What to Eat Before You Lift

As important as it is to exercise to attain absolute fitness, equally important is your diet before and after workouts. A lot of people believe that going empty-stomach (or on a little bit of protein diet) for workouts makes them to lose more calories and gets them that desired leaner look in a lesser amount of time. However, this is just not true. Working out to achieve fitness is all about making your muscles work to burn more and more calories. Until and unless your body doesn't have enough fuel (nutrients) to burn, how can it even operate?

While you are exercising, your muscles undergo a process of refueling and rebuilding and sure you want to provide them enough nutrients to play with. In other words, going for a workout, empty stomach is like asking an engine to operate without supplying it with any fuel whatsoever.

As per a lot of doctors and dieticians, “Grabbing a meal 90 to 120 minutes prior to a workout is ideal”.

Here are Some of the Best Foods that You can opt for, before You begin Your Workout

Bananas

Packed with lots of potassium, Bananas are nature’s “PowerBar” Bananas are rich in digestible carbohydrates and potassium, which support your nerve and muscle functioning. As the body doesn’t store potassium for longer amounts of time, so a diet of one or two bananas before beginning your workout are ideal to keep your body nutrient level high during the workout. Bananas combined with some yoghurt, before 30-40 minutes before hitting the Gym, cater superbly to the carbohydrate and protein needs of your body.

Oats

The Exerciser’s favorite, Oats are rich in fibers, which make them to gradually supply your bloodstream with carbohydrates. The Vitamin B present in Oats, in turn smoothly converts these carbohydrates into energy, ensuring a consistently high level of energy for you, while you workout. One cup of oats, 30-40 minutes before you exercise, works like an asset to facilitate your workout activities.

Fruit Smoothies

Rich in high-quality protein and carbohydrates, Fruit Smoothies facilitate you with higher levels of endurance during workout and robustness against muscles damage, post workout. Smoothies are easy to consume and are digested easily. The carbohydrates present in fruit smoothies, break down quicker as compared to proteins present in the same. So on one hand, the quickly-breaking carbohydrates cater to your immediate fuel needs, while working out and on the other hand, the proteins break down later on to prevent muscles damages.

Chickpeas

With no man-made cookies involved at all, the Chickpeas are natural and easy to digest pre-workout snack that provides you with proteins, carbohydrates and fibers as well to support your workout activities. Just eat one quarter of a cup of chickpeas 30 minutes before you start to exercise (You can also season it with some lemon juice for taste). This alone will provide you with 10 grams of protein, 30 grams of carbohydrates, and around 9 grams of fiber.

Dry-Fruits

In case you are running short of time and need a quick fix to your pre-workout diet, dry-fruits are one of the best options for you. Being very light in quantity as well as in digestion, dry-fruits are rich in carbohydrates which break down very quickly to meet the instant energy needs of your body. One quarter of a cup of dried berries, apricots, and pineapple even just a few minutes before workout, works an ample pre-workout diet.