The art of combining food and exercise to maximize its benefits is not easy, but its nevertheless important for every person who’s passionate about their physical development. The recommendations haven’t changed very much over the years, yet many people still don’t seem to be very up to date in the matter.

Whether you’re just trying to stay fit or you’re a professional athlete, what you eat and when you eat it will have an effect on your performance.

Before working out

You should eat before you work out for two reasons:

• Food, mainly food rich in carbs, will give you the energy needed to maximize your performance.
• The energy gained from the food will prevent your body from entering a catabolic state where it needs to break down your muscle tissue in order to get the energy needed. In other words, your workout is more likely to increase your muscle gains if you consume a pre-workout meal than if you abstain from doing so.

Personally, I avoid eating a major meal two hours or less before I work out. The reason for this is that during those two hours after eating your body will be focusing on digestion, which results in that it will have less energy for other activities. Howevery, a minor meal before your workout, such as a fruit, is likely to grant you more benefits than disadvantages.

If you chose to work out in the morning, avoid doing so before breakfast, since this will force your body into a catabolic state if you do so, resulting in a breakdown of tissue (both fat and muscle). Most of us don’t mind burning some fat, yet we’ll pay for doing so by losing the muscles we’ve worked for so hard. If we wish to effectively burn fat in the mornings without this loss of muscle, we can do so by consuming lean protein such as egg white, lean meat or quark before exercising.

During the workout

Whether you chose to consume some light snacks (bananas and energy bars seem to be fairly popular) while working out is up to you, but don’t eat anything too heavy. If possible, drink water. During a one-hour workout an average person  loses two liters of water that should be replaced during or after the workout.

After working out

The meal after working out is the most important. It may be difficult to eat right away (you might want to calm down, stretch, shower, etc.), but you should strive to eat as soon as possible – aim for within half an hour, and if that is not possible, at least within two hours. There are three main reasons for this:

1. To give your body the energy it needs to maintain a high metabolism without compromising other body functions.
2. To gain muscle mass.
3. To store energy as glycogen in your muscles to be used next time you work out.

If you do not eat within two hours, you’re unlikely to gain very much benefits from your workout at all.

The post-workout meal should, if possible, be a fairly big meal. If this is not possible, then you should try to eat several minor meals during the following hours. This meal (or these meals, if you wish) should give you at least 30 grams of protein, and fairly high amounts of carbs and/or fat.

Also, after a workout is the only time when it might actually be a benefit to carbs with a high glycemic index, as this will increase the glycogen stored in your muscles. High glycogen levels will give you more energy the next time you’re exercising, which in turn will make your workout more worthwhile.

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