Regular workout or physical activity is crucial in order to lead a healthy and active life. Nutrition is also
just as important as lifting for improving fitness, looking good, and gaining strength. When the two go
hand-in-hand, amazing things are possible.

Hence engaging in regular exercise and workout are important for our well-being. But along with
working out, one’s diet also plays an equally significant role. You will only achieve your desired workout
results when you follow a nutritious diet and keep the body well hydrated.

Pre and post workout foods are essential in order to balance the glucose concentration in the body. It
helps in boosting up the performance and enhances the recovery time. The athletes or people who work
out regularly should drink plenty of water and other fluids pre and post workout to maintain the loss of
fluid from the body. The pre-workout meal not only ensures that we have enough energy for the
workout but also helps maximise our performance. The post workout meal aims at optimizing our
recovery. 

Often, people get confused regarding the diet which is to be taken pre and post workout. so let’s discuss
about pre and post workout meal-

Pre-workout nutrition needs

What and when you eat before exercise can make a big difference to your performance and recovery.
The purpose of a pre-workout meal is simple: to fuel your activity and give your body what it needs to
perform at its peak.
To do that, your body needs two things:

 Carbs, for energy
 Protein, to supply your muscles with the right amino acids.

In the three hours before your workout, you’ll want to eat something that helps you:
 sustain energy
 boost performance
 hydrate
 preserve muscle mass
 speed recovery.

Here are a few ways to ensure you’re meeting your requirements.
Protein before exercise
Eating some protein in the few hours before exercise Can help you maintain or even increase your
muscle size. That’s important for anyone who wants to improve health, body composition, or
performance.
Can reduce markers of muscle damage (myoglobin, creatine kinase, and myofibrillar protein
degradation). Or at least prevent them from getting worse. (Carbohydrates or a placebo eaten before
exercise don’t seem to do the same thing.) The less damage to your muscles, the faster you recover, and
the better you adapt to your exercise over the long term.
Floods your bloodstream with amino acids just when your body needs them most. This boosts your
muscle-building capabilities. So not only are you preventing damage, you’re increasing muscle size.
Before you rush off to mix a protein shake: While protein before a workout is a great idea, speed of
digestion doesn’t seem to matter much. So any protein source, eaten within a few hours of the workout
session, will do the trick.

Carbs before exercise
Eating carbs before exercise fuels your training and helps with recovery. It’s a popular misconception
that you only need carbs if you’re engaging in a long (more than two hour) bout of endurance exercise.
In reality, carbs can also enhance shorter term (one hour) high-intensity training. So, unless you’re just
going for a quiet stroll, ensuring that you have some carbs in your system will improve high intensity
performance.

Preserves muscle and liver glycogen. This tells your brain that you are well fed, and helps increase
muscle retention and growth.

Stimulates the release of insulin. When combined with protein, this improves protein synthesis and
prevents protein breakdown. Another reason why a mixed meal is a great idea. No sugary carb drinks
required.

Post-workout nutrition needs

Post-workout nutrition is more complex. Its purpose is to supply your body with everything it needs to
repair, replenish, recover and adapt to the training stimulus that the workout provided.
More specifically, post-workout nutrition helps to:
 Minimize muscle damage/muscle protein breakdown
 Assist in building muscle/increase muscle protein synthesis
 Replenish muscle glycogen (the stored form of carbohydrate)
 Reduce cortisol (stress hormone) levels
 Reduce muscle soreness

To do that, your body once again needs these two things:
 Carbs
 Protein
Protein after exercise
Eating protein after exercise prevents protein breakdown and stimulates synthesis, leading to increased
or maintained muscle tissue. So, it’s a great strategy for better recovery, adaptation, and performance.
you can choose whichever type of protein you want for your post-workout meal.
Any high-quality complete protein should do the job, as long as you eat enough. That means about 40-
60 grams for men and 20-30 grams for women.
Carbs after exercise
Contrary to popular belief, it’s unnecessary to stuff yourself with refined carbohydrates and sugars to
“spike” insulin and theoretically restore muscle and liver glycogen as rapidly as possible after your
workout.
In fact, a blend of minimally processed whole food carbohydrates, along with some fruit (to better
restore or maintain liver glycogen) is actually a better choice, because:
it’s better tolerated;
it restores glycogen equally over a 24-hour time period; and
it might lead to better next-day performance.