If you are looking at this article, then you need to know that you have taken that one step towards your new year resolution of going to gym after all.
You are on the divine path of staying fit and you are ready to surrender to the procession of a workout. Well, food is almost always the best place to bring the change in. The main ingredients that your diet must have are:
- Proteins, which are responsible for muscle growth and to repair the damage that occur during a workout.
- Carbohydrates (found in rice, whole wheat bread, oats and other grains,) which are a source of energy. In the absence of which, the body takes energy from the muscles. So it is necessary to involve carbs in your pre workout diet.
- Fats (found in olives, walnuts, almonds, flax seeds,) which are responsible for a fast metabolism and an increased testosterone level (which is responsible for building muscles.) Apart from that, fats add to an over all internal health and a healthy brain.
- Your diet should be planned as such to eat enough calories to keep up with the growth of muscles on workout days and to avoid any muscle loss on non-workout days. On non-workout days, your diet can be as per your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and on workout days plan your diet according to the exercise that you indulge in.
Pre workout
One must always have energy to begin with. So, it is best to eat one hour prior to a work out.
The reason for this is that when workout with an empty stomach, your body looks for energy source in the muscles (glycogen) instead of kidney and lungs. Hence regardless of the suitable healthcare equipment’s you’ve chosen as a part of your gym routine, the ore workout diet needs to be carefully followed for a better health cycle. This energy once used depletes the muscle resulting in its break down.
So your pre workout diet should be a combination of complex and simple carbs so that the flow of energy throughout the workout stays slow and steady.
You can try-
- Brown rice and black beans
- Apple and walnuts
- Oatmeal and berries
- Banana with almond butter
Post workout
The workout is all about breaking old muscles and building new ones.
Post workout, the body starts an immediate action of repairing damaged muscles and so food products that are responsible for muscle growth should be in excess in a post workout diet, which are, proteins and fats majorly.
The earlier you eat after a workout; the more is the recovery and healing process.
Research shows that even if you wait for 2 hours after a workout just to eat, that decreases the energy restoring rate in the muscle by a high amount of 50%.
So what you eat post workout and the time you eat it in recovers your muscle, ensures your health and provides the benefits of joining a gym.
You can try combinations like –
- Protein shake
- Salad (roasted chickpeas, light olive oil and vinegar)
- Sautéed or steamed vegetables
Some high calorie food products to form your basic diet are-
- Plain oatmeal
- Sweet potato
- Cooked brown rice
- Black beans
- Lentils
- Cooked quinoa
Not eating properly to pre or post workout leads to muscle loss that decreases the metabolism rate and slows the weight loss process.
The whole point of joining a gym is gaining the target muscle mass. Your eating habits can alter that target by a large extent so follow a strict diet to bring the most out of the process. In any case where you might be faced with severe gastro or pressure strains before your diet, consult with your personal trainer and consider following a pressure care training. This can lay a better foundation for your full-fledged and fool proofed gym diet.
In addition to that, drink 2.5 -3 liters of water per day. You don’t need to drink that much of water for the food you eat consists of water as well.
Have a cheat day, eat something out of the diet but then follow the diet strictly the rest of the week.