Fueling Before Workout

The thought of eating in anticipation and preparation of a workout is often times a foreign concept, especially for those participating in early morning exercise, i.e. the “6 am-ers”. This is also common in those trying to lose weight. The fact of the matter is your pre-exercise meal can make all the difference in the intensity and performance of your workout. Poor carbohydrate stores and low blood sugar is certainly not the recipe for maximizing your training time and overall performance. You have gone out of your way to carve out time for your workout, so why not make the most of it?

Specific pre-exercise meals for workouts such as a standard one hour session can occur 2-4 hours prior to the onset of exercise and can range from 400 to 800 calories. There will be some variability between athletes and their tolerance levels, but with some trial and error, an optimal meal time and meal content can be dialed in.

The meal or snack should contain complex carbohydrates to help restore some of your used glycogen stores and help elevate and maintain blood sugar levels. These foods should be relatively low to moderate in fiber to ease digestion and to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal discomfort. Some additional protein in the meal, either from a protein source (e.g., animal product) or a carbohydrate-rich protein source (e.g. dairy products) will help maintain blood glucose levels by delaying the digestion and absorption of carbohydrate from the meal.

Pre-exercise fluids are also helpful to performance and recovery. Recommended intake is as follows: fluids with carbohydrates like milk or juice 2 hours before your workout (approximately 2 cups or 16 fl oz). Drink water or a sports drink 1 hour prior (1 cup or 8 fl oz) and 30 minutes prior (1 cup or 8 fl oz) to your workout. These fluids will reduce the risk of nausea or stomach cramping vs. highly concentrated fluid sources such as juice.

The closer you get to the onset of your workout, the smaller the meal/snack and the less protein to help maintain blood sugar and reduce stomach upset. The bottom line is, each athlete responds differently and therefore, individual preferences and tolerances need to be addressed to optimize training and competition.

If the idea of eating something before a workout sounds unappealing to you, my suggestion would be to try something very simple such as a glass of juice, a piece of fruit or a slice of toast. Something is better than nothing (and for you early am-ers, eating 2-4 hours before is not very practical). You never know, you might actually feel and perform better and consider adding more to your pre-exercise snack.


By Marlia Braun, PhD, RD and MealWell Sports Nutrition Advisor