What Should You Eat Before And After You Workout and When Should You Eat It?

There are two meals that fall under the description of being the ‘most important of the day’ and they are interchangeable, believe it or not. But before we even get into details, you should be eating more than three meals a day – even if two of them are of the protein shake or bar variety and not complete sit-down ones.

With that said, you should key in on the meals directly before and then after you workout. There are a number of reasons why and we’ll get into them in a moment, but just realize that you can maximize your natural growth potential by feeding the beast properly. So why should you shortchange yourself by not taking advantage of eating – something that you have to do, anyway?

It’s not always easy to prepare all of these meals and get them in at all, let alone the right times of the day. Especially when you elect (or have) to train first thing in the morning. So even a protein shake and a preworkout drink will be enough to get your blood flowing and not leave you weak with a lack of calories to burn in your system for energy.

If you do have time to eat, good carbs like oatmeal or whole wheat dry toast (butter is horrible for you) are fine. Something light so it won’t make you feel full and lethargic. The carbs will give you more energy when introduced into the body and that in turn will turn into improved stamina.

You can always have a small intra-workout snack like a protein or granola bar if you really feel burnt out. Some people even choose to have an intra-workout shake (protein or a specific one tailor made for that).

So let’s say you completed your workout and are ready for what is the MOST important meal of the day. The post-workout meal eclipses the pre when it comes down to it because it dictates recovery, recuperation and growth. So this is the one that you want to get in within two hours after leaving the gym.

That time frame is key because what you’re doing is feeding those muscles that were just broken down and need to repair themselves before you work the same ones again. And carbs are a major component of building them up and promoting growth.

Look at it this way – competitive bodybuilders go through contest prep that can be up to 12 weeks long, but regardless of how many weeks they put in at the front, the last few all look similar. They need to lighten their carb intake to shed body fat (and in turn, muscle size) to get that shredded, grainy look. And then as they get closer to the show date, they re-introduce carbs into their system to get that fuller look in their muscle bellies. The carbs will help you retain some water in the muscles and they puff out and appear rounder. When you do this over a period of time by eating carbs after your workout, the muscles will keep getting stretched and that in turn will help them grow.

So even if you have no intentions of donning the posing trunks and getting oiled up on stage, you can use a somewhat similar strategy over the long haul to maximize your gains.