Health Conditions Health Products Discover Tools Connect. What to eat before a workout to lose weight and build muscle. Medically reviewed by Katherine Marengo LDN, R. Protein Carbohydrates Fats Pre-workout meal Foods to eat before exercising depend on the type of workout and individual goals.

Share on Pinterest Consuming high-protein foods such as salmon before a workout can increase gains in muscle mass. Share on Pinterest People should consume complex carbohydrates, such as beans, hours before working out.

Share on Pinterest Avocados are rich in unsaturated fats, which are necessary for a balanced diet. When to eat a pre-workout meal. How we reviewed this article: Sources. Medical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and draws only from peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations.

We avoid using tertiary references. We link primary sources — including studies, scientific references, and statistics — within each article and also list them in the resources section at the bottom of our articles.

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Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M. The only thing better than a pre-workout PBJ is bite-sized pieces of the classic sandwich that you can easily carry and pop in your mouth. This combination of bread, peanut butter, and jelly provides all the nutrients you need to power through a workout.

Get the recipe for the PBJ Roll at Delish. This mousse is made with carb-rich dates, which are naturally sweet and provide plant-based energy for a workout. Get the recipe for No Cook Plant Based Chocolate Mousse at Jackie Newgent. Bring the savory flavor of the tropics home and to your pre-workout routine.

These homemade baked plantain chips are salty and carb-heavy, so they're the perfect pre-workout treat for replacing electrolytes lost in sweat and topping off energy levels. Get the recipe for Baked Plantain Chips at Delish. This decadent baked oatmeal combines rolled oats with a banana for a delicious breakfast treat that tastes like cake.

It has a nut butter center, and it's topped with fresh or frozen berries. The well-balanced recipe is perfect for pushing you through a workout. Get the recipe for Vegan Baked Oatmeal with Nut Butter at Greenletes. Get the recipe for Vegan Granola Bars at Delish Knowledge.

Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best. Fruit is a simple pre-workout snack that has plenty of natural sugar. To preserve fruit even longer, cook it in the oven and turn it into chips.

Grab a few handfuls of these apple chips before your next sweat session. Get the recipe for Apple Chips at Delish. Get the recipe for Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bites at Healthy Ideas Place. These overnight oats taste like a blueberry muffin, and they are portable and easy to eat.

This ultimately depends on your goal and the time of your pre-workout meal. Simple carbohydrates are great for 30 minutes to an hour before a workout, as they provide the body with fast-acting glucose as fuel. By consuming low GI carbohydrates around hours before a workout, you can give your body a slow-releasing source of energy.

Follow these simple timing guidelines to get into gear:. Whatever pre-workout foods you decide on, make sure that it packs a nutritional punch.

Crack on with the carbs and protein and make sure that you include other nutrients too, so that your body can go full throttle without a breakdown. There are so many tasty options out there, so be creative and keep yourself motivated with the many delicious dishes to fuel your workout the right way.

Enjoy this article on the top 10 pre-workout foods? Our articles should be used for informational and educational purposes only and are not intended to be taken as medical advice. If you're concerned, consult a health professional before taking dietary supplements or introducing any major changes to your diet.

Claire is a Registered Dietitian through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a board-certified Health and Wellness Coach through the International Consortium for Health and Wellness Coaching. Claire is also a certified indoor cycling instructor and loves the mental and physical boost she gets from regular runs and yoga classes.

Skip to main content. Search all articles start article search. Nutrition Top 10 Pre-Workout Foods Fuel Your Workout The Right Way. Claire Muszalski Registered Dietitian 10 months ago. Healthy Meals Summer Satay Slaw With Grilled Chicken Thigh Burgers 6 years ago By Jennifer Blow.

Porridge and Oatmeal Porridge makes the ultimate pre-workout breakfast. Mix up your usual porridge with these blueberry pie baked oats Fruit Smoothies Fruit smoothies are great tasting and super-healthy.

Wholegrain Bread, Sweet Potato and Brown Rice Wholegrain Bread, sweet potato, and brown rice are great sources of complex carbohydrates that should be consumed around hours before the gym. Apple Wedges and Peanut Butter Enjoying sliced apple wedges with a small spread of peanut butter is one of the tastiest and easiest pre-workout foods.

Protein Shakes Last but not least, protein shakes. Here are some of the reasons you want to fuel your body right to smash your fitness potential: 1. More energy Our bodies use carbohydrate stores glycogen as the first source of fuel.

Prevent muscle breakdown When we exercise, glycogen stores are quickly used up and depleted, so the body looks for new sources of energy — our muscles. Follow these simple timing guidelines to get into gear: 30 minutes to an hour pre-workout: consume light meals and foods which contain simple carbohydrates and some protein.

Take home message Whatever pre-workout foods you decide on, make sure that it packs a nutritional punch. READ THIS NEXT:.

Creatine is probably the most commonly used sports supplement. It has been shown to increase muscle mass, muscle fiber size, muscle strength, and power, all while delaying fatigue 15 , Taking 3—5 g of creatine monohydrate per day is effective Among many other benefits, caffeine has been shown to improve performance, increase strength and power, help reduce feelings of fatigue, and stimulate fat burning 18 , Caffeine can be consumed in coffee, tea, and energy drinks, but it can also be found in pre-workout supplements and pills.

However, it has been shown to be effective even when ingested 15—60 minutes prior to exercise Studies have shown that taking BCAAs before workouts helps decrease muscle damage and increase muscle protein synthesis 20 , Most benefits of BCAAs have been observed in doses of at least 91 milligrams mg per pound lb.

of body weight, or mg per kilogram kg For a person that weighs lbs. Beta-alanine is an amino acid that increases your muscle stores of carnosine. It has been shown to be most effective for short and high intensity exercises. It does this by increasing exercise capacity and muscle endurance while reducing fatigue 23 , The recommended daily dose is 4—6 g, which should be taken for at least 2—4 weeks The combination of these ingredients may have synergistic effects and improve performance significantly Caffeine, creatine, beta-alanine, branched-chain amino acids, arginine, and B vitamins are among the most commonly used ingredients in these products 25 , These pre-workout supplements have been shown to increase work output, strength, endurance, anaerobic power, reaction time, focus, and alertness 25 , Creatine, caffeine, BCAAs, and beta-alanine are often recommended before a workout.

Multi-ingredient pre-workout supplements combine many different ingredients for optimal benefits. Your body needs water to function. Good hydration has been shown to sustain and even enhance performance, while dehydration has been linked to significant decreases in performance 27 , This will improve fluid balance 29 , The American College of Sports Medicine ACSM recommends drinking beverages slowly at least 4 hours before exercise.

Additionally, they recommend consuming a beverage or snack that contains sodium to help retain fluids Water is important for performance. Eating protein helps improve muscle protein synthesis, prevent muscle damage, and promote recovery. Pre-workout meals can be eaten 3 hours to 30 minutes before a workout.

However, choose foods that are easy to digest, especially if your workout starts in 1 hour or less. This will help you avoid stomach discomfort. At the end of the day, simple pre-workout nutrition practices can go a long way in helping you perform better and recover faster.

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available. Eating the right foods after workouts is important for muscle gain, recovery, and performance.

Here is a guide to optimal post-workout nutrition. Exercise burns calories, but many people claim it doesn't help you lose weight. This article explores whether exercise really helps with weight loss. When it comes to eating foods to fuel your exercise performance, it's not as simple as choosing vegetables over doughnuts.

Learn how to choose foods…. Caffeine is a powerful substance that improves exercise performance. Here is an evidence-based review of how it works. Nutrient timing involves eating foods at strategic times in order to achieve certain outcomes.

This article reviews the research behind nutrient…. Sodium bicarbonate baking soda has benefits for physical performance. It can increase strength, coordination, and high intensity exercise….

As a registered dietitian, I recommend the meals and snacks below. Consider them a critical part of your training plan.

I counsel my patients to eat before exercise because I think it will give them the best chance to get the most out of their workouts. Not eating enough before a workout can make you dizzy, lightheaded, nauseated, or lethargic.

It can also make you more likely to injure yourself. And even if none of these things happen, skipping food can negatively impact your performance and reduce your gains. But I know that realistically you won't always have the time or desire to eat before a workout.

On nights when you're scrambling to get from the office to your favorite studio for that p. class it might feel impossible to squeeze in a snack on the way. And what do you do if you're a morning workout person who doesn't like to eat breakfast?

Psst: It's fine not to eat breakfast despite all that most-important-meal-of-the-day talk. The truth is that for most people it's OK to work out on an empty stomach though I would not recommend doing so if you have blood sugar issues. So if you can't even grab a protein bar or the idea of forcing down a bite makes you want to gag, that's all right.

But ideally you should fuel up before you work up a sweat—and definitely, definitely drink water before, during, and after. Here's how and what to eat before a workout.

The ideal time to eat is between 30 minutes to three hours before your workout. That way you're not still digesting when you hit the gym floor, but you haven't gone and used up all those helpful calories yet. Having said that, your workout plan can be customized.

You may have to experiment to see which time frame does your body good. If you're working out first thing in the morning you probably won't be able to eat a whole meal before you hit the gym. A small snack or mini-breakfast should suffice. I like to start sipping on this protein-packed green smoothie 30 minutes to an hour before I hit the gym and finish the other half when I'm done.

If you are exercising later in the day, I recommend having a snack 30 minutes to an hour before your workout or working out two to three hours after a well-balanced meal.

It's best to get your body hydrated before you even think about heading to the gym. One way to determine your overall hydration status is to check out the color of your urine first thing in the morning.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, lemonade-colored urine is a sign of appropriate hydration, while dark-colored urine think apple juice indicates a deficit in H The goal here is to minimize dehydration—which can cause low energy and muscle cramps or spasms —without drinking too much water, which isn't easy to do but can be dangerous.

You should also try to stay hydrated throughout your workout. Consider drinking one cup of water for every 15 to 30 minutes of intense physical activity, especially if you are sweating profusely or are training in a heated environment.

Again this may take a bit of experimentation until you find what works best for your body. When we eat them , they break down into glucose, enter our muscle cells, and give us fuel to exercise at our maximum capacity.

Your muscles store glucose in the form of glycogen and dip into these reserves when you're putting them to work. When it comes to what to eat before a workout, eating carbs before you exercise ensures that you'll have extra glucose on hand if you need it to replenish those glycogen stores.

If you're strapped for glucose during your workout you'll likely feel weak and tired, and will be tempted to call it quits and take a nap.

Some carbs I recommend eating before a workout for quick energy include a granola bar, a piece of fruit, oatmeal , crackers, a rice cake, or a piece of toast. In addition to carbs it's a good idea to consume a little bit of protein before your workout—especially if you are doing weight training.

When we do strength-training exercises such as lifting weights , we create small tears in our muscle fibers. A protein bar with a one-to-one ratio of about grams of protein and grams of sugar. Think about how your body handles food and which snacks or meals land well for you, especially in a shorter amount of time.

For instance, if you're waking up for an early-morning sweat sesh, you might consider something like a banana, rice cake, or piece of toast, Schehr says. Since preference and tolerance are really the name of the game when it comes to pre-workout nutrition and all nutrition for that matter , the foods to avoid are highly individualized.

There are, however, some more common culprits for sabotaging a solid workout. Here are a few to consider, according to Schehr:. High-fiber foods: While fiber is essential to an overall healthy diet, high-fiber foods like beans, broccoli, and even some whole grains are slow to digest and can leave you feeling uncomfortable before getting active.

High-fat foods: Similarly, high-fat foods take longer to move through your digestive system, and will likely induce more sluggishness than energy when it comes to exercise.

Note, though, that caffeine by itself is totally fine before a workout, so long as you can tolerate it and stay plenty hydrated. If we all asked ourselves more how we feel versus what we should do , we'll have more clear answers on how to make the right decisions. This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute individualized advice.

It is not intended to replace professional medical evaluation, diagnosis, or treatment. Seek the advice of your physician for questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition. If you are having a medical emergency, call your physician or immediately.

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