By It all really depends on your intention for weight training. Are you wanting to build more muscle, or are you trying get lean? Someone that want’s to only build mass, will have different nutritional intentions than the latter.
Pre workout essentials
The general rule is that you want to eat a high in carbs and protein, whilst lower in fat, about 3 hours before you exercise. This goes both ways regarding building muscle mass and getting lean. Carbs supply the body with glycogen. If you skimp on this, your muscles will generally not perform as well.
When you are trying to shed body fat, it’s counterproductive to eat a higher carb meal before the gym. Complex carbs on the other hand (think starchy veggies, sweet potato etc) will provide your fuel, fibre and an array of nutrients. There is no reason to fuel with refined carbs, as they increase, rather than suppress appetite.
Why do we avoid fats?
Fats slow your digestion down, which is why it’s not supported during the pre-workout stage. We need to eat carbs & protein in order to supply the much-needed glycogen to your muscles in order to fuel them for the breakdown and rebuild phase.
Post workout
It’s much more convenient for us regular working humans to drink a protein shake following a workout, but you can allow up to 2 hours to refuel. There is no need to consume a huge range or protein straight out of the weights room. A faster digesting protein like whey is sufficient until you become hungry again. You can only really synthesise so much protein. The recommended amount is about 1 – 1.2 grams per KG of body weight. This is just the recommended dose but give or take a few grams more may help you a lot with intense training.
As you can see, it’s a good idea to consume protein before and after training. But it all depends on your intensity of training, Those athletes who vigorously workout for 3–5 hours a day, will need a lot more than those of us who can only spare 1 hour in the gym. Use your bodies signals as a gauge for when to fuel up, and when it’s time to stop. Feel free to keep in touch via my website or join me on fb and insta social. Please feel free to upvote this answer if it has been useful in some way to you.
Work out effectively, affordably and flexibly with an online coach
Get your custom-made training and nutrition program integrated with Intermittent fasting.
Fast track your results now! click below:
