How to avoid under-fuelling before your workout

If you’re frequently skipping meals or doubling up on workouts without significantly changing your meal plan, beware: Your body is going to start begging you to eat more. Not eating or drinking enough before your workout doesn’t just mess up your gains, it also puts your health at risk, increasing your chances of serious injury.

Read more: The best way to work out the biggest muscles in your body

But how do you know how much to eat – and for that matter, what should you be eating?

“In reality, most guys shouldn’t pay attention to every little kilojoule in and out, unless they start to notice a significant drop or gain in weight. But you can get a good idea about whether or not you need to increase or decrease your kilojoules and macronutrients based on your activity level and type of activity,” says NYC-based Sports Dietician, Dr Natalie Rizzo.

Luckily, a lot of this is pretty intuitive: If you’re doing more cardio/endurance-focused work, you should eat more carbs to keep you fuelled, while if you’re doing a ton of strength training, you should eat more protein to keep your muscles from wearing down, Dr Rizzo says. Because everyone’s metabolism and activity level is different, a lot of it involves just listening to your body and figuring out what works best for you.

Read more: 7 eating mistakes you make after you work out

But if you want to know exactly how to avoid getting that exhausted, totally depleted feeling midway through your workout, check out these general guidelines on how to avoid under-fuelling before your workout.

1. Eat according to your fitness goals

At the very least, you should have a snack within an hour before your workout. But in terms of larger meals, that largely depends on what kind of workout you’ll be doing.

For long bouts of endurance activity, opt for a carb-heavy meal two to three hours before a workout to give you the fuel to maintain your energy, says Dr Rizzo. “A carb-heavy diet would include tons of fresh fruit, veggies and whole grains,” such as a pasta dish with cauliflower and chicken.

For someone who wants to build muscle mass but doesn’t engage in much endurance activity, a more protein-heavy diet, featuring “lean meats, like turkey, chicken, fish and other lean sources of protein, like eggs and legumes” is best.

Read more: Big whey protein biscuits for big muscle

If you really want to get specific, there are several apps that can estimate daily kilojoule and macro intake, taking your age, gender, height, weight, goal and activity level into account.

“MyFitnessPal is a great mobile app that can estimate your macronutrients and kilojoules. Once you make a profile, it will calculate everything based on your goals,” says personal trainer Christian Cinalli.

2. Drink enough fluids

OK, so maybe eating a giant meal before your workout makes you feel sluggish. But that’s still no excuse to avoid eating or drinking altogether.

“Many men don’t want to eat before exercise because they think the food will sit in their stomach and cause cramps and belly aches. But fuelling can be as simple as drinking a 230ml glass of 100% juice,” Dr Rizzo says.

Her recommendation? One hundred percent grape juice. “It delivers fruit nutrients (like polyphenols), as well as natural sugars to energise your workout. Plus, preliminary research says 100% grape juice may help enhance exercise performance.”

3. Pay attention to your pee

Hydration is a crucial part of fuelling before your workout. If you’re even slightly dehydrated, your performance will decrease and you may be putting yourself at risk of injury.

Read more: The right amount of water to drink while you exercise

Luckily, this rule of thumb holds true, “You can assess your hydration status by the colour of your urine. Light yellow is hydrated, and dark yellow is dehydrated,” Dr Rizzo says. If your urine is darker than normal, replenish with a sports drink or a bottled water.

4. Eat a banana

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: A banana is one of the most solid pre-workout foods out there. “A banana is chock full of potassium and natural sugars. It provides simple fuel that is easily digestible for endurance activity,” says Dr Rizzo. Since potassium is one of the electrolytes that you sweat out during intense activity, it’s pretty important to build your potassium levels up.

Read more: Feed your muscles and your sweet tooth with this banana pumpkin protein shake

Still, Dr Rizzo says, a banana alone isn’t going do it. “You must drink fluids and take in some sodium too, if the workout lasts longer than an hour.”

^{Originally published on www.menshealth.com}

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