I’m sure you’ve heard the debates of whether you should exercise fasted or non fasted.
While the research shows pretty clear that having a pre workout is beneficial to stimulate extra muscle growth, most men are left in the dark on what to eat to fuel their body.
While lifting weights on empty stomach may result in a weaker output, eating the wrong foods before a workout is even worse.
In order to understand this better, let me give you some context first.
Your body has 2 main energy systems, glucose and fats.
I want you to picture it as a highway.
One is the fast lane, one is the slow lane.
Fats are slow, carbs are fast.
Before your workout, you want quick energy in your blood stream.
Given that context, it’s pretty smart to stay away from fats before your workout.
Fats take a lot longer to digest than protein and carbs do.
They stick around your stomach a lot longer.
And while your body’s busy digesting, more blood flows to your GI tract to aid the process, so there’s less oxygen going to your muscles.
In other words, your muscles don’t get the fuel they need to perform their best.
Skip the handful of nuts, eggs, fatty steaks, and any sort of high fat meal before you lift.
The second thing you want to avoid at all cost, is having a too big meal.
Your body on average can digest approximately 250 calories per hour.
Obviously this varies for each individual, but that’s the ballpark number.
If you lift at 4pm, your pre workout meal should be around 250 calories at 3pm.
If your pre workout meal is 150 calories, you can have it closer to your workout.
Basically you reverse engineer the time and use the 250calories/hour ratio to gather your number.
Then audit how you feel.
If you’re very stressed, your body will be more in fight or flight and less in rest and digest mode.
This means that nutrients will move at a slower rate through your digestive track.
So have your pre workout meal earlier, or make it smaller.
That’s how you start optimizing your pre workout meal to maximize your results at the gym.
The last thing you want to avoid are foods that are high in fiber.
These are legumes, veggies, quinoa, etc.
A big burrito from chipotle filled with black beans may not be the best idea if you’re planning to workout a few hours later.
High fiber foods may cause gastrointestinal discomfort, resulting in gas, bloating or cramps.
Doing cable crunches, deadlifts, squats or even a plank with a bloated belly full of broccoli or Brussel sprouts not only feel uncomfortable, but will destroy your results at the gym.
Especially veggies and beans contain an indigestible sugar called raffinose, which feeds the bacteria in your colon that produces methane gas.
Good luck doing your squats when you’ll fart at the bottom!