What to Eat Before, During & After Workouts to boost muscle growth, and performance—here’s why peri-workout nutrition still matters.
For years, workout nutrition was treated like the holy grail. It wasn’t optional, it was necessary. So much so that it was common to be mixing up a protein shake with fast-digesting carbs right in the locker room. Time was of the essence. You couldn’t even wait to drive home.
Then, as research came out that the level of obsessiveness over timing was unnecessary, the hype around peri-workout nutrition faded. From there, we all started focusing more on total daily intake, for good reason. Total daily intake covers the vast majority of what you need to do. But should we revisit peri-workout nutrition?
I think so. Today, I’m breaking down exactly what to eat before, during, and after training to maximize muscle growth and performance.
Before we get into it, workout nutrition only matters if your total daily nutrition is dialed in. Don’t worry about what you eat around workouts before you have your daily calories and macros dialed in.
It’s also important to note that there is not a lot of strong evidence to support nutrient timing, really at any point, let alone around your workouts. However, this is one of the times when I lean on experience. Being evidence-based is more than just research studies. It’s a mix of research, field experience, and individual preferences.
I’ve been coaching lifters and athletes for 15 years, and this is one of the easiest wins you can get to improve performance. It’s winning on the margins, so to speak.
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Peri-Workout Window
- From a timing perspective, we want to think in terms of pre-workout meal to post-workout meal. The goal is to keep that within 4-5 hours.
- So, if you think about it, you can stack the workout in between two normal meals. For the most part, that works great.
- What about fasted training? I think this touches on why workout nutrition is a little dicey. Training fasted is fine. I’ve done it a lot over the years. Research shows you can still build muscle. You might lose a little strength performance, but a negligible amount. That said, if you train fasted, intra-workout nutrition becomes more important, so pay attention to that when we get there.
Pre-Workout Nutrition
- Goal: Prevent hunger (avoid a feeling of emptiness in the stomach), fuel performance, support muscle protein synthesis, ensure proper hydration, and feel good. The hydration point is simple, but very important. Start drinking extra fluids before your workout to make sure you don’t start the session a little dehydrated.
- Timing: 0 min to 3 hours.
- 1-2 hours is ideal. If so, you can go with a normal meal calories/macros. Need to balance not feeling hungry, but not feeling full, either.
- The closer your pre-workout meal is to your workout, the smaller the meal, and vice versa. If your pre-workout meal is 3 hours before your workout, it will need to be a large meal.
- Macronutrients: Not feeling hungry during your workout and having the food sit well in your stomach are both more important than any macro breakdown.
- Carbs: Pre-workout, carbs are most important as the primary energy source.Protein: We also want a little protein to provide some amino acids in the bloodstream before lifting.
- Fat and Fiber: Most people advise keeping fat and fiber low, but I’m not overly concerned about it. I’m more concerned with food selection. For example, I like to train about an hour and a half after my breakfast of 4 eggs, 1 cup of oatmeal, and 1 cup of blueberries. That’s a high-fat and high-fiber meal, but it sits well in my stomach and makes me feel great. On the flip side, I don’t like to train after eating at Chipotle, even though it is a lower-fat (but still high-fiber) meal.
- Pre Workout Meal Examples:
- 1-3 hours out: Just eat one of your normal meals. Just make sure it has a decent chunk of carbs and protein. It’s hard to give numbers or ratios because it depends on your macros, but if your pre-workout meal is 1-3 hours before the workout, it should be one of your largest carbohydrate meals of the day.
- Under 1 hour: Within an hour, you have two options. A small, simple pre-workout meal with some protein and carbs, think a protein shake + banana. Or, you can do what I call the “top off method”. For this, it would just be a primarily carb snack. Back in the day, I would do a pre-workout Pop Tart. I also like the chocolate chip Clif Bars for this. But, I actually want food here, though not just liquid, since hunger is a big factor.
- It really depends on when you ate last. The top-off method works well when your last meal is just outside the pre-workout window, so if you ate around 3 hours ago. If you haven’t ate for more than 3.5 hours, I recommend having a shake and a piece of fruit.
- Pre-Workout Supplements: It’s best to take your pre-workout supplements about 30 minutes before training. It takes a bit for caffeine to hit. So, you don’t want to start drinking your pre-workout when you get to the gym. You should finish it on your way to the gym at the latest. Caffeine has a long half-life, so there is no need to worry about the caffeine wearing off.
Intra-Workout Nutrition
- When it matters: Outside of fasted training, there is not a lot of evidence that it is beneficial. However, this is where I stray from research. I’m bullish on intra-workout carbs and electrolytes. I have been for a long time. There are videos of me discussing this topic from 2011 or 2012. I think they are beneficial for performance, which is downstream beneficial for building muscle.
- Carbs: Dextrose, Gatorade, or similar for quick energy [15-30g]
- Protein: If training fasted, adding some EAAs can be extra insurance. A decent argument can be made for it. Alternatively, if you prefer not to use an EAA product, consider mixing a ½ scoop of protein with some carbs.
- Hydration: At the bare minimum, water and electrolytes, especially if you sweat a lot. That can just be a pinch of salt thrown in some water, or a Gatorade Zero if you don’t want any carbs.
- Takeaway: If your sessions are short and you’re fed, water is usually enough. But if you want to uncover every potential benefit, and you have the carbs to work with, intra-workout carbs can be a game-changer.
Post-Workout Nutrition
- Goal: Provide protein for recovery.
- Timing: There is no anabolic window. However, remember, we want the entire workout nutrition time frame to be in the 4-5 hour window, which is just how often you should probably eat anyway. So, it makes sense to eat a meal relatively quickly after finishing up training. If you can’t eat a meal for an extended time for some reason, slamming a protein shake is fine. The only time when time and digestion rates matter is when you have two workouts in one day.
- Macros:
- Protein: 30–40g of a high-quality source. Can be the next normal meal.Carbs: Having carbs intra-workout also mitigates the “need” for a bunch of carbs post-training
- Fat: Doesn’t really matter. There’s no need to avoid fat post-workout; time isn’t of the essence.
- Examples:
- Chicken and rice
- Steak, potato, and veggies
- Chipotle bowl
- Protein shake, oats, peanut butter
Don’t stress if you can’t slam a shake immediately, but don’t wait 5 hours either.
Putting It All Together
The TLDR version.
- Pre-Workout: Protein + carbs ~1–2 hrs before. Fasted training ok, but do intra-workout nutrition. For the most part, a normal meal that sits well in your stomach is fine for pre-workout. The key is to avoid getting hungry or overly stuffed. It’s a happy medium. If it’s been 3 hours since your pre-workout meal, top off with a little snack. A Pop Tart, Cliff bar, a granola bar, a banana all work well.
- Intra-Workout: Water and electrolytes, and I recommend 15-30g of fast-acting carbs. If you are training fasted, an argument for EAAs can be made.
- Post-Workout: Protein is the priority, but for the most part, have your next scheduled meal.
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