Sports Nutrition: Pre Workout Snack
Written by: Jim Stoppani, PhD (Muscle and Fitness)
What are you typically eating before your workout? The general recommendation is 40 grams of slow burning, complex carbohydrates prior to your workout. Examples of a slow burning carbohydrates are: fruits, oatmeal, whole grain bread. Not a bottle of gatorade. The reason: they provide a long lasting form of energy through your entire workout so you don’t crash. Reasearch not only shows this to be true but also confirms that eating slow digesting carbohydreates helps you burn more fat during your workout.
YOu can get away with having fast-digesting carbs like white bread or gatorade if your workout is 30 min or less. and you are already fairly lean, or not worried about burning fat. Otherwise, fast carbs will spike your insulin level during the workout causing blood sugar levels to drop and leaving you with insuficiant energy to finish the workout with the intesity needed to encourage muscle growth. The higher insulin level will also halt fat burning that;s critical during cardio workouts and when lifting weights, since you burn fat when resting between sets and when the workout is over. Your best bet it to forgo fast carbs until you finish a session. Then you can go with 60-100 grams of fast carbs to spike insulin at a time when you want it high – after workout, when it drives muscle growth and dosen’t compromise fat loss.
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