What to eat before strength training. What to eat for breakfast before training: advice from a nutritionist

Before we talk about the pre-workout menu, let's discuss what if you don't eat at all? People who want to lose weight often train on an empty stomach. If you want to lose weight, it makes sense to do about 20 minutes of intense aerobic exercise on an empty stomach, and this will be more effective than doing cardio for an hour after eating. At least that's what is commonly believed.

Indeed, there is evidence that training on an empty stomach increases fat oxidation and allows fat to be converted into energy faster. But more fat consumption does not necessarily mean more weight loss, since fat is also taken from muscle cells, and not just from subcutaneous fat. And when the exercise is over, the unoxidized fat returns to the adipose tissue. So all these benefits of training on an empty stomach are not obvious. To make matters worse, the precious protein from your muscles is also used as fuel. Research published in the American Journal of Applied Physiology found that nitrogen loss from protein breakdown doubles when exercising on an empty stomach. This is bad news for those who want to build muscle.

That's why, man, you need to eat before training. Research has found that consuming carbohydrates before exercise slows down fatigue and improves endurance and physical performance. This happens because carbohydrates increase blood glucose levels and make muscles more active. Approximately 70% of the energy you get before exercise should come from carbohydrates, but you need to choose foods that are low glycemic index: oatmeal, vegetables, sweet potatoes, not chocolates and cookies. Protein is also very important to keep your muscles from breaking down during your workout. Fats take the longest to digest, so before training you should consume as little fat as possible.

The biggest challenge is knowing how much you can eat before training. You will understand this from your own experience. Some dudes can eat a full three-course meal an hour before heading to the gym and work out like crazy, while other guys with more sensitive bellies eat three to four hours before working out. In general, if you plan to eat a substantial meal of 500-600 calories, do it three hours in advance. A small snack of 300 calories or less can be eaten an hour before your workout. Experiment with portion sizes and timing to find what works best for you.

If a long workout is coming up, you need to add carbohydrates to the menu. If you plan to do strength training, you need to add more protein. Here are our suggestions.

1. Oatmeal, sir

Recipe:½ cup whole oatmeal and 1 scoop protein powder.
When there is: before endurance exercise, one to two hours before training.
Calories: 420, proteins: 33 g; fats: 7 g; carbohydrates: 57 g; Sahara: 2 years

Oatmeal is an excellent porridge with a low glycemic index, and it is less processed than other cereals. Whole oatmeal will be tougher and take a little longer to cook, but it's worth it.

2. Omelette with vegetables

Recipe: 2 whole eggs, 2 egg whites, peppers, onions, mushrooms; grapefruit/oatmeal.
When there is: before development exercises muscle mass, one to two hours before training. For longer workouts or cardio, add grapefruit or half a glass of rolled oats to your menu.
Calories: 321; proteins: 26 g; fats: 18 g; carbohydrates: 13 g; Sahara: 6.47 g.

Classic omelette - great option for those who go to the gym immediately after breakfast. Eggs have the most protein of any common breakfast food. Egg protein is natural and therefore very well absorbed by the body. Great choice.

3. Turkey cabbage rolls

Recipe: 100 g turkey fillet, 1 cabbage leaf, purple onion, red pepper, small tomatoes and a teaspoon of mustard. Spread the mustard on the cabbage leaf and wrap it with the rest of the ingredients.
When there is: before training for muscle development, half an hour to an hour before training. If you also plan to do cardio, you can eat porridge instead of cabbage.
Calories: 184; proteins: 28 g; fats: 3 g; carbohydrates: 13 g; Sahara: 6 years

Turkey is an excellent source of protein that is easy to digest and does not interfere with digestion. This variation of the classic cabbage roll, which is lower in calories and carbs, is great for losing weight and building muscle. Ideal for those avoiding gluten.

4. Classic Bodybuilder Lunch

Recipe: 150 g baked chicken, sweet potatoes and broccoli.
When there is: before training to build muscle mass, two to three hours before training.
Calories: 368, proteins: 59 g; fats: 9 g; carbohydrates: 37 g; Sahara: 11

Fitness models and athletes regularly eat this dish, and for good reason. Every ingredient is high quality. Lean poultry contains a large number of protein, sweet potatoes - complex carbohydrates and antioxidants, broccoli contains a ton of vitamins, minerals and other substances. This food has everything your body needs. This is a complete meal, so you shouldn't eat it right before your workout.

5. Cottage cheese with fruit

Recipe:½ pack of cottage cheese and ½ cup of fresh berries or melon. For endurance - banana.
When there is: before endurance training, half an hour to an hour before training.
Calories: 117; proteins: 14 g; fats: 0.1 g; carbohydrates: 13 g; Sahara: 6 years

Cottage cheese does not contain lactose (this is rare for dairy products) and is an excellent source of protein. Blueberries and melon are rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants essential for your workout. If you need more energy for greater endurance, eat a banana. Bananas are rich in carbohydrates and contain potassium, which is essential for the proper functioning of nerves and muscles. Potassium is important for long, intense workouts, especially if you train in hot weather. This low-calorie, easy-to-digest snack fills the gap between lunch and your workout.

6. Homemade protein bars

Recipe:½ cup vanilla protein powder, ¼ cup coconut flakes, ¼ cup coconut flour, ¼ cup milk, 30 g melted dark chocolate. Mix protein powder and coconut flour with milk and form into bars. Melt the chocolate in a water bath. Once melted, dip the bars into the chocolate and place in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes. Or here's another one.
When there is: before exercises to build muscle mass, half an hour to an hour before training.
Calories: 212; proteins: 17 g; fats: 13 g; carbohydrates: 9 g; Sahara: 3 years

A very convenient pre-workout snack. But be careful: they can do more harm than good. You need to look at the composition very carefully and be sure that the bar contains high-quality protein and little sugar. For intense, long-lasting workouts, choose high-carb energy bars or natural bars made from whole ingredients. For muscle-building workouts, choose protein bars that contain at least 15 grams of protein. If you want something delicious, make it yourself. Coconut and protein powder are delicious and easy to turn into bars. Coconuts contain heart-healthy medium chain triglycerides, which can help you lose weight.

7. Yogurt with berries

Recipe: a serving of low-fat Greek yogurt and ½ cup of blueberries.
When there is: before muscle building workouts. For stamina, add a banana. Eat half an hour to an hour before training.
Calories: 173; proteins: 14 g; fats: 0.5 g; carbohydrates: 28 g; Sahara: 22

Greek yogurt is made from regular yogurt with the whey removed, resulting in a thicker, creamier product. Compared to regular yogurt, Greek yogurt is twice as rich in protein and contains less carbohydrates and sodium. All yogurts are an excellent source of calcium. Plain, low-fat variations of Greek yogurt and regular yogurt contain about the same amount of calories and beneficial bacteria, although flavored yogurt also adds sugar, which is much healthier to replace with fruit.

8. Protein shake with coffee

Recipe: 1 cup of iced coffee and 1 serving of protein shake.
When to drink: before training to build muscle mass, for endurance, you can add a bowl of oatmeal to the menu. Consume half an hour before training.
Calories: 150; proteins: 26 g; fats: 2 g; carbohydrates: 7 g; Sahara: 2 years

This delicious smoothie will give you energy. Research shows that caffeine is a powerful energizer that allows athletes to be more resilient and train longer. It improves speed and strength when taken before competition. Caffeine affects both short and long-term exercise, and if you drink water, you won't face any negative consequences. If you want to be stronger, caffeine is of little use. This protein shake with coffee can be drunk in minutes or even during your workout. Liquids are digested much faster, so don't worry: your stomach will be fine.

9. Almond oil

Recipe: 2 tbsp. l. almond butter and celery.
When there is: before a muscle building workout. Dip celery in oil and eat it an hour or two before training.
Calories: 206; proteins: 7 g; fats: 18 g; carbohydrates: 8 g; Sahara: 3 years

Athletes love nut butters because they are high in protein and healthy fats. Almond oil contains vitamin E, potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium and phosphorus and is considered a very healthy food. It is very difficult to find in stores because it is not produced much, and salt, sugar and fat are not added to it. Remember that peanuts are not a real nut, but rather a vegetable, so they are much more harmful to your belly. Before training, simply leave a jar of almond butter at work, home or in the car and eat it with celery. The taste is refreshing, but it’s easy to overeat. Be careful.

10. Nut mix

Recipe: 1 cup raw unsalted nuts (almonds, seeds, cashews, hazelnuts), 1 tbsp. l. olive oil, ¼ tsp. cinnamon, cayenne pepper, chili and sea salt, 1 tsp. maple syrup. Preheat the oven and lightly toast the nuts for 5-10 minutes. Mix butter, spices and syrup and add roasted nuts. Return them to the oven and bake for another 5-10 minutes, don’t forget to line them with baking paper.
When there is: before training to build muscle mass, add dried fruits for endurance. Eat an hour or two before training.
Calories: 546; proteins: 20 g; fats: 60 g; carbohydrates: 23 g; Sahara: 7 years

Oh gods, how delicious it is! Nuts are very high in calories, they contain a lot of fat, but at the same time they also contain protein. They also have enough calories to help you get a good workout. But be careful: eat less if you want to lose weight. You can use ½ cup of nuts and dried fruits (raisins, dried apricots, figs) for more carbohydrates and less fat. If you want to buy a nut mix, make sure that there is no chocolate or nuts in the glaze in order to avoid simple sugars.

Proper nutrition plays a huge role in exercise performance, endurance and recovery. Eating the right food before a workout will help you get the most out of your workout. physical exercise. Prepare food in advance so that you can feel at ease: you will eat correctly and will not nullify your efforts.

Proper nutrition before strength training- one of the key factors of its success. If your main goal is to gain muscle mass, you need not just a pre-workout booster or a portion of sports protein, but a full lunch 2-3 hours before gym. Otherwise, the body simply will not have the energy to train.

On the other hand, if you want to lose weight and get rid of excess weight, it is extremely important not to eat anything 3-4 hours before fat-burning training, otherwise the body will burn calories from the food you just ate, rather than from fat reserves. It is especially harmful when losing weight to drink drinks like Powerade or Gatorade containing before training.

Pre-workout nutrition for bulking

It must be remembered that when gaining weight, consuming proteins and carbohydrates before strength training plays an even more important role than consuming them after training. If the body does not have sufficient energy reserves and glycogen, which is important for muscle function, you simply will not be able to train at full strength.

While a serving of whey protein or a few capsules of BCAA amino acids taken immediately before a workout will protect muscles from breakdown, they will not provide the body with enough energy. For full-fledged strength training, the body needs approximately 40-45 g of carbohydrates, because they are the ones that perform.

What to eat before training?

In most cases, in order to sufficiently saturate the athlete’s body with proteins and carbohydrates, it is necessary to eat a hearty meal 2-3 hours before the gym. Ideal choice Pre-workout meals will include complex sources of carbohydrates (primarily rice, potatoes or) and some meat with a minimum of fat (for example, chicken breast).

The emphasis on carbohydrates is due to the fact that the body will need at least 4-5 hours to fully digest meat - while cereals need no more than two hours to digest (1). For the same reason, immediately after a strength training session, for muscle growth, it is necessary to take a serving of whey protein with a fast absorption rate, providing the muscles with important protein.

Protein - before or after training?

On the one hand, it has been clearly proven scientific research. On the other hand, there are simply no clear recommendations about the time of its use. That's why to maximize muscle growth, you need a little protein both immediately before strength training and a full serving after it.

FitSeven previously wrote in detail about. For muscle growth, the body needs 0.4-0.5 g of protein (2) for every kg of dry body weight (that is, weight minus fat mass) - a 75 kg athlete with a 9-12% fat level needs a total of before and after training approximately 25-35 g of protein isolate, or one standard scoop.

Nutrition before morning workout

If you and you absolutely do not have time to have a full breakfast, a gainer will help you - a special sports nutrition for weight gain, containing a mixture of quickly digestible carbohydrates and proteins. Take half a scoop of gainer immediately after waking up, the other half 10-15 minutes before strength training.

Separately, we note that strength training on an empty stomach is also acceptable. They are a key component of the technique aimed at gaining lean muscle mass and simultaneously burning fat. However, intermittent fasting is only suitable for advanced athletes during the cutting period and is not recommended for beginners.

A short guide to gaining muscle mass quickly.

Pre-workout nutrition to burn fat

In the material about FitSeven, he mentioned that fat burning is regulated primarily not by diet or training, but by various hormones. After eating sugars and other simple carbohydrates, a significant amount of glucose enters the bloodstream, causing the body to fight it by increasing levels of the hormone insulin.

Wherein high level Insulin in the blood practically blocks the release of fat from fat cells, making it virtually impossible to burn fat reserves. Essentially, to lose weight and remove belly fat, you must exercise with minimal levels of insulin (and sugar) in your blood. In other words, the best thing to do to lose weight before training is to eat nothing at all.

Working out on an empty stomach

To maximize fat burning, it is recommended to exercise either in the morning on an empty stomach or 3-4 hours after your last meal. Despite the fact that such a workout will be much less intense, it will seem significantly more difficult to you - but this is precisely what will force the body to use reserve fat reserves.

Before training to lose weight on an empty stomach, it is allowed to consume caffeine, which protects muscles from breakdown, as well as caffeine in the form of tea or coffee without sugar. However, the use of fat burners is most often not recommended, since they can cause unpleasant side effects in the form of tachycardia, nausea and a sharp increase in blood pressure.

***

Before training for muscle growth, 2-3 hours before the gym you need to eat a full lunch containing at least 45-50 g of carbohydrates. For weight loss, on the contrary, it is not recommended to eat anything 3-4 hours before training - this will help minimize blood sugar levels and optimize the processes of burning fat reserves.

Scientific sources:

Digestion Time Of Various Foods,
Nutrient timing revisited: is there a post-exercise anabolic window?,

Proper nutrition - most important factor in achieving your bodybuilding and fitness goals before training. Success depends 60 - 70% on nutrition, and only 30% depends on exercises and training programs, both in gaining muscle mass and in losing weight, that is, burning fat.

In this article you will learn everything about proper nutrition before training, so please read the information provided here very carefully.

Please note: this article only covers the basic requirements and rules. But all people are different and based on this information you can create an ideal nutrition plan and tailor it to suit you.

before training on the goals and intensity of training

The intensity of the exercise determines which energy source the body will use. It is more common to use a combination of fats and carbohydrates in the body, but the intensity of the workout will affect their balance.

The main source of energy during heavy weight training is carbohydrates. With aerobic exercise for weight loss, fats and carbohydrates will participate in the energy supply of the body in equal measure.

When to eat before training: meal times

The expression “before training”, for experienced athletes, means not 5 minutes before starting classes in the gym. With a full belly exercise stress will slow down the digestive processes, because blood from the organs will go to the muscles, and you will also be disturbed by drowsiness, belching, and heaviness in the stomach. That's why you need to eat no later than 2 hours before before the start of the workout.

And training on an empty stomach will not take place at the required level of intensity due to the lack of resources in the body. Therefore, you should always eat before training.

If you didn’t manage to eat on time, then you can eat something easily digestible and energetic, for example, some kind of sweet or small fruit, or drink a gainer. Half an hour before the start of your workout, you can eat a small piece of fruit, a small portion of low-fat cottage cheese, light yogurt, and half a portion of porridge.

What to eat before training

Before starting a workout, you need to consume carbohydrates to fill glycogen stores that will be used by the muscles during the workout itself. Eat a small portion of proteins, which will be used by the body as sources of amino acids for muscles, creating the so-called anabolic “precondition”. Fats should be absent from the pre-workout menu because they slow down metabolic processes, gastric emptying and the rate of absorption of other nutrients such as protein and carbohydrates.

Calorie content and volume of food

When training to gain mass, not eating enough before training can lead to feelings of hunger and energy will run out much earlier than the end of training. But increasing your caloric intake before training is also a bad idea. You need to eat food as you would for a regular breakfast or lunch.

The amount of energy a person expends is influenced by many factors:

Age
Amount of muscle and fat mass, etc.

The optimal caloric intake before training should be:

200 kcal for women
300 kcal for men

Carbohydrates

Before training, you need to consume 40–70 grams of slow carbohydrates. They are so called because they have a low rate of breakdown into monosaccharides, which serve as the body's most preferred source of energy. Due to this, foods containing slow or complex carbohydrates feed the body with energy for several hours.

About 65 grams per 100 grams of product: natural rice, oatmeal, durum pasta, buckwheat and other cereals.

40-60 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams of product: rye or bran bread, beans, peas, vegetables

10-40 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams of product: sweet curd cheeses, potatoes, beets, grapes, apples, natural fruit juices.

Squirrels

In addition to carbohydrates, your workout day meal should contain protein to maintain an anabolic state and reduce muscle breakdown. Proteins are a source of amino acids necessary for the restoration and construction of muscle fibers.

15-30 grams of proteins per 100 grams of product: veal, beef, pork (lean), chicken, turkey, trout, cheese, cottage cheese, chicken eggs.

5-15 grams of proteins per 100 grams of product: milk, sausage, goose meat, salami.

For one meal you need to consume 20-30 grams of protein from food. That is, in one sitting, all products in total should provide 30 grams of protein.

Fats

Fats should be present in the diet of any person, not just an athlete. plant origin no more than 10% of daily food intake.

Fatty foods take a long time to digest and interfere with the absorption of other nutrients into the blood, so you should not eat them before training. You need to consume fats of plant origin, such as omega-3 fatty polyunsaturated acids.

Water

Water is an integral component for any person, and even more so for an athlete. Monitor your fluid intake throughout the day to ensure it is at least 2 liters. An hour before training, a man needs to drink about 800 grams of water, and a woman – 500 grams. Also, during classes, you also need to consume water in small sips, because during classes you lose a lot of fluid.

Salt

The electrolyte salt balance should not be disturbed. During exercise, especially aerobic exercise, many minerals are lost. So you can drink mineral water or add salt to your pre-workout water to restore electrolytes.

Pre-workout nutrition to gain muscle mass

To increase muscle mass, you need to consume enough carbohydrates before strength training. 2-2.5 hours before anaerobic training you need to consume slow or complex carbohydrates. The diet should also include. During and immediately after training, proteins cannot yet be used for the restoration and synthesis of muscle fibers, but they can protect muscles from destruction.

30 minutes before training you can eat:

one large fruit
low glycemic index berries (apple, pear, strawberry or any other berries)
wash down with a protein drink, preferably whey protein, because it is absorbed faster (0.22 grams of whey protein per 1 kg of body weight).

Pre-workout nutrition for weight loss

If you need to lose weight, that is, burn body fat, then you need to ensure that calorie expenditure exceeds their consumption. But this does not mean that you don’t need to eat before training to lose weight. If you want to lose weight, then you need aerobic training for weight loss .

As with bulking, when losing weight you need to eat 2 hours before training. But this time the amount of carbohydrates needs to be reduced to 15-20 g, and the amount of protein consumed to 10-15 g, so that there is no excess glycogen (glucose) in the muscles. Take the same complex carbohydrates.

Without eating before training, you will not be able to train at the intensity necessary to burn fat. And if you eat heavily and shortly before training, then you will waste the energy of food, not excess fat.

Before training for weight loss, you need to make a meal with a total composition of 15 grams of carbohydrates (for men) and up to 10 grams of carbohydrates for women, as well as protein foods, for women it will be optimal to get up to 7 grams, for men 12-15 grams. Such nutrition will give the body energy to maintain the required intensity at the beginning of the workout, but it will not be enough and the body will begin to break down fat deposits to obtain additional energy. If you use, then the diet needs to be adjusted taking into account the characteristics of the diet.

As an additional stimulant, 30 minutes before training you can drink a glass of strong green tea or coffee without cream. This will increase the secretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine, which mobilize fat from fat cells so that muscle cells can use it as energy.

Conditions that must be followed to lose weight:

1. Be sure to eat before training

The body needs energy to perform any work, and for its functioning it also needs energy, which it receives from food. And if you don’t eat, then your body will not have the resources to carry out training at the level to get the desired result.

2. The athlete should have a meal 2 hours before the start of training.

Firstly, it is difficult to train on a full stomach because of the feeling of heaviness and drowsiness.

Secondly, undigested and unassimilated food will not allow the body to use internal resources, that is, burn fat.

3. Reduce the amount of protein and carbohydrate-containing foods if you want to lose weight, and if you want to gain weight, then increase

Proteins and carbohydrates are nutrients that need to be manipulated depending on your goals: do you want to lose weight or gain weight. Therefore, increase or decrease their consumption depending on the desired result.

Pre-workout protein

It's always easier and faster to get required amount nutrients from the shake. It is easier and more convenient to consume and is absorbed faster. Therefore, before training, you can take one serving of a protein shake or gainer 1 hour before, or even 30 minutes before.

Is it possible to eat during training?

During training, you can consume for additional fuel fast carbohydrates or BCAA amino acids. They will protect muscles from destruction and add strength.

Pre-workout foods

Below are examples that combine protein and carbohydrate foods; you can alternate these options depending on your taste preferences:

Poultry meat (turkey, chicken breasts) with coarse bread or rice or pasta
Lean fish and potatoes
Lean meat with potatoes or pasta
Eggs with porridge
Cottage cheese with bread

Immediately after training You can eat almost any easily digestible food, because it will go towards restoring the energy spent during training. Such products could be:

fruit juices
fruits - watermelon, banana, pineapple, mango, apricots
fruit cocktails
sports drinks - gainers, proteins, post-workout complexes, energy bars.

You don’t need to eat too much after a workout, and it’s unlikely that you will be able to do so when all the blood has gone into the muscles and it’s not only that you overeat, but it’s hard to breathe.

Nutrition before morning workout

If you prefer to train in the morning, then after waking up you need to drink a protein shake and add 5-8 grams of BCAA to it. Or you can eat something easily digestible, such as a piece of cake or pastry. Other foods are not very suitable before a morning workout, because they take a long time to digest and the body will not receive energy from them for training.

But immediately after training, it is advisable to consume a sufficient amount of proteins and carbohydrates from regular food.

The Best Meals Before and After a Morning Workout:

poultry (chicken breasts, turkey) with wholemeal bread or rice
lean meat with potatoes or pasta
cottage cheese with wholemeal bread
lean steak with potatoes or fresh vegetables
egg white omelette with oatmeal
lean fish with potatoes or vegetables

Sample pre-workout diet

What to eat before training, each athlete must determine for himself based on his personal experience. But we can highlight the basic principles: solid food can be consumed 4 hours before the start of training, a carbohydrate shake or foods containing fast carbohydrates - 2-3 hours before training, and the water-salt balance must be restored an hour before training.

1 hour or less before training

- fresh fruits: apples, watermelons, peaches, grapes, oranges and/or
- energy jams (gels)
- up to 1 cup of sports drink

2 - 3 hours before training

- fresh fruits
- bread, bagels, pasta
- yogurt
- water

3 - 4 hours before training

- fresh fruits
- bread, bagels
- pasta with tomato sauce
- baked potato
- energy bar
- cereal with milk
- yogurt
- bread/sandwich with peanut butter, meat or cheese
- water

Caffeine pre-workout and performance

Caffeine is used by athletes as a central stimulant nervous system, to improve its functioning and neuromuscular connection. There is information that caffeine can increase endurance and improve the breakdown of fats to obtain energy for the work of muscle cells. This theory is not supported by research, but you can do a little experiment and find out if it works for you. Coffee can be used as a central nervous system stimulant, but here you must proceed from the state of your health (heart function and blood pressure).

Foods to Avoid Before Workout

This has already been mentioned above, but I will remind you once again that fatty foods before training are a bad option. It is poorly digested and prevents carbohydrates and proteins, which are needed to feed the body with energy, from being absorbed into the bloodstream.

Foods that are harmful to training include:

Fat meat
Donuts
Fried potatoes
Chips and any fast food

Only you can choose the optimal diet yourself, based on your personal feelings, based on practical experiences during the training process. And what works very well for your partner or even your coach may not be suitable for you personally. You will definitely have personal preferences in foods, body characteristics and metabolism, so experiment and find your proper nutrition before training.

A small example of a fitness menu plan

Fitness diet menu

1st day

Breakfast: 2 eggs (1 yolk, 2 whites), 100 g of oatmeal, 1 glass of orange juice, 50 g of low-fat cottage cheese. Second breakfast: fruit salad, low-fat yogurt. Lunch: 100 g boiled chicken, 100 g rice, green salad. Afternoon snack: baked potato, low-fat yogurt. Dinner: 200 g of stewed fish, salad, apple.

2nd day

Breakfast: 100 g of muesli, 1 glass of skim milk, 2 eggs, some fruit. Second breakfast: 1 glass carrot juice, 50 g of cottage cheese. Lunch: chicken salad (150-200 g of meat), 1 potato, apple. Afternoon snack: low-fat yogurt, fruit. Dinner: 150 g fish, 1 cup boiled beans, salad (can be served with low-fat salad dressing).

3rd day

Breakfast: 200 g strawberries, 100 g oatmeal, 2 egg omelet. Second breakfast: banana, 100 g of cottage cheese. Lunch: 200 g fish, 100 g rice, salad. Afternoon snack: fruit, yogurt. Dinner: 100 g turkey, 1 cup corn, salad.

4th day

Breakfast: 1 grapefruit, 100 g rolled oats, 1 glass of milk. Second breakfast: banana, 100 g of cottage cheese. Lunch: 150 g chicken, 50 g rice. Afternoon snack: 1 glass of vegetable juice, bran. Dinner: 120 g beef, a cup of corn.

5th day

Breakfast: peach, 100 g of oatmeal, omelette, glass of juice. Second breakfast: 1 glass of vegetable juice, 100 g of rice. Lunch: pita bread, 100 g turkey, apple. Afternoon snack: salad, 100 g of cottage cheese. Dinner: 100 g chicken, salad.

6th day

Breakfast: omelet, 100 g buckwheat, 1 glass of milk. Second breakfast: cottage cheese, banana. Lunch: 200 g fish, 100 g rice, salad, 1 glass of orange juice. Afternoon snack: baked potato, yogurt. Dinner: 150 g shrimp, vegetable salad.

7th day

Breakfast: apple, 2 egg omelet, 100 g buckwheat. Lunch; 100 g cottage cheese, peach. Dinner; 100 g beef, vegetable mixture (corn, carrots, peas). Afternoon snack: yogurt, 100 g rice. Dinner: 150 g chicken, vegetable salad.

8th day

Breakfast: 1 grapefruit, 100 g muesli, 1 glass of skim milk, 2 eggs. Second breakfast: 70 g rice, 1 peach. Lunch: 120 g chicken, salad, half a plate of pasta, 1 glass of orange juice. Afternoon snack: yogurt, apple. Dinner: 120 g beef, vegetable salad.

9th day

Breakfast: omelet, 100 g buckwheat, fruit, 1 glass of orange juice. Second breakfast: banana, cottage cheese. Lunch: 100 g fish, 100 g rice, peach, 1 glass of orange juice. Afternoon snack: yogurt, 50-100 g dried apricots. Dinner: 200 g fish, baked potatoes, vegetable juice.

10th day

Breakfast: 1 glass of blueberries, 100 g of oatmeal, omelet. Second breakfast: 100 g low-fat cottage cheese, 50 g raisins. Lunch: 100 g chicken, baked potato, 1 glass of vegetable juice. Afternoon snack: low-fat yogurt, orange. Dinner: 100 g fish, vegetable salad.

11th day

Breakfast: a slice of watermelon, 2 eggs, 50 g of bran bread, 1 glass of orange juice. Second breakfast: banana, 50 g of cottage cheese. Lunch: 100 g rice, 200 g squid. Afternoon snack: 150 g fish, salad. Dinner: 100 g chicken, corn salad.

12th day

Breakfast: 1 glass of carrot juice, 100 g of oatmeal, omelette. Second breakfast: 100 g of rice with raisins and dried apricots. Lunch: 100 g chicken in pita, salad. Afternoon snack: low-fat yogurt, apple. Dinner: 120 g beef, 100 g broccoli.

13th day

Breakfast: grapefruit, 100 g of oatmeal, omelette. Second breakfast: 50 g of cottage cheese, peach. Lunch: 120 g turkey in pita bread, boiled corn on the cob. Afternoon snack: low-fat yogurt, apple. Dinner: 150 g fish, vegetable salad.

14th day

Breakfast: 1 glass of orange juice, 2 eggs, 100 g of muesli, 1 glass of milk. Second breakfast: banana, 50 g of cottage cheese. Lunch: 150 g chicken, green salad, 100 g rice. Afternoon snack: yogurt, peach. Dinner: 150 g of river fish, vegetable salad.

This is an example of a diet for athletes. This is approximately how you should eat, but you shouldn’t copy it, because you have your own weight, your own metabolism, and so on. Therefore, we proceed from our data and goals and create our own menu based on this. The simplest option is to reduce or increase the caloric content of food if you want to lose weight or gain weight, respectively.

And yet, the dairy products mentioned above must be low-fat. All meat products are boiled or can be baked. It is better to choose fruits that are not sweet and give preference to green ones. Drink only natural juices or don’t drink them at all. It's always better to drink plain water.

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Eating before exercise energizes you and helps you train harder and more energetically, while eating after exercise helps with muscle recovery. It is not always possible to eat a full meal 1.5 hours before sports or 45-60 after their completion. In such cases, have a light 150-200 calorie snack 30-45 minutes before you start. There is no need to have a special snack if you ate about 1.5-2 hours ago. Excess and weight gain. Don't think that everything will burn out during training. Most people burn fewer calories than they think. On average it is 300-400 kcal, no matter what the devices show. Take a snack if you really need it.

For different types Sports activities have different requirements for the distribution of meals before training. A snack before yoga classes will be superfluous, but before strength training it will come in handy.

The key to a pre-workout snack is protein and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates prevent premature depletion of muscle glycogen, which will allow you to exercise intensely. Proteins prevent muscle breakdown. And the meal itself reduces the level of cortisol - the stress hormone, which begins to be actively produced after hungry sports activities (calorizer). - it destroys muscle tissue, causes.

Fats slow down digestion. You run the risk of feeling heartburn, bloating, nausea, or pain when exercising. There should be no fat in the snack.

Choose from quickly digestible carbohydrates or a small slice. There should be few carbohydrates. Choose lower carbohydrate foods. better . better . better .

Excess carbohydrates create a high glycemic load on the body. If you have a bad workout, you risk feeling weak, apathetic, and lethargic. By the way, obese and sedentary people have low sensitivity to insulin.

A post-workout meal should take place no later than 4-5 hours after the previous meal. This figure was reached by researchers Alan Aragon and Brad Schofield, who studied the effect of nutrition around training on recovery.

Let's say you ate at 15:30, started working out at 17:00 and did 60 minutes. Let's add time for changing clothes - you left the hall at 18:30. You need to eat food within 60-120 minutes (calorizator). Many people come home and eat their planned dinner. If dinner takes a long time to prepare or you are not going home, you need to make a snack.

The main component of the snack is protein, since it is necessary to saturate the muscles with amino acids. Carbohydrates are an additional component. Their presence in a post-workout snack is not so important. Much more important is their number per day, that is. For carbohydrates, choose fruits, berries, vegetables and bread, but make sure that the carbohydrate portion does not exceed the daily allowance.

Your post-workout meal may contain some fat. They slow down digestion, which means you'll feel full longer. Good sources are a small handful of nuts, fats from eggs, fermented milk products, provided that they fit into the BZHU.

You can fit sports into your routine so you don’t have to worry about snacking. Sometimes it is better to have a snack than to feel very hungry and uncomfortable. The main thing is that snacks fit into your daily calorie and dietary requirements and do not create a burden on digestion.

Have you been going to the gym for several weeks but not seeing results in the form of weight loss? Now answer the question: “What do you eat before training?” This is an important factor. Today we will talk about how to eat properly before training to lose weight or gain muscle mass.

Meal time

The success of training is 60-70% dependent on nutrition. You can spend several hours doing gymnastics or doing weight exercises, but still not achieve visible results. Is this situation familiar to you? A lot depends on what you eat before training.

We will talk about proper nutrition and suitable products a little later. In the meantime, it’s worth determining optimal time for eating. The expression “pre-workout” does not mean that you need to consume certain foods 5 minutes before exercise. Firstly, it is inconvenient to perform exercises with a full belly. Secondly, physical activity will slow down the digestion process. Thirdly, belching, drowsiness and a feeling of heaviness in the stomach may appear.

Professional athletes and fitness instructors advise eating 2 hours before exercise. Some girls and boys prefer not to eat anything at all. But they are making a huge mistake. Exercising on an empty stomach will not be effective. And all due to the lack of necessary resources. Food before training should be easily digestible and saturate the body with energy. You can simply drink a gainer or have a small portion of cottage cheese.

The body of a person involved in sports needs carbohydrates. They are the ones that will be used by the muscles during training. A small portion of protein serves as the main source of amino acids, which create an anabolic “precondition”. As for fats, they should not be in the pre-workout menu. They slow down the metabolic processes occurring in the body. Fats also prevent carbohydrates and proteins from being absorbed into the blood.

Calorie content and volume of food

What to eat before a workout aimed at The set of products may be the same as for a regular breakfast (lunch). The main thing is that the body receives enough calories. Energy consumption different people may vary. Factors such as a person’s age, gender and body type are taken into account here.

for men - 300 kcal;
for women - 200 kcal.

Important components of the diet

When drawing up any diet or nutritional system, proteins, fats and carbohydrates are taken into account. What should you eat before training? And in what quantity? You will find out about this now.

Carbohydrates

Do you want your training to be successful? Then you need to consume 40-70 g of slow carbohydrates. They are called so because of the low rate of breakdown into monosaccharides. For the body this is the most best source energy. And the safest. If a couple of hours before training you eat foods that contain them, you will get a boost of energy for several hours. This is exactly what you need for an intense workout.

Products with low carbohydrate content (from 10 to 40 g per 100 g of product):

grapes and apples;
beets and potatoes;
fruit juices (without any additives);
curd cheeses.

Vegetables, peas, beans and rye bread contain 40-60 g of carbohydrates (per 100 g). And the leaders in the content of these substances are corn flakes, rice, buckwheat, oatmeal and other cereals.

Squirrels

During training, muscles tense and increase in size. To maintain an anabolic state, it is necessary to consume proteins. They, in turn, contain amino acids - substances involved in the processes of restoration and construction of muscle fibers.

The following products are sources of protein:

Cottage cheese, milk, cheese and eggs.
Turkey, goose, chicken.
Lean pork, beef and veal.
Salami, boiled sausage.
Trout.

You can eat no more than 20-30 g of protein per meal.

Fats

An athlete's diet should contain more than just proteins and carbohydrates. You can't do without fats either. But this does not mean that you need to eat high-calorie foods. We are interested in fats of vegetable origin. They will not cause any harm to the figure and will not reduce the effectiveness of the workout. Olive and linseed oil, as well as fish oil. These products contain polyunsaturated acids (Omega-3).

“What should I eat before training?” - is not the only question that interests people involved in sports. must also be respected. Water is essential to the human body. And especially for athletes. The daily norm is 2 liters of water (without gas).

During sports we lose a lot of fluid. Therefore, it is imperative to replenish its reserves. 1 hour before training, women can drink 0.5 liters of water, and men - 0.8 liters. Not in one gulp, but in small sips.

Another important point- electrolyte-salt balance. When doing this, a large amount of minerals are lost. To restore electrolytes, you should drink slightly salted water before training.

What you need to gain muscle mass

Do you want your body to become elastic and sculpted? Then anaerobic exercises 2-3 times a week are suitable for you. What to eat before training? Proteins are also necessary for the restoration and synthesis of muscle fibers.

Half an hour before the start of classes you can eat:

one fruit (for example, an apple or pear);
a pinch of low berries (strawberries, black and red currants and others);
wash it all down with a protein drink, preferably whey (thanks to it, the food will quickly be absorbed by the body and become a source of energy); the amount of drink is calculated using the formula: 0.22 ml per 1 kg of weight.

Workouts for weight loss

Is the purpose of going to the gym to lose weight? You need aerobic training. To obtain visible results, one rule must be followed: there must be more than their consumption. But this does not mean that you should not eat before training. What do experts recommend?

As with gaining muscle mass, you need to eat 2 hours before starting classes. But the amount of carbohydrates and proteins will be different. They need to be consumed less to avoid the appearance of excess glycogen in the muscles. The optimal amount of protein is 10-15 g, and carbohydrates - 15-20 g. Do not go beyond these limits.

If you don't eat before exercising, you won't be able to exercise at the intensity needed to burn body fat. Having too much breakfast (lunch) shortly before class will also not be beneficial. After all, the body will spend energy from food, not excess fat.

A couple of hours before training, you should take a meal with the following composition:

15 g carbohydrates and 12 g protein - for men;
10 g carbohydrates and 7 g protein - for women.

This type of nutrition will provide you with enough energy to maintain intensity at the very beginning of your workouts. Any fitness trainer knows about this. After a few minutes, the body will draw energy from fat reserves, which, in turn, leads to a reduction in figure volume and weight loss.

A glass of strong green tea can be an additional stimulant for the weight loss process. We drink it half an hour before class. The components included in this drink enhance the secretion of norepinephrine and epinephrine. As a result, muscles use fat from body fat as fuel.

Prohibited Products

Now you know what to eat before training. It remains to list the foods that athletes should not consume. It's about about fatty foods. Harmful for training are: fried potatoes, donuts and pies, fatty meats, chips and any fast food.