Everything About Pre & Post Workout Nutrition

There is a lot of confusion about Pre and post-workout nutrition. Let’s clear them in this article once and for all.

However, as always let’s get the basics right first –

Basics about Pre and Post-Workout Nutrition

The role of a pre-workout is to provide sustained energy during training.

Any carbohydrate-rich food is an excellent pre-workout source.

Eat any fast-digesting carb if you have 45 minutes or less for your workout and any slow-digesting or complex carbohydrate if you have roughly 2 hours left for training.

There is a notion that if you don’t consume protein before workout, you will lose muscle during training however, that is not the case as long as you’re meeting your protein requirement for the day.

The role of a good post-workout is to ensure recovery, muscle retention & growth.

Any combination of carbohydrate and protein-rich food is a good post-workout.

Though the role of fat is limited around workout, however, fat will not hamper your progress and gains. But just like complex carbohydrates, fats also take time to digest, so don’t have any fat-rich meals closer to the workout.

Morning Pre-Workout

Mornings are usually busy with less time at hand, so a fast-digesting carb makes sense.

In the morning – a black coffee alone or along with some fast digesting carbohydrates like fruit (banana, apple, or any other), fruit juice, dried fruit, etc. will work.

Morning Post Workout

After the workout, ensure that you’re getting a good supply of complete protein sources (whey or plant protein, egg, dairy such as milk, chicken, fish, paneer, curd, tofu, soy). Combine protein with any simple or complex carbohydrate – banana, potatoes, bread, or any other regular breakfast option.

Some meal options could be (These are just ideas. adjust quantities as per your appetite and goals) –

1 scoop whey or plant protein + bananas

1/2 scoop whey + bananas + milk (blend)

3 egg whites + 2 whole eggs + banana or boiled potatoes

smoothie – banana + 20g sattu + 1/2 scoop whey + 16g peanut butter + milk (blend)

2 whole wheat bread + (70g paneer or 70g tofu or 70g grilled chicken or 2 eggs or 32g peanut butter) + milk

In case you just want to have a breakfast that’s cooked at your house. Then ensure that you’re getting at least 20g of protein in this meal using the sources mentioned above in the required quantity.

Quantity of protein foods required to get 20g protein –

Whey/Plant protein powder – 30g – 22g protein

Soy chunk – 40g – 21g protein

Soybean dal – 45g – 20g protein

Whole Egg – 3 – 19g protein

Egg White – 6 – 22g protein

Tofu – 100g – 18g protein

Paneer – 100g – 19g protein

Chicken breast – 100g – 22g protein

Milk – 600 ml – 20g protein

Dahi – 600g – 19g protein

Combine this with any regular breakfast such as parantha, cheela, idli, dosa, uttapam, dalia, thepla, muesli, litti chokha, etc.

Evening Pre-Workout

All morning options will work even for your evening pre and post-workout meals. But here’s the approach you can follow for your evening workout meals.

If you have 2-3 hours for training, you probably don’t need a post-workout. Just ensure sufficient quality protein at lunch.

If needed, copy morning pre-workout options here as well. (coffee or/and fast-digesting carb)

As mentioned earlier, the role of a pre-workout is to provide sustained energy during a workout, so if you feel a lack of energy in the second half better consume anything.

If the time gap between lunch and workout is around 1.5 hours, consume any complex carb before workout.

Sattu, roasted chana, makhana, peanuts, roti or bread peanut butter, boiled potato, curd potato, boiled chana, and soaked moong are all good options.

If 40 minutes or less to workout, copy morning pre-workout options.

Evening Post-Workout

If there is 3-4 hours time gap between workout and meal (dinner), consume any protein source such as whey or plant protein, milk, eggs, tofu, paneer, fish, chicken, or protein bar after your workout, and then proceed with regular dinner later.

You can also make a post-workout shake as well.

If you eat dinner within 1-1.5 hours of the workout then no need for a post-workout.

Have your regular meal and ensure at least 20g of complete protein in this meal.

Important things about nutrition around workouts

1. If you’re a beginner, increase your protein intake gradually, otherwise, you may experience digestive issues.
2. Protein intake of 1.2g-2g/kg of body weight is optimal for muscle growth. Find your range by experimenting with different quantities. So if you’re 80kg, your protein requirement is between 96-160g.
3. It’s not mandatory to have your protein immediately after a workout. You can have it later as well.
4. Completing your protein requirement for the day is absolutely important.
5. Distributing protein across meals will further help for better gains. At least 20g of quality protein is found to be beneficial.
6. For building lean muscle, around 200-300 calorie surplus from your maintenance calories is a good range to ensure maximum muscle and minimal fat gain.
7. Adjust quantities for all foods as per your requirements & goals using any calorie tracker.

Conclusion

So in order of priority, completing your protein comes first, followed by distribution across meals, a surplus of 300 calories and sufficient rest is all that matters for building muscle.