PRE Workout Nutrition

Table of Contents

What Should You Eat Before Working Out?

As you’ve probably guessed, your PRE workout meal is the last meal you eat before your workout.

In certain cases and in certain situations, this PRE workout meal may carry over into something of a during-workout meal (only if needed, definitely not required).

For this reason, these meals typically get lumped together into what many people commonly refer as the “Energy Phase” portion of your around-workout-nutrition.

The Purpose Of Your PRE Workout Meal

The reason these meals got this “energy phase” nickname is pretty obvious.

Your PRE workout meal is the meal that plays the largest role in supplying your body with everything it will need to ensure optimal performance during your workout.

And, in the cases where a during-workout meal is being used (either in place of the PRE workout meal or in conjunction with it), its purpose is exactly the same.

Specifically, the primary goal of the PRE workout meal is to accomplish the following:

• Reduce muscle glycogen depletion.
• Reduce muscle protein breakdown.
• Reduce post workout cortisol levels.

How To Do It

To make all of the above happen successfully, your body needs 2 things:

1. Carbs
2. Protein

What this means is, your biggest goal with your PRE workout meal is to consume a significant amount of both carbs and protein in some form sometime before (or if needed, during) your workout.

That’s the key here, and as long as you are doing that, you’re doing it right.

Now, this is the point when everyone likes to take it a big overcomplicated step further and give specific recommendations for exactly how many grams of carbs and protein you should eat, exactly what foods those nutrients should come from, and exactly how many hours, minutes and seconds before your workout you should eat this meal for MAXIMUM RESULTS!

While I always find that kind of thing hilarious and mostly pointless (seriously, any differences will be insignificant at best), I won’t just leave you hanging with no guidelines at all.

A Recommended PRE Workout Meal Protocol

The true specifics here will differ slightly depending on things like your schedule, what time of the day you work out, how much time you actually have before your workout, exactly what type of workout it’s going to be, and of course… your own preferences.

Rather than even attempt to cover every possible scenario, I’ll just leave you with what is likely the most popular recommendation for what to eat before working out.

The following comes courtesy of Alan Aragon , who is hands down one of the smartest and most trustworthy people in the nutrition field.

Option A: 60-90 minutes pre-workout, have a solid, balanced meal containing…

Protein = 0.25g per pound of your target body weight.
Carbs = 0.25g per pound of your target body weight.

Adding fat at this point is fine, use your discretion as long as it fits into your macronutrient goals. Note that this meal is skipped if you train first thing in the morning.

OR…

Option B: 30-0 minutes pre-workout – (and/or sipped throughout the workout), have a liquid or easily digested meal containing…

Protein = 0.25g per pound of your target body weight.
Carbs = 0.25g per pound of your target body weight.

If you were going to train for close to or more than 2 hours continuously, it would definitely benefit you to have this extra pre-workout meal either immediately prior to, or sipped during training. Keep the fats here incidental and not added if you’re prone to gastric distress during training.

I think that’s all pretty self explanatory.

As for me personally, I always go with something similar to the first option shown above. Meaning…

• My PRE workout meal takes place 1-2 hours before my workout and consists of a normal solid food meal containing a good amount of protein (example foods include chicken, fish, beef, egg whites, etc.), and a good amount of carbs (example foods include brown rice, oatmeal, or any lower glycemic source).

Nothing fancy, just protein and carbs coming from normal foods 1-2 hours before working out. This is what I’d personally recommend to most people.

There’s no need to get any more complicated than that, and no need to obsess about the specifics. Alan Aragon himself would be the first person to tell you that.