Pre-Workout Perfection

Depending on what times of the day you workout this guide will give you advice on what to eat before any workout whether its: cardio, yoga, weight training or tai chi. It's all about timing! You don't want to eat a meal too early as the energy provided from the food won't be enough to last throughout the duration of your exercise. You also don't want to be eating 10 minutes before in a rush as you will make yourself feel bloated and sluggish as you exercise making your workout ineffective. So what's the perfect time to eat before you exercise?

It all depends on the size of the meal you're eating: large meals (350+ calories) should be eaten at least three to four hours before exercising. Small meals (150-350 calories) on the other hand can be eaten two to three hours before exercising. Small snacks (<150 calories) like a banana or celery and hummus can be eaten an hour before exercising. This information doesn't depend on what exercise you're doing as all exercise gets the heart beating supplying blood to your muscle groups, leaving little to aid in digestion. Problems occur when you eat late and the food hasn't been digested properly, as your body struggles to digest food whilst you're exercising. Now that you know timings, what should you eat?

Nutritional, quality food is vital for an effective workout! Eating foods that will sufficiently energise you as you exercise is very important. Early morning workouts can depend on what you ate last on the previous day as during sleep you use very little energy so the meal you ate last is still very effective! So if you're planning on an early morning run whole grain pasta the night before would supply you with plenty of long lasting energy in the form of carbohydrates to keep you going the full distance. Eating naturally sugary foods, like fruit (perhaps in a smoothie) afterwards would rehydrate and provide you with the nutrition you need.

As many of you work, exercise during the day is difficult as its hard to find the time to do it. However, for those of you that do find the time, lunch should be eaten 2-4 hours before your workout, so plan your day! Lunch should consist of around 200-500 calories depending on what you had for breakfast. Whatever exercise class or workout you have planned for the day you should always consider what nutrition you need to take on board before the routine. For weight training it's all about protein, protein and more protein, but what foods provide the most protein and little calories? The top foods with the best protein to calorie ratio are turkey breast and tuna, both having a ratio of 1g of protein per 4.5 calories! Low fat mozzarella cheese has an amazing 1g per 4.7 calories, pork loin has 1g per 5.2 calories and lean beef (low fat) has 1g per 5.3 calories! All these foods when compared to foods like eggs (1g:12calories), that are seen as containing high amounts of protein, make you realise they are a must. They can double your protein intake for the same amount of calories! If weight training isn't your thing, you should still provide your body with enough protein to tone and strength muscles. Protein helps the muscles you worked recover faster, so no matter what exercise you do, being able to do it on a daily basis is important, this is why protein is essential!

As it's now summer, the nights grow lighter and many people will be thinking of exercising later in the day. This is fine as long as you plan your meals around the workout. If it's straight from work then you need to have thought out your meal times, so that your body is provided with the energy you need to complete your workout. Having salmon with vegetable rice or tuna pasta at lunch would be ideal for an evening run or a gym session, but you may want to consider giving your body a top up during the day, so snacks are important too. Eating healthy snacks is where a lot of diets go to waste, you should always stock up on fruit as they're easy to take to work, but preparation is important. Consider making a fruit salad in the morning before work with a combination of fruit and vegetables that will provide you with different combinations of vitamins and sugars that natural and above all, great! Apples, mangoes, bananas, cucumbers, peppers, pears and pineapples can all be chopped up and put in a Tupperware box and it only takes 5-10 minutes, so why not?