks/meals: 

• PB&J sandwich
• Greek yogurt with berries
• Apple and peanut or almond butter
• A handful of nuts and raisins (two parts raisins: one part nuts)
• Green smoothie with fruits, veggies, creatine, and collagen.
• Pop tart or cereal
• Old fashioned oats with a scoop of chocolate protein (or any fav flavor) and topped with Fair Life Milk and sliced bananas, blueberries, strawberries, almonds… anything you want really!

 

Should you eat something after your workout?

YES! Think about post-workout food as fuel for RECOVERY! Be sure to get in 20-30 grams of protein within 90 minutes pre or post-workout in order to ensure your body has what it needs to recover properly as well as to build and maintain muscle.

Here are some of our coaches FAVORITE post-workout snacks/meals:

• Post-workout recovery smoothie (or a post-workout smoothie made with low-fat milk and fruit)
• Low-fat chocolate milk
• Turkey on a whole-grain wrap with veggies
• Low-fat yogurt with berries

 

GENERAL NUTRITION RECOMMENDATIONS  

What you consume before and after your workout is very important, however, the bigger picture is focusing on creating sustainable habits that will compliment your workout all day long.

To take your training (and progress) a step further, we recommend tracking your food on MyFitnessPal each day and aiming for at least .8g of protein for every pound you weigh (for example if you weigh 180lbs, 180 x .8 = 144g daily).

If your body fat % is estimated at 20% or less, your protein should be set at 1g per pound instead of .8 grams (for example, 130×1 = 130g).

It is also extremely important that you are drinking .75-1 oz of water each day.