Nutrition: Before, During And After Physical Exercise
Many athletes wonder: what should I eat before training? And during exercise? And after training?
Obviously, to answer all these questions we will have to analyze case by case, but… good news! There are some general patterns that you can follow without fear of making mistakes
It must be taken into account that there are many factors that can influence what is better to eat, such as the type of sport you practice or your health and physical situation. So, don’t take this text literally! In any case, reading this article will allow you to have several basic ideas about what to eat, when and how.
Before practicing sports We will need to have a nourished body, in a situation where our cells and muscles are able to perform well and thus minimize the risk of injury To this end, the nutrients we ingest (carbohydrates or sugars, fats and proteins) must be in optimal quantities and proportions.
Fats
We must know that lipids are the last element for obtaining energy, a very effective but very slow energy: it takes longer to get going to nourish our muscle cells. The oxidation of fatty acids is activated 20-40 minutes after starting sports and… it is almost impossible to deplete our body’s lipid reserves.
On the one hand, we already have fat distributed throughout the body, and this means that we have practically inexhaustible stores. If we eat fat before training we will only have to put the stomach to work and we will reduce the mobilization of blood to where we want it to be transported: the muscles Therefore, eating fat before exercising is not highly recommended since it will slow down our digestion. Apart from that, our lipid stores already provide us with this nutrient constantly, so you should not have any fear of it running out.
Sugars
Speaking of sugars, the truth is that we have small reserves in the liver and at the muscle level. However, These glucose stores are not large enough to cover the needs of our body during a training day either physical, so we should eat a slow-absorbing carbohydrate to charge our cells with energy and not feel tired or have lipothymia during exercise.
There are many examples of slowly absorbed sugars, but the most recommended are pasta, rice and bread. If they are integral, much better! Because whole foods are absorbed more slowly by our digestive system, therefore our energy reserves will cover our needs more and better during (and after) sports practice, thanks in part to their fiber content.
As regards the fiber we must know that it has two basic functions: lowering the glycemic index of foods (this is related to the speed of absorption of a food and the activation of insulin in our body) and cleansing our intestines.
A little-known example of the perfect pre-workout food: “10 benefits of chia seeds on your body and mind”
Proteins
Last but not least, we have the proteins These play a fundamental role during exercise to avoid or slow down muscle destruction processes. In the protein section we must keep in mind that reserves only last 3 to 4 hours, regardless of whether we are talking about vegetable proteins (lentils, for example) or animal proteins (a beef steak).
The only thing we will look at when deciding whether to opt for vegetable or animal proteins will be our blood group, since depending on the blood types we will be more or less tolerant to one type of protein or another, therefore digestion will occur more quickly or less. I will explain this point about blood groups and protein assimilation in another article in more detail, I don’t want to dwell on this.
Once we have seen what and how we should eat before exercise, let’s move on to the next phase: during sporting activity.
What – and how – to eat during physical exercise?
At this point in the training when we start to sweat and notice how our muscles pump blood, we will need to ingest certain nutrients that allow us to maintain a good level of hydration and energy. It is during sweating that our body expels water and mineral components. We can easily correct this loss by ingesting a isotonic drink Bottles of isotonic water contain quickly absorbed sugars necessary to restore the water and glucose levels that our body demands when exercising. If it happens that the isotonic drink does not contain sugar, don’t worry: you can add a couple of tablespoons of white sugar.
As for proteins during training, our body can only assimilate protein already broken down into amino acids The amino acid is the smallest unit into which a protein can be broken down; a chain of amino acids forms a protein. Two types of amino acids are responsible for repairing the microscopic muscle fibers in our body that degrade when we play sports. On the one hand we have glutamine (which is the most important amino acid for the topic at hand) and which has a fundamental role in the repair processes of muscle fibers.
On the other hand, we find the amino acids BCAA (Branch Chain Amino Acids), formed by the valine , leucine and isoleucine , three essential components in muscle metabolism. You can buy these amino acids in specialized stores, and they come in shake form, which you can prepare at home and drink calmly during training. Important!: We have to monitor the origin of these products, since not all of them have the same quality.
Low quality products can be dangerous for our health, be very careful!: this will also be a topic that I will save for another article, because it deserves to be explained well. In any case, be very careful when choosing nutritional supplements: it is better not to take them than to take one that could harm your health.
Once we have explained what and how to eat during training, let’s continue: let’s learn how to nourish ourselves after to sweat it out.
What – and how – to eat after training?
Immediately after exercise we have a period of time of between 90 and 120 minutes during which our body is highly receptive to all the nutrients we ingest. This special time is called the anabolic window, and it also occurs in the morning when we wake up. Therefore, pay attention to what follows because it is very important.
The best option after exercise will be to have a smoothie fast absorbing carbohydrates , in order to cut off the muscle destruction process. This is produced by the continued stress on the muscle, which slowly damages the fibers during physical exercise until creating micro muscle tears. In order for us to achieve an improvement in muscle quality (and therefore, in sports performance), we must necessarily go through this destruction process. Of course, it is not advisable for muscle fibers to remain degraded and without food to repair themselves for a long time, hence the need for this first shake that I recommend.
Shortly after this first shake and before the anabolic window time ends, it is ideal to drink a second shake, this time of proteins , to be able to recover the muscle structure. You must keep in mind that it will depend on the quality of the protein that absorption occurs more quickly and that it feels better for us on a digestive level. This is because right after exercise we do not have much blood in the organs that intervene in the digestion process.
The blood is maintained in the muscles to oxygenate them and repair the fibers, leaving the rest of the body a little undersupplied, as happens with the stomach, which must make an extra effort to correctly assimilate the food it receives and thus be able to repair the muscle fibers. As a result of this entire process, the quality of our muscles increases, which leads to progress in our general physical condition.
Later, before the anabolic window ends, we must ingest a fast carbohydrate to replenish muscle glucose stores. My personal recommendation is the one that contains boiled potatoes or sweet potatoes. As a protein source, we will follow the same pattern as before, looking for a food that suits us according to our blood group.
Food and training: conclusions
As we have seen, nutrition before, during and after sports training is key to optimizing physical performance, and muscle recovery and overcompensation. I hope that this mini-guide helps you improve the quality of your training and thus achieve your personal goals.
