For this Foodie Friday, let’s talk pr-workout, and why it’s important! There are many schools of thought on this, but the scientists agree that a pre-workout snack, at the very least, is essential for performance and health. If you were to google it, you would definitely find articles about the benefits of fasting cardio, but the science is not solid on that, and it is too risky for me to condone!
In order to function properly, especially thought a taxing workout, muscles need readily available energy. If muscles don’t have enough energy to pull from during a high intensity workout, the side effects can range from sluggishness to light headedness to poor performance, to injury, and worse!
For those of you who attend morning classes and are at a lack of time for prep, a handful of low glycemic fruit like 1/4 cup of Raspberries or blueberries 15 minutes before the workout will get you through the hour without any gastric distress. If you workout later in the day, a piece of toast with almond butter and a half banana an hour before hand will do. Any full meal you eat should be given at least 3 hours to digest.
Our bodies need water to maintain vital systems. General guidelines for exercise are to drink 17 to 20 ounces of water 2 to 3 hours before exercising, another 8 ounces during your warm-up (or 20 to 30 minutes before exercising), 7 to 10 ounces every 10 to 20 minutes during exercise, and 8 ounces of water within 30 minutes after exercising. Another way to look at it is to hydrate with 1/2 your body weight in ounces of water every day. So, if you weigh 150lbs, that would be 75oz of water.
Next week we will discuss post workout. The amount of stored energy in your muscles partly depends on your last post workout meal, so that is vital! For now, heres’s one idea to get you through the week…