The 9 Best Foods to Eat Before a Workout
Not sure what you should be eating before you hit the gym? If you’re feeling a little flat during your workout, it might be because you’re not fueling your body correctly.
Thankfully, here at Instant Knockout Academy, we know exactly what you should be eating before a workout to perform your best – and get top results!
We’ll detail why eating before a workout is beneficial, the timing of your pre-workout meal and nine of the best foods to eat before you hit up the training room.
Why eat before a workout?
For most people, the thought of eating before a workout is a no-no, but in reality, there are far more benefits to eating before a workout than not.
Eating a good selection of foods before a workout is one way of optimizing your performance and reducing the impact of muscle soreness. Whereas not eating enough can leave you feeling lightheaded, nauseated and lethargic during your workout – enough to put you completely off your training game.
The intensity of your workout can determine how much and how often you should eat. For instance, you’ll need a whole lot more energy to run a marathon than go for a walk or lift a few weights in the gym.
Your nutrition is what will determine how well you perform in your chosen workout – and how your body responds afterwards1.
Not to mention, when you perform better your mental focus and confidence will be much higher. So if you choose not to eat before a workout, you might be hindering the progress of your muscle gain, weight loss and stamina. Not good!
Timing your pre-workout meal
Choosing when to eat your pre-workout meal is also key to making some serious progress, especially if you want your workout to go as planned.
Eating a complete meal packed with fats, protein and carbs around two hours before you exercise may help you maximize results of your session. However, if you only have up to an hour spare before you train, you should choose foods that are easy to digest – largely simple carbs and some protein.
If your pre-workout meal is too close to your workout, you may have stomach upset and digestion issues. This is because your body primarily focuses on powering your muscles for exercise rather than digestion2.
Now let’s discover the best foods to eat before a workout. Like mentioned, a meal including a mix of carbs, protein and fats should be your go-to when you need a pre-workout meal.
Below are nine of the best foods that you can eat before you train. We’ve included the ideal time to eat these too.
9 Best foods to eat before a workout
1. Oatmeal with fruit
Ideal for: Two hours before your workout
Oatmeal is a super breakfast staple – and for good reason. Oats are among the healthiest cereal grains on the planet and provide various health benefits. Being a great source of vitamins, fiber, fats, antioxidants and protein also make them a powerful pre-gym food source3 4.
Oats are also digested slowly, meaning you’ll have optimal levels of energy powering you through your workout. Adding additional fruit, such as blueberries or strawberries will also provide much needed fuel to your muscles faster, since they contain simple carbohydrates.
2. Wholegrain toast with peanut or almond butter
Ideal for: Two hours before your workout
This clever combo will provide your body with fats, protein and carbs before your training session. Wholegrain foods in general should be at the top of your shopping list if you’re on a fitness mission. This is because they deliver a whole host of important nutrients and minerals.
Wholegrain toast is packed with fiber as well as vitamins and minerals5. What’s more, they’re digested slowly and help maintain a steady blood sugar rather than causing sharp spikes. This equals better energy levels and increased satiety, helping you focus on what matters most – your workout.
Nut butter is also a good source of fat and protein, making it ideal pre-lifting fuel to encourage muscle growth.
Even better, most of the fat in nuts is unsaturated, the healthier kind, and may help to stabilize blood sugar and insulin6. A total two tbsp of peanut butter contains up to seven grams of protein – amazing if you need a quick protein fix7.
3. Greek yogurt and fruit smoothie
Ideal for: One hour before your workout
When you’re rushed for time and need a quick, light and healthy pick-me-up before your workout, a fruit and yogurt smoothie should provide you with the energy boost you need. They’re easy to prepare yourself but can also be purchased fresh from major grocery stores – though we always recommend you make your own so that you know exactly what ingredients it contains.
Fruits like bananas, apples, berries and mango are popular ingredients used in smoothies. And because they’re considered simple carbs8, you should get a quick energy injection.
Greek yogurt is also a great addition to smoothies and stacks up more health benefits against its conventional rival, natural yogurt. You can get a low-fat version which provides you with double the amount of protein and half the sugar content compared to natural yogurt – in their plain, low-fat, or non-fat forms9.
An average serving of Greek yogurt, depending on the brand, can have 12 to 17.3 grams of protein, which can help improve muscle protein synthesis and promote recovery.
4. Scrambled egg on wholegrain toast
Ideal for: Two hours before your workout
If you can, you should definitely be including eggs in your diet for extra nutrition without the calories.
Scrambled eggs take less than five minutes to make and can provide your body with a whole host of nutrients including amino acids, selenium and vitamins A, B and D10. You’ll also find six grams of protein in a large single egg, which can aid muscle protein synthesis (MPS) and your ability to recover well from resistance training11 12.
Wholegrain toast, as we’ve mentioned, offers up the carbs you need, as well as a slow release of energy to keep you dominating your workout.
5. Protein powder, banana and peanut butter smoothie
Ideal for: One hour before your workout
Swigging a protein shake infused with banana and peanut butter should keep your strength up during an intense training session.
Countless studies have demonstrated that consuming protein before and during resistance exercise stimulates MPS13. Protein powder is an easy way to obtain your daily protein requirements while minimizing calorie intake.
Blending in a banana will also power you up without weighing you down because they’re easy to digest. Bananas are also packed with potassium and antioxidants which may help with muscle cramps14.
6. Rice cakes with almond or peanut butter
Ideal for: One hour before your workout
Rice cakes are ideal if you’re watching the calories and need a fast energy fix before you hit the gym. They’re not nutritionally rich by themselves but when paired with almond or peanut butter, you’ll get a good fix of your healthy fats and protein.
Even better, nut butters are packed with nutrients like vitamin E and B6, magnesium and zinc. These minerals are beneficial for overall health and wellbeing, keeping your body ticking along. Magnesium is also a vital vitamin for regulating muscle contractions and may boost exercise performance15.
7. Tuna and quinoa salad
Ideal for: Two hours before your workout
Tuna is a fatty fish which boasts omega-3 fatty acids, important for your body and brain health. Omega-3s are linked to reducing inflammation16, which can promote body recovery after an intense workout.
Additionally, tuna is packed with protein and seriously low in calories. 85 grams of cooked yellowfin tuna can provide around 25 grams of protein and comes in at 110 calories17.
Quinoa is a grain high in protein, fiber and minerals and makes a good, easy-to-digest alternative to rice. It’s considered a complete protein which means it contains all nine essential amino acids your body requires to make new proteins18.
8. Apple slices with almond or peanut butter
Ideal for: One hour before your workout
This combo provides a good energy burst as well as muscle mass protection. Apples are a great source of quick and natural glucose energy, whereas the protein from the nut butter will stimulate MPS during exercise – boosting the process of building more muscle mass.
Apples are also rich in flavonoids which are compounds known to have potent anti-inflammatory properties19.
9. Grilled chicken breast, salad and brown rice
Idea for: Two hours before your workout
When you have time to make a good, balanced meal, you seriously can’t go wrong with grilled chicken, veggies and brown rice. This meal will provide you with good carbs, fats and protein as well as energy that will be released slowly to help you tackle your workout.
Chicken is one of the leanest meats available and is packed with a variety of vitamins and minerals that contribute towards healthy muscle maintenance. For instance, iron is a core nutrient found in most lean meats like chicken and turkey. This mineral plays an important role in oxygen transportation around your body and fueling muscle pumps20.
Brown rice, AKA wholegrain rice is rich in fiber and absorbed by your body slowly. You’re more likely to stay energized when you eat brown rice compared to white.
Don’t forget about hydration
Not drinking enough water before and during your workout can have a huge impact on your performance.
Hydration is key to keeping your heart pumping and your muscles working properly. When you exercise, your body requires water to convert energy into adenosine triphosphate, or ATP – the basic form of energy that your muscles require to function.
Without enough water, you’ll find exercise much more difficult, both physically and mentally21. If you sweat a lot when you exercise, you’ll need to stay hydrated to replace water levels and improve physical performance.
Stuck for time?
If you find yourself scrambling around for food before your training sessions, Instant Knockout Complete could be the perfect solution.
As the only product of its kind designed to accelerate athletic performance, the nutritionally complete powder delivers a plant-based, energy-boosting and high-protein punch to make sure you’ve got the fuel you need for maximum performance.
Inside the blend, you’ll find:
- 35g of protein from 100% natural, vegan sources ideal for better muscle mass and repair
- 35g of carbohydrate energy – 13g are fiber to aid digestion and gut health
- 26 essential vitamins and minerals to maintain overall health and keep your body working efficiently
Find out more about Instant Knockout Complete here.
The bottom line
Eating before a workout can kickstart your muscle repair process and keep physical performance levels high. Now that you know exactly what you should be eating, there’s no need to put off a pre-gym meal!
Tuck into any of these nine foods before your workout and you’ll find your workouts a whole lot easier and recover much faster.
