7 Pre-Workout Snack Tips You Need to Implement Today
In a world where pre-workout supplements are in everyone’s gym bag or pantry, what can you do to further enhance your workouts and get the results from your training that you desire? Well, the answer is quite simple, yet most people neglect it due to poor planning and timing. What am I referring to? A pre-workout snack.
Yup, it’s something that simple which can completely change your workout performance and results.
Below, we will discuss some of the best pre-workout snack tips to help get you through the most intense and grueling workouts. If you want to maximize your time in the gym and fuel new muscle growth, this can help.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to treat or diagnose any condition. It is recommended that you speak with your doctor before starting any exercise program, changing your daily nutrition, or adding any supplements to your regimen.
Table of contents
- Try These 7 Pre-Workout Snack Tips to Get MORE Out of Your Workouts
- 1. Consume Protein and Carbohydrates
- 2. Don’t Consume a Large Pre-Workout Snack
- 3. Consume Your Snack 3-4 Hours Before Your Workout
- 4. Leverage a Small Snack 60 Minutes Before a Workout If Needed
- 5. Drink Plenty of Water
- 6. Don’t Try New Snacks Before Your Workout
- 7. Drink a Cup of Coffee with Your Pre-Workout Snack
Try These 7 Pre-Workout Snack Tips to Get MORE Out of Your Workouts
Give these awesome pre-workout snack tips a try!
1. Consume Protein and Carbohydrates
It is essential to consume some protein before your workouts to help get some amino acids shuttled out into the body. Utilize easy-to-digest protein sources that won’t cause any stomach issues or hinder your workout. Think of things along the lines of Greek yogurt, nuts, hard-boiled eggs, or even a protein bar or protein shake.
Carbohydrates will be a source of fuel to help you dig deep and annihilate your workout. The extra glucose can be used by the muscles as energy to allow you the ability to push out more reps, more weight, or more sets each workout to achieve progressive overload — an important principle to follow to enhance lean muscle tissue growth. Think of snacks along the lines of rice cakes, bananas, oatmeal, or even a granola bar.
2. Don’t Consume a Large Pre-Workout Snack
One of the important pre-workout snack tips to understand is that while a pre-workout snack is critical, eating too much can negatively impact your workout. Having a bunch of food sitting in your stomach is not conducive to maximum performance when your stomach feels extremely full and heavy.
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Focus on a small pre-workout snack that can be quickly and easily digested. If you consume something large or with a high fat content, not only can the fat slow down the digestion process, but you may not have enough time prior to your workout to truly allow the food to get digested and be shuttled out into the body to be used as fuel.
3. Consume Your Snack 3-4 Hours Before Your Workout
As touched on above, you don’t want to still be digesting your pre-workout snack when you’re walking into the gym and loading weights on the bar. By having your pre-workout snack (some may even consider it a pre-workout meal) 3-4 hours before your workout, it gives your body adequate time to digest and break down what you consumed so that it can be used during your workout.
Now, keep in mind that this 3-4 hour window is for whole food options. It takes the body much longer to digest whole foods than it does something such as a liquid. This leads us nicely into another one of our pre-workout snack tips.
4. Leverage a Small Snack 60 Minutes Before a Workout If Needed
If you forgot to eat your snack or small meal 3-4 hours before your workout, or you’re simply the type of person who doesn’t like having a meal or food before your workouts, you can get away with a quick little snack anywhere from 30-60 minutes before your workout. The key word here is “little,” as you don’t want a ton of food or liquid sitting in your stomach when you’re exerting max effort during your workout.
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In this case, you’re going to want something that can be digested extremely quickly, such as a protein shake or even a smoothie. Again, as mentioned in tip #1, make sure your shake or smoothie contains both protein and carbohydrates to help fuel your workout and help enhance your performance. You could even go with the tried-and-true chocolate milk along with a banana if you wish.
5. Drink Plenty of Water
It should go without saying that many people neglect drinking water before their workouts, as well as during and after. Drinking water pre-workout can help you stay hydrated during your workouts. Should you become dehydrated (even slightly) during your workout, it can drastically decrease your workout performance — diminishing your ability to increase your lean muscle mass.
Water also plays a key role in helping you achieve an insane pump during your workouts. If you fail to consume enough water, you may find it challenging to achieve a muscle pump, and you may find you look flat and not as impressive during your workout.
6. Don’t Try New Snacks Before Your Workout
This is a vital warning and definitely needs to be on our list of pre-workout snack tips. If you’ve never had a certain snack before a workout, trying it may not be wise. You demand maximum performance and energy during your workout to help you focus on pushing as much weight as possible and breaking down your muscle fibers so that they can be rebuilt bigger and stronger to promote hypertrophy.
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The last thing you want to do is throw something new into the mix, get to the gym, and either have zero energy or an upset stomach that completely derails your workout. You want to put pre-workout snacks in your body that you know your body accepts and has no issues with.
7. Drink a Cup of Coffee with Your Pre-Workout Snack
First and foremost, if you are sensitive to caffeine or stimulants, you can go ahead and just skip this pre-workout snack tip. But if you’re like most Americans, you’re probably looking for just about any reason to pour yourself another cup of Joe.
That cup of coffee you consume has a ton of benefits that will help you move closer to your health and fitness goals. For instance, drinking a cup of coffee pre-workout can help boost energy levels, increase strength and power, accelerate fat loss, improve workout performance, heighten focus, and decrease muscle pain. I mean, do you really need any more benefits listed than that?
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In order for the caffeine content to kick in from your favorite cup of coffee, you’ll want to consume it 45-60 minutes before your workout to ensure the caffeine can get absorbed into the bloodstream and start ramping up your energy levels. A single cup of coffee should be enough to get you through your entire workout without seeing a drop in your energy levels.
Take the pre-workout snack tips mentioned above and implement them into your pre-workout ritual. Try one or all of them and see how your body reacts and how it affects your workout performance and results. One of the best ways to see better results from your training is to test things. If one method worked for everyone, we’d all be in incredible shape (but we aren’t). Give these pre-workout snack tips a try, and you may find you’re significantly closer to achieving your goals.
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