Tips for Eating Healthy Before and After a Workout
By Andy on July 05, 2018
Eating healthy is a top priority whether you are a top athlete or just want to stay fit. Creating a diet plan for workouts is a little more complicated. Different nutrients are needed based on the type of exercise you are engaged in doing. Here are some nutrition tips for how you can structure a healthy meal plan before and after your workouts.
Strength Training
As you reach your 30s, strength training should be a regular part of your exercise routine. We lose muscle mass as we age and adding strength training to your routine can slow down the process and including a diet that promotes muscle strength is important too. Research shows that your diet should be comprised of a healthy mix of proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats, in that order. It is recommended that you drink plenty of water and eat breakfast everyday. The more often you eat, every 3 hours or so, the less hungry you will be during the day. Try and include some protein at every meal like eggs, lean meat, beans or whey protein–great in a smoothie– and try to limit carbs to post workout only. This will help limit your carb intake throughout the day. Limit your healthy fats to things like avocados and olive oil. This is a great diet to stick to for any workout regimen.
Cardio Training
If you are planning to undertake serious training for a long distance run, bike or swim event and need to plan a healthy diet, the nutrition intake looks a little different. Those focusing are cardio exercises should focus first on carbs (60-70%), fats (20-30%) and then protein (10-15%) of their total diet. This is because cardio-based exercises require immediate access to glycogen stores when you run and those are most commonly found in carbs. Recommendations for a healthy diet include eating a combination of proteins and carbs as part of your post-workout nutrition plan and drinking water often. Sticking with a plant-based diet can help you maintain the high carb requirements for this type of exercise. As with the strength workout, a good breakfast and smaller meals throughout the day can help you curb your hunger.
Contact us at Iconic Fitness to learn more about how you can incorporate healthy eating as part of your workout routine. As industry experts, we look forward to helping you attain your fitness goals.
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