How to stay healthy? Most people believe that working out regularly and not sitting for hours and playing at the TonyBet casino is a key to success. However, it’s not completely wrong. Sitting for a bit is not so bad, and workouts aren’t always healthy. To make regular exercises help you achieve your goals, you need to pay attention to what you eat before training.
The quantity and quality of food affects the body differently during training. And sometimes it can harm your metabolism and reduce your performance.
Studies show that food is essential for strength and endurance exercises, and fasting exercises, in turn, can sometimes help you lose weight. Let’s get into the specifics of these processes, when and what’s best to eat before a workout, and when it’s okay to exercise on an empty stomach.
Why to Eat Before a Workout
There are several signs you can tell if you haven’t eaten enough before a workout:
- Dizziness and sometimes even fainting.
- Nervousness and fatigue.
- Decreased stamina.
- Fat accumulation.
- Loss of muscle mass.
Let’s deal with these symptoms. Many studies show a direct correlation between performance in the gym and nutrition. A properly chosen diet noticeably improves athletic performance, influences muscle growth and condition.
Whereas starvation, compared to other diets, isn’t as effective. And not eating breakfast can potentially increase your risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
The fact is that during a workout, the body needs carbohydrates, proteins and fats to cope with the load. And if the nutrients do not come from food, the body will take them from its own reserves, for example, from the muscles. As a result, the effectiveness of the workout decreases, the person gets dizzy, gets tired faster, and can even faint.
Another danger of starvation training is that the body adapts over time and may accumulate more fat reserves. Or, on the contrary, start constantly consuming nutrients from muscle tissue, in which case muscle mass will be lost during the workout.
In order not to harm yourself, eat foods rich in carbohydrates, proteins and fats before training. Protein influences muscle growth and repair, carbohydrates are responsible for endurance, and fats provide additional energy.
According to research, carbohydrates are the most important pre-workout foods. They increase glycogen in the liver and muscles and improve endurance. Therefore, it is recommended that athletes follow a diet high in carbohydrates during competition and training.
What to Eat Before Training
Try to eat 2-3 hours before your workout and choose digestible foods that contain carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The portion size should be small so that you do not feel heavy and nauseous during the exercise.
Choose cereals or legumes as a source of complex carbohydrates. As for protein foods, lean meat, eggs, and nuts are good. And fats are better absorbed from vegetable oils, such as linseed oil. Avoid foods that cause stomach upset, such as milk, foods with caffeine, or citrus fruits.
When Not to Eat Before a Workout
In some cases, training on an empty stomach won’t hurt – it all depends on your health, type and duration of exercise. People with diabetes, hypertension and thyroid disease need to be especially careful about their nutrition.
Uncomplicated aerobic exercises like walking, jogging or cycling for no longer than an hour can be done on an empty stomach, for example, before breakfast. Health and performance will probably not be affected.
And some studies even support the idea that exercising on an empty stomach has a positive effect on weight loss. For example, a 2013 study on 64 obese people found that study subjects who fasted every other day and did cardio workouts lost weight more effectively than those who just dieted or only exercised.
Final Recommendations
Exercising on an empty stomach and on a full stomach have different effects on the human body. A balanced meal of carbohydrates, proteins and fats 2-3 hours before a workout will help increase stamina and performance, build muscle and recover faster for long exercises longer than an hour.
In turn, short workouts on an empty stomach affect your metabolism and can promote weight loss. But with longer and harder exercises, irritability, dizziness and decreased endurance may occur. And sometimes muscle mass is lost or fat is accumulated.