Oct 12, 20228 min read

Pre and Post workout Nutrition: What is best?

Updated: Oct 6, 2023

Very simply put, pre workout nutrition is the food you consume in the hours leading up to a training session or event.

Post workout nutrition is the food you consume in the hours after the training session or event.

The goal of each of these meals is to improve/increase performance and recovery.

Let's dive in a little deeper to each.

What is the purpose of a pre workout meal/snack,

when should it be consumed and what to eat?

The purpose of pre workout meal/s is to enhance training performance, sustain energy throughout the training session or sporting event, ensure good hydration as well as to help speed up the recovery process.

A pre workout meal/snack will often be consumed between 1-4 hours before the training session or event. However this will be completely dependent on the individual and their preferences, the size of the meal/snack, the makeup of the meal as well as the time of day you are training/competing.

Your lifestyle will dictate what/when and how much you eat around training.

For example if you train at 5pm the likelihood is that you have already had 2 meals and maybe a snack beforehand. So a pre workout option may be as simple as a banana and a protein shake, then after your session you will go home and eat your main meal etc.

Compare that to training first thing in the morning, you may choose to train fasted if you can’t stomach food in the morning or it may just be a light bite like a banana and protein shake etc. Then afterwards you may have your breakfast or lunch.

What to eat pre workout?

As with anything there is no one best. It is more of a continuum. Some things for you to consider are below.

Though technically not eating your number one is to be hydrated. This is and always will be absolutely key to your performance in the gym or in a sport.

As little as 2% dehydration or loss of sweat (2% of bodyweight) will affect both physical and mental performance and 5% can see a significant decrease in work capacity upto 30%. So if you want to perform at your best each session make sure you are well hydrated.

From a food perspective there is no 1 size fits all recommendation and it may take some experimenting for you to work out exactly what works best for you.

However a simple guideline to follow is to have a balanced meal, slightly lower in fat, as fat can slow down digestion and absorption and therefore may affect your digestion.

Which leads me onto a BIG consideration for pre workout.

You will need to experiment and learn what foods work best for you as pre workout snacks/meals that don’t affect your digestion and gut.

If you eat a food that doesn’t agree with you or your body finds harder to break down/digest your performance is likely to suffer.

For me this is fattier food. I can’t have a high fat, rich or spicy meal before I train.

It gives me an upset stomach whilst training and therefore negatively affects my performance. This may be different for all and therefore is worth experimenting over time to see what works for you.

What might a pre workout snack/meal look like?

A banana and a protein shake
Tuna pasta with low fat mayo and some veg
Porridge oats, honey and a protein shake
Chicken, veg, mashed potato

Basically think of a protein source, carb source and either some fruit or veg.

What is the purpose of a post workout snack and when should it be consumed and what is best to eat?

The purpose of the post workout meal is to enhance recovery, however over recent years it is now understood to only have a small impact dependent on other factors.

The main factors to consider are:

Total daily calories (energy in)
Total daily protein intake (Giving the body amino acids to help recovery, ideally split over 3-4 meals per day)
Pre workout meals/snacks
How many times per day are you training

Many years ago, especially when I started training there was a belief that there was a window of opportunity to take in your post workout meal/snack. This was considered to be anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour after a training session

If you didn’t eat/drink your post workout snack/meal within this timeframe you had just wasted your efforts in the gym and that hard work would be undone.

Which is nonsense!

That myth has been put to bed now showing that total daily energy intake and total daily protein intake(Split over 3-4 meals per day) is more important than the time you eat your meals for recovery.

Which makes sense.

The body will always be in a state of breakdown or a state of growth. Nutrients will either be used, stored or excreted.

For example when you eat carbohydrates they will be broken down into their simplest form, glucose and either used as energy, stored in the muscles or liver (as glycogen) or converted into bodyfat. Thanks to this storage (providing we keep it topped up) we will always have energy to be able to call on to aid performance.

Proteins on the other hand will be broken down into their simplest form, amino acids and put to work in the body to aid recovery, growth, new cells etc. The body doesn’t have the storage for amino acids like it does for glucose so there is no excess left over to be stored for later use.

Hence why it is important to get your protein feedings in across the day to ensure the body has the amino acids to aid recovery and growth after training sessions.

Providing you have the right energy and protein intake over the course of a day, a post workout meal or snack as something other than eating your normal nightly meal (Breakfast or lunch if you train earlier in the day) is irrelevant.

UNLESS, you are competing in an event with multiple events throughout the day or you are training 2 times or more per day.

In this case (which won’t impact 90%) the post workout snack/meal becomes very important.

So if you are going to be training or competing multiple times per day it will be important to take in a post workout meal/ snack to aid faster recovery and therefore be able to perform better in your second session/competition.

It is beyond this post to go into all the potentials with regards to multiple sessions/ times/ energy systems used etc so I will just give a very basic recommendation.

If training or competing multiple times per day your post workout snack after your first session will be better coming from a fast digesting source, allowing the body to digest and absorb the nutrients as fast as possible to top up glycogen stores and aid recovery.

Some examples might be:

Protein shakes/all in one shakes with protein and carbs
Lean proteins fast digesting carbs such as white rice/pasta
Protein bars
Banana and protein shake
Gels

This is all context dependent and would differ depending on the sport, time and intensity of the events.

If you are only training once per day then your post workout snack/meal should just be a normal meal and be balanced. Use the list below to put together some balanced meal ideas.

A protein source (Fish/meat/Tofu)
A couple of vegetable sources (Spinach/broccoli/mushrooms)
A carb source (Rice/Potato/Oats)
A fat source (May come from protein option/ nuts/seeds)

So the main question is, how important is the Pre and Postworkout Meal?

To help best answer this question let's take a look at the pyramid below.

Using this very simple picture you can see that at the base of the pyramid is adherence and one up from that is energy balance.

Adherence makes up the base of the pyramid as it doesn’t matter what diet/nutrition plan you follow, if you don’t adhere to it consistently it won’t work.

Energy balance is the next on the pyramid. This along with adherence form the foundation for any nutrition plan. You must be able to adhere to the plan and you must take in the right amount of energy for your goals and needs.

Now lets move up the pyramid to the second from the top which is Meal timing and frequency. This is 2nd from the top and as you can see only has a small part to play.

This is the tier that pre and post workout nutrition fall into.

What this shows us is that if you don’t have the rest of the pyramid in place then worrying about meal frequency and timing will have very little difference on your overall results. It ends up being wasted time.

For example:

If your goal is to build muscle you will need to be in a calorie surplus.

You will need to ensure you consume enough protein to help your muscles recover and grow from your training.

You will need enough carbohydrate to fuel your training sessions to create progressive overload and therefore give your muscles the stimulation needed to make them grow.

You will need to get a variety of fruits and veg to cover your micronutrient requirements so that your body is able to work more efficiently and effectively.

If you are NOT doing any of the above, worrying about what to eat before and after you train is pointless.

If you are not consuming enough calories you won’t gain weight and will struggle to build muscle.

If you are not consuming enough protein over the day you will not be able to stimulate muscle growth and limit muscle breakdown.

Another example:

If weight loss is your goal you will need to be in a calorie deficit. You will need to consume enough protein to prevent muscle breakdown.

You will need to consume a variety of fruit and veg to cover your micronutrient basis to maintain health.

If you are NOT doing any of the above consistently then worrying what to eat around training is pointless. It will make very little difference unless you sort the bigger stuff at the bottom of the pyramid.

Conclusion and my suggestions

So to conclude pre and post workout nutrition

If you are an average Joe just looking to get a bit fitter, build some muscle, lose some fat, improve health and live better it really isn’t important at all. Focus on the energy you consume, ensuring you get enough protein throughout the day and a variety of fruits and vegetables and you will be all good.

If you are an athlete and you have the lower portion of the pyramid nailed, so you are eating the right amount for your goals, you are getting the right macros (proteins/carbs and fat) you are getting a good variety of fruits and veg then you may get a small benefit by paying more attention to your pre and post workout nutrition.

Instead look to:

Focus on your nutrition over the course of the day/week/month and ensure you achieve the lower levels of the pyramid first, starting with Adherence.

Focus on building a solid foundation of nutritional habits rather than spending time and energy worrying about what to eat in the few hours around training.