The Pre Workout Meal

Here we take a look at the importance of the pre workout meal in your efforts to gain weight and build muscle. If you start your workouts unprepared, your results will be lacking.

Before hitting the gym you need to provide your body with the right nutrients to perform at your best. Your pre workout meal should be planned to do exactly this.

The goal of your pre workout nutrition is to make sure you are at peak strength to begin working out, and to provide a steady stream of energy to your muscles and mind throughout your time at the gym.


What and When to Eat?
First things first, you need to be properly hydrated. Even though you should be drinking water steadily throughout the day, make sure that you drink some in the few hours leading up to your workout. If your workout is early in the morning, soon after waking up, just drink some water just after rising.

Now, with your pre workout meal, you should eat it at least 45 minutes before starting your workout so your food has time to settle.


Protein
The first component of the meal is protein. Eating enough protein will keep your body in an anabolic state during your workout to reduce muscle breakdown. I recommend consuming 30-40 grams of high quality protein in your pre workout meal. If you can, try to get your protein from whey protein and casein. You can achieve this easily by mixing 25-30 grams of whey protein in 300-400ml of skim milk.

Whey protein makes for a great pre-workout choice because it is naturally high in BCAA's, which help to prevent muscle catabolism during your workout. Mixing your whey with milk is a good idea because this will slow down the release of the protein and provide your body with a steady stream of amino acids throughout your workout.

The reason whey protein is a great choice for pre-workout is because it's naturally high in Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA's). BCAA's will help to prevent muscle breakdown during your workout. Also, mixing the whey protein with skim milk is a sound idea because this will slow down the release of the protein to give a steady stream of energy to your body throughout the workout.


Carbohydrates
The other part of effective pre workout nutrition is eating the right types of carbohydrates. Low glycemic carbohydrates are what you need as they provide a steady stream of energy to the body.

High glycemic carbohydrates are what you need to avoid before an intense workout. They are rapidly released in your bloodstream and your body will release a surge of insulin to try and level out your bloody sugar levels. This results in a quick rise of energy, then followed by a quick fall. This will leave you tired and weak, which is the last thing you want to happen during an intense workout.

So avoid high glycemic carbs and make sure to eat low glycemic carbs for your pre workout meal. Some good choices are apples, oatmeal, low fat yoghurt, low fat milk and wheat bread. These low glycemic carbohydrates will give you a solid stream of energy.


Summing It Up
Your pre-workout meal shouldn't be too large so you feel sick during your workout. On the other hand, you shouldn't ever skip this meal as working out on an empty stomach could even lose you muscle.

So to sum it all up, an effective meal could look like this:

* 30-40 grams of whey protein mixed in 300-400ml of skim milk or water
* A serving of low-glycemic carbohydrates (eg: apple, oatmeal, yoghurt, wheat bread, skim milk)


Source: building-muscle-guide.com