5 Things to Eat Before Exercise
One of the questions we get asked most often from our clients, apart from how do I get Jessica Alba’s abs or Jennifer Lopez’ booty, is what should I eat before or after a run or an intense workout? What to eat before you exercise has long been an area of uncertainty for runners and athletes. Far too often, the result of this confusion has been a few sips of powerade, a red bull (how very 2007), a simple banana, or worse—nothing. Fret no more! In this second edition of our two part series, we bring you the answers.Before going on a long run, your nutritional needs are all about getting the body the reserve energy it'll need to sustain the run. BUT and that is a BIG BIG BUT, please stay away from all those processed energy gels and sports drinks. If you fuel your workouts by putting nothing but processed junk in your body, you have to ask yourself, what kind of results you expect to get from it? When you fuel your runs (or workouts in general) with natural foods, you allow your body to focus its energy on repairing your muscles rather than digesting your food.You’ll find that many of the recipes we’ve provided here are based on natural ingredients to provide slow- and fast- release carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats: Agave nectar, lemons and limes, dates, chia seeds, flaxseed, and bananas are some of our favorites that we use over and over. Surprised to see a lack of starchy bagels or bread? To convert starch into usable sugar requires your body to work, and as already mentioned, during a workout you’d like to use your available energy for movement, not digestion.
The 5 pillars of pre-run fuel
1. Consume carbohydrates and protein, and include a little healthy fat.While the 3:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio is almost universally advocated for optimal absorption of nutrients, if you aren’t going for a long long run or don’t have much time to let your stomach settle, halve the amounts. Mark Verstegen, of Athletes Performance Institute, recommends a scoop of protein powder in a half-glass of watered-down orange juice. A teaspoon or so of healthy oil such as coconut oil (our favourite), is all you need to help deliver nutrients where they need to go as liver treats it similarly to glucose, a carbohydrate. 2. For energy now, include fast –acting high-glycemic carbs, for energy later – it’s about sustained release (but not starchy!) carbs.This is a great tip I learnt from Brendan Brazier: professional ironman, ultramarathon champion and best selling author. Interestingly, after achieving amazing health and sports performance results, Brazier became a vegan - he is one of only a few professional athletes whose diet is 100 percent plant-based. I highly recommend his book Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life! and check out his website and vegan protein supplements.Brendan’s tips pre-run: Half a banana and a few dates (glucose) as a high-GI, instant-energy sugar, almond milk mixed together with a scoop of the Vega Sport Optimizer or some pseudo-grains, like quinoa, mixed with fruits and almonds for slower energy release. 3. If you’re planning on sweating during your run (since it’s a run not a walk we hope you are!) you’ll need electrolytes.Lack of electrolytes is one of the causes of the nasty “bonk” (that feeling you get during a long workout where you literally can-not-move-another-centimetre). A severe lack of electrolytes is really quite dangerous. Hyponatremia, the condition of having too much water and not enough sodium (an electrolyte) in your system, has proved fatal for endurance athletes who load up on water but don’t replace lost electrolytes.When we sweat, we lose lots of salt and it is for this reason that consumption of electrolytes during a workout is so important. While most sports drinks and energy gels are processed and full of garbage (ok enough of a rant!) coconut water is nature’s own electrolyte (it does after all grow in the equator!). Our favourite go-to for pre-race hydration is CHI coconut water. With a resealable cap and the lowest sugar levels of any pre-packaged coconut water, it really is the next best thing to drinking out of a fresh coconut. Another way to get a head-start on electrolyte replacement is by simply by adding a pinch of salt to your pre-workout drink. 4. Consider caffeinating for improved performance.There aren’t many occasions where we will encourage you to indulge in a cup of black liquid however caffeine has been shown to significantly improve performance in endurance events and workouts.To add caffeine to your pre-workout smoothie, I was onced introiduced to a Jamaican smoothie. I have no idea why it is called that, you might like to just call it a “coffee & banana smoothie”
- 1/2 cup cold coffee
- 1 cup skim milk
- 1 banana, peeled and sliced
- 1 tablespoon agave syrup sweetener
- 4 to 5 ice cubes
Combine all of these ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour into your travel cup and enjoy! 5. Add optional superfoods to go the extra mile.While the above guidelines should be enough to already give your run a good ol’ kick up the bum, you can always make your pre-run drinks even more super with the addition of a few superfoods. Now unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Chia seeds are a popular one these days (the ancient Aztec warriors use to rely on these solely to fuel them through their long pre-battle hikes) - your body will absorb them in either whole or ground form (be prepared for them to gel though). Maca powder is another great one for helping the adrenal glands recover from the stress of a long run. Acai, goji, chlorella, greens powder, ground linseed, … the list goes on! What do you think? How many of these pillars does your pre-workout smoothie use? What do you eat/drink before a workout? Feel free to leave a link to your pre-workout meal in the comments.