While improvements in your overall diet can boost your athletic performance, the pre-workout meal is a key piece to optimal performance. Whether it’s before the main event or training, the food ingested hours beforehand may make or break you. While many runners decide to skip the pre-workout and during workout meals in attempt to lose weight and cut calories, the nutrients provided are vital to optimal performance. Additionally, runners who choose to skip the pre-workout meal will inevitably consume those missed calories later in the day. If you can’t train to your best ability, how are you going to reach your peak performance when it comes to race day? So why not put the calories towards a solid workout to help take your running to the next level.
What to eat:
There are the three main nutrients that one should pay careful attention to in the pre-workout meal – carbohydrates (including fiber), protein and fat. The most important pre-workout nutrient to fuel your muscles is carbohydrate. While having a small amount of protein and fat thrown in for satiety is ok- eating sufficient carbohydrate is key to replenish the quick energy that our body uses during exercise – glycogen. Carbohydrates are also easily digested and will not cause stomach disturbances when eaten shortly before training. Carbohydrates also help to absorb electrolytes and minerals important for muscle contraction and nerve stimulation. The table below provides some ideas for high carbohydrate foods. The line below includes additional nutritional benefits.
50-60% of your day’s calories should come from Carbohydrate
Maximize your workout with these foods!
• Banana – Carbohydrate, potassium and vitamin C
Potassium – assists in muscle contraction and in maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance in body cells – assists in pulling energy from protein fat.
• Yogurt (lowfat or skim) – Calcium, protein, active cultures
Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. casei, L. reuteri and Bifidobacterium bifidum – maintain a healthy gastrointestinal tract.
* Other carb foods include breads, pastas, rices, cereals, grains, starchy veggies, fruits, beans and lentils, juice and milk.
As stated previously, carbohydrates function to restock glycogen – the technical term for the bodies’ stored sugar source – in the muscle and liver. When there is too much energy/glycogen around, it gets stored as fat (which we unfortunately can store unlimited quantities of). During exercise glycogen gets pulled from the liver and muscles and converted into sugar to be used for energy. If we do not have sufficient amounts of glycogen available early on during exercise we use alternate sources of energy from protein from our muscles and energy from fat stores – which will hinder your performance. Use of fat stores should not occur until an hour into exercise. Eating sufficient carbohydrate will also spare any muscle protein breakdown – this will be spoken about in more detail in subsequent articles.
When to eat it:
Timing of the meal can be as tricky as knowing what to eat. We have all done it. You eat too soon before exercise, and end up with a stomach in knots and a lousy workout. In this situation, abdominal discomfort is due to the muscle in use battling for nutrient rich blood flow with the stomach which needs the same blood flow for proper digestion. Eating a balanced diet throughout the day is important for fueling a run later in the day, while eating before a morning workout is just as important.
If you are running later in the day eating balanced meals throughout the day is vital, especially breakfast. Start the day with cereal and skim or soy milk, and at least 1 serving of fruit. Or op for eggs with veggies and a whole wheat bread, tortilla, or pita. The last meal before you run should be about 4 hours beforehand. Depending on your size the meal should be about 400-800calories. The meal should consist of lean protein (chicken, turkey, fish) and fat (try a slice of avocado) for satiety and of course a carbohydrate source (whole wheat toast, cereal, fruit). Keep in mind while fat provides satiety and is vital to our existence, a little in the pre-workout meal can go a long way. A high fat meal can hang out in the stomach for up to 9 hours taking longer to empty from the stomach into the intestines. It is best to avoid greasy high fat foods in the pre-workout meal. If carefully choosing your food 2 hours before if you are eating a smaller meal combination of protein and carbohydrate. If you are training later in the day it is still important to make sure you are not to the point of hunger when heading out the door. So, eat about 50-100 calories worth of carbohydrate if you feel you are running on empty about 30minutes to 1 hour before the workout.
Here’s why eating before an early run of >1 hour in duration is a must. Since there are cells in the body that rely on carbohydrate at all times, including the brain and red blood cells, your liver has used up half of its glycogen while you are sleeping or in ‘early starvation mode.’ If you have eaten carbohydrate the night before, your muscles are fully stocked with glycogen. However, you can’t survive on muscle glycogen alone during intense exercise. You need that liver glycogen to keep you going. Ingesting some carbohydrate will switch your metabolism over from the fasting state. While it may seem unrealistic to eat 2 hours before a standard morning run, you are doing yourself a dis-service going out on a completely empty stomach. A piece of bread, a banana, yogurt, a handful of dry cereal or 12 oz of a high carbohydrate sports drink should be sufficient if you typically run 15 minutes after snoozing.
Additional tips to avoid an emergency trip to the Port-o-John:
The portion of carbohydrate packed foods that does not get completely digested by the human stomach and intestines is called fiber. The Recommended Daily allowance is 25-35 grams per day, which we should all be able to get by eating plenty of fruits, veggies, legumes and whole grains. Fiber plays the role of allowing you to move your bowels with ease. However, too much fiber and you could find yourself quite uncomfortable and searching for the next restroom.
Making sure you are adequately hydrated is also important regardless of the season. Fluids are vital for our cooling system. Pale yellow colored urine and bathroom use about every 4 hours is an indicator of good hydration. Be sure to stop drinking about an hour before an event to ensure you have time to empty your bladder before the race or workout.
Boston Running Center Nutritionists
