PRE WORKOUT MEAL IDEAS.
By
Augie pulling for dear life!
What do you like to eat before a workout? Got this question yesterday by one of our 7am’ers and I had to think about it. When I was a die-hard 6am, my pre-WOD meal consisted of a glass of NO-Explode (and the 7 subsequent trips to the bathroom) and half of a Balance bar since that was about all that I could keep down at that hour.
Nowadays, before our 7:30am Saturday workouts both Eric and I will have 2 eggs and some fruit and that’s about it. We’ll usually eat at about 6:45am and that’s not really enough time to let all of that food digest.
There’re a million theories on what to eat, if at all, before a workout. My rule of thumb is this, especially for you early morning people – eat something. Yep, just make sure that you have something in your system before you come in. If you’re working out in the later part of the day, then yes, about an hour before the workout I’d recommend a small meal consisting of the trifecta – protein, fat and some carbs (preferably from veggies). If all that you can get down is a protein shake, so be it. If it’s an apple on the drive from work, that’s ok too. What we don’t want to hear past noon, ever, is “I haven’t eaten all day.” If so, please go home and eat and come back for a later workout.
There’s no “official right answer” on this one, so please post what you like to eat before your workout to the comments section.
Today’s Workout:
Snatch Practice 10 Minutes (no giggling)
Followed by:
1 Deadlift (75% of your 1 Rep Max) every 20 seconds for 10 minutes.
13 Comments
October 19th, 2010 at 7:36 am
Eating it right now: one hardboiled egg (sometimes cottage cheese or leftover chicken) plus 1/2 piece of fruit plus some nuts, washed down with FRS diluted with a big glass of water. Second 1/2 of fruit is post-WOD snack.
The Claw
October 19th, 2010 at 8:04 am
If I am coming in for the 6am class I usually will have 3 dried eggs (in coconut oil) a kg handful of walnuts and a piece of fruitz. With the hour drive there is plenty of time for it to settle. I also have some coffee to help me function at that hour too.
If it is a noon wod, I usually have some leftover protien like chicken or ribs, a carb and a handful of some sort of fat about 1 to 1.5 he’s before.
More important, I ALWAYS make sure I have a post wod protien shake ready to go with either a piece of fruit or coconut water.
October 19th, 2010 at 8:07 am
That would be” fried” eggs and a ‘lg” handful….new phone and fat fingers haven’t figured out to work together.
October 19th, 2010 at 10:34 am
6am wods- I don’t eat before
every other time of day wod- small piece of fruit and small amount of protein- either eggs, chicken, etc… 1 hour before the wod
post wod snack- none… hmm should prob fix that
October 19th, 2010 at 10:54 am
Since I usually work out in the evening, I make sure to have a nice balanced lunch that afternoon and plenty of water throughout the day. If I happen to come in for a Saturday WOD or do an early morning run, my body just functions better on an empty stomach. Sometimes I can manage an apple or an Emergen-C packet in water, but other than that, my stomach likes to be empty, and it takes about an hour to get hungry post WOD.
October 19th, 2010 at 11:27 am
So this is why I love the 7am class – I get up at 6am and have a cup of coffee and either a banana or a Lara bar – but definetly something before I come to class – I find that if I don’t have something to eat I get dizzy by the time workout is done. Also when I’m doing any other workout I always try to eat something about an hour prior to workout so I don’t bonk. And after workout within 30m eat something and drink lots of water.
October 19th, 2010 at 11:42 am
Amber- what kind of protein shake do you make?
Any recommendations on what type of protein powder to buy?
October 19th, 2010 at 11:51 am
I’ve stuck to my standard pre-run meal of 1/3 cup oatmeal cooked with egg whites instead of water or milk (it’s waaay better than it sounds) and a cup of coffee 30 mins to 1 hour before. I’ve only done 2 WODs so the jury is still out as to whether I’ll have to switch it up, but so far it’s been fine.
(For longer runs, I’ll eat 2 brown rice cakes with peanut butter before and eat the oatmeal/egg-white combo afterwords. I really like that meal, it’s like a reward for putting in the distance!)
October 19th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Speaking of food… check out this article on yahoo….looks like researchers found some evidence to prehistoric man eating grains… what does this mean for paleo???
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101018/india_nm/india522760
October 19th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
JJ, I’m so happy you joined! Can’t wait to do a WOD with you!
October 19th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
KJ- I have tried a couple of different ones but I find that I like Optimum Nutrition’s ‘Pro Complex’ the best. I notice I recover much quicker and have less soreness. I mix it with about 10oz of water. (It mixes really easy too)
October 19th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Anything that’s considered healthy at least 30 minutes prior to working out just to get my engines going – nothing worse than feeling malnutrished, hungry and weak during WOD.
Post work – stronger, faster, healthier protein shake within 15 minutes of finishing WOD then a protein based meal 45 to 60 minutes after.
And typically several pints of beer outside of Mon-Weds which is why I’ll never lose my beer gut.
October 19th, 2010 at 6:41 pm
Eric and I both take SFH’s Post Workout shake and find that it’s much easier to train again later in the day when I do. We haven’t had it in stock here as it’s kind of pricey but we can order it for you guys next time we do a fish oil order if anyone’s interested.