What can nutrition do for me during my workout? What would be best to eat and why?
ANSWER
Most lifters know that eating within a few hours before a workout will help give you the energy needed to work hard and get your gains, and even if you aren’t looking to bulk up, pre-workout fuel is important to stay focused and not gas out during your session.
But few take their nutrition into the gym for intra-workout fueling, but when workouts are intense and last longer than an hour, a pre-workout meal may not be enough to get you through.
Sports gummies and gels are easy to consume during exercise and provide the simple sugars— carbohydrates—your body needs to keep you moving after you’ve used up your pre-workout fuel and glycogen stores. If whole food sounds better to you, try eating a few dates, a banana, or even an energy bar while sweating between heavy lifts. But just make sure that what you are eating during a workout is low in fiber and fat, two things that will majorly slow digestion and can cause digestive upset.
Drinking enough fluids is extremely important, too, because with so much lost in your sweat, plain water won’t cut it at this level of intensity. Consuming electrolyte-replacing beverages (or tablets added to your water) is beneficial since they rehydrate and also replenish crucial minerals. Most also provide simple carbohydrates, providing you with fuel to stick with a brutal routine. If you feel like your performance could improve from adding a snack during a race, game, or long workout, try a couple of these suggestions.
