Foods to Eat Before Cardiovascular Exercise
The foods you eat before exercising should keep you hydrated, maintain higher energy levels, and reduce hunger throughout the activity.
For most activities, these foods should contain higher amounts of carbohydrates and lower amounts of fat. This type of food is easier for the digestive system to convert food stuffs into stored glycogen (stored energy) in the body. This does not necessarily mean that high amounts of sugar are recommended.
Why Are Some Foods Better Than Others?
Staying away from high fats and an overabundance of protein is a great way to start. High fats take can take too much time to digest in the body, which can cause gastrointestinal distress during the activity. Foods high in protein tend to have lower amounts of carbohydrates, which is the key energy nutrient.
What Should I Eat?
The food you eat before exercise should not be too heavy, but should provide enough energy to support the body during exercise. A few smart foods to consume should be high in fiber such as, beans, lentils, apples, and pasta. Fresh fruits may seem to be a safe choice because the type of sugar in them (fructose) tends to digest at a steady rate to sustain blood glucose. Although, some may find benefit in fruits and fruit juices, others may experience GI distress.
Processed foods tend to cause more problems than benefit; however, some people may find increased energy levels throughout exercise when they consume synthetic food products that are designed for higher performance in physical activity.
The best advice for what to eat before exercise is to stick with familiar foods. It is appropriate to go through some trial and error during the season before practices and exercise sessions. But, for the “big game,” eat the foods that are known to not cause problems.
How Do I Know When Enough is Enough?
A pre-game or pre-exercise meal should satisfy hunger, but not leave you overstuffed. The best way to think about this is to “top off the tanks.” Let your body tell you when your satisfied, which may suggest eating slow enough to recognize the signals your body is sending. If too little is eaten, hunger may take attention away from exercise and energy may be too low to complete the exercise at full capacity. On the other hand, if too much is eaten, the body will focus attention on digesting a large amount food, and exercise will suffer. As stated before, trial and error is a great method for determining what works for your own body.
When Is The Best Time To Eat Before Exercise or Competition?
A large meal may be consumed about 4 hours prior to any activity. A moderate “topping off the tanks” sort of meal may be consumed about 2 hours before exercise; this means 2 hours before the warm-up for exercise as well. If hunger pursues, a small snack may be appropriate 5 minutes before the start of physical exertion. Eating should stop within the window of 2 hours to 5 minutes pre-exercise, because insulin is circulating throughout the blood stream, which is working to store blood glucose. During exercise, muscles may be competing for this blood glucose for energy, which may not be available due to the action of the insulin.
For an early morning event, it is a good idea to plan ahead and eat well the day before the exercise or activity. An early morning breakfast should proportionally consist of higher carbohydrates and lower fats. Breakfast is advised because the body has just experienced an overnight fast of at least 6 hours (a result of sleep). So unless you can sleep and eat at the same time, a medium breakfast is recommended 2-3 hours before exercise.
Energy Drinks
Certain food processing companies have consumers believing that “energy drinks” contain energy. Although some proposed energy drinks may in fact have some caloric value to them, the “energy” may actually refer to a stimulant. More specifically, the stimulant is a substance the body can use to release energy stores already in the body.
Caffeine, guarana, ginko, and B vitamins are often the main ingredients listed on the labels of these drinks, none of which have any caloric value (energy). The disadvantage of relying on these products is the crash midway through the activity. Stimulants are effective at releasing energy, but not sustaining it. Extreme caution should be used when taking these so-called “energy drinks” before engaging in any serious exercise.
Appropriate High-Carbohydrate Foods — Pre-Exercise
4 Hours Before
Tuna fish sandwich
Brown rice, vegetables, & chicken
Whole grain pasta with marinara
Pan noodles with salmon
2 Hours Before
Peanut butter & jelly sandwich
Fresh sushi roll
Cold penne pasta salad with diced vegetables
Whole grain tortilla with banana & honey