Should You Eat Before A Workout?

A common question we get is: what should I eat before I workout, and when should I eat?

The answer to that isn’t exactly black and white, because everyone has different digestion tendencies, but below are three guidelines to use that can help you understand what and when to eat before a workout.

1. Eat 3 hours in advance

If you are going to have an intense workout, think high heart rate, it’s typically a good idea to eat well in advance to: 1. ensure that your body has enough fuel to push you through your upcoming bout of exercise 2. To make sure you don’t have a lot of food digesting in your stomach.

Eating 3 hours is usually a good rule of thumb, and it’s best to get a meal that is complex – meaning it has a combination of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. This doesn’t have to be a big meal, but it should be a good portion size (at least 400-600 calories) that will provide you with the energy that you need for your workout.

If you’re working out/exercising in the morning see the next point.

2. As needed: Carbohydrate snack 1 hour before

I’ve included this point for 2 reasons.

1. For those of you that workout/exercise in the morning, it’s very unrealistic that you’ll get up 3 hours before you workout and eat. Therefore, instead choose a carb-intensive snack (meaning mostly carbs with little to no fat or protein, think 30-50 grams of carbs) 1 hour before your workout and you should be adequately “charged” to crush it during your workout.

2. Despite eating 3 hours prior, some people still get hungry 1 hour out – I know this happens to me. Therefore, choose a carb intensive snack and you’ll go into the workout energized and be able to work much harder.

Great snack option: a medium-to-large size banana, or granola bar.

Why Carb intensive? Digestion & absorption. Carbs are more easily digested and absorbed for use as a source of energy during your workout; your body can still use fat and protein for energy, but the process is slower.

*Important* Try to avoid foods with fructose as an ingredient high in the ingredient list. Fructose is digested differently than the other sugars and could cause some digestion issues.

3. Hydrate

You want to be adequately hydrated before any exercise. In general this is kind of common sense, but is worth stating. Further, you can’t maintain your hydration status while exercising -you inevitably become dehydrated over time. So drink up, and continue to drink while exercising.

My suggestion is to sip on 500 ml – 1L of water 1 hour out, then 500 ml every 30 minutes of exercise during.

The 3 points above are suggestions. Digestion can be a subjective experience, science suggests one thing and then personal experience suggests otherwise. I’ve had clients who can workout right after eating a big meal and just crush it, with little to ill effects (like burping, cramping, etc.). On the other hand I’ve had clients who can’t eat anything more than 4 hours in advance or they’ll “lose their cookies.”

Which brings me to my final comment: can you workout on an empty stomach? Sure, you could. However, if you’re doing intense exercise where you end up depleting your sugar stores, your workout is going to come to a halting stop – you’ll start to feel nauseous, light headed, uncontrollable sweating, etc. My recommendation is to not workout on an empty stomach, at least not intensely, instead have a carb-intensive snack like a banana 1 hr before and you’ll be good to go.

Want a more in-depth article on Pre-Workout Nutrition, as well as Post-Workout? Read This.

Till next time,

-Mike