Those who do gym must take a quantity of food adequate to the effort sustained, making healthy and balanced choices.
If during physical activity you eat wrong foods or excessive amounts, there is a risk of feeling tired halfway through the workout or not being able to complete it.
We know how important concentration is to perform each exercise correctly, eating too much and / or unsuitable foods, leads to a decrease in attention and, consequently, also to a lower performance.
It is therefore important to make the right choices, small snacks before training are essential to give the body the energy necessary to make the effort to which it will be subjected.
Before seeing what to eat when you do the gym, let’s specify a rule: you should not eat too much before training, just as it is not good to do it without having eaten.
It is necessary to follow a special food plan for the gym, in this case it is useful to get help from your
personal trainer
and a nutritionist.
Let’s see some ideas of healthy snacks based on the time of day in which you do the training.
How to eat before going to the gym
You have to eat at least an hour and a half before going to the gym, avoiding too heavy foods and preferring light snacks, choosing a meal that can provide, in a balanced way, carbohydrates, fibers and proteins.
The options? Small sweet or savory snacks, or, a combination of carbohydrates, proteins and fats; with lean proteins, dried fruit, vegetables and yogurt, for a total of about 350/400 kcal.
This meal is fine if you eat at least two hours before training, a quick idea is to make a salad, taking care to insert all the ingredients that provide the right doses of nutrients mentioned above.
If you eat an hour before going to the gym, it is better to choose a meal based on carbohydrates and proteins, such as a low-fat yogurt with cereals, for a caloric intake of 200 kcal.
If you do not have time to eat, at least 15 minutes before consume some dried fruit, an organic fruit juice or a banana.
What to eat for morning workout
Those who prefer to go to the gym in the morning must focus a lot on breakfast, a fundamental meal to start the day and, even more, for those who have to train.
What to eat? Cereals, rusks or toast to combine with jam. To drink, tea, coffee or low-fat milk, moreover, fruit or a juice should not be missing, essential to guarantee the body mineral salts and vitamins.
What to eat for afternoon training
There are many people who train in the afternoon, in this case you have to have lunch at least 2 hours before, including a meal that contains carbohydrates.
Green light to wholemeal pasta, rice, barley or spelt, lean proteins, such as chicken or turkey and fish, accompanied by vegetables.
Precooked, fried or particularly processed foods, which are very fatty and more difficult to digest, should be avoided.
What to eat for evening training
Most people train in the evening and this is not surprising, many do not get to the gym until the end of working hours. In this case you have to have a snack at least 1-2 hours before training.
Recommended foods: yogurt and cereals, banana, wholemeal sandwich with bresaola, chicken or turkey, or a fruit or vegetable centrifuge.
For dinner, a legume soup, or pasta and brown rice, accompanied by a second course of white meat or fish, and vegetables, cooked and raw.
Foods to increase muscle mass
Increasing muscle mass in a healthy way is one of the priorities of those who practice gym to shape and sculpt their body or do body building.
Muscle growth is not easy to pursue, it is necessary to increase caloric intake, following rules and choosing the right foods.
What to do? It is necessary to keep carbohydrate and protein levels high (discover the light protein recipes) and decrease those of fats.
The diet for muscle mass for women and men must be balanced:
- Breakfast and mid-morning and afternoon snacks: a source of simple carbohydrates (oat or rice milk, fruit, honey), one of complex ones (flours, rusks, sugar-free cereals) and lean proteins (plain yogurt, skimmed milk, protein powder, cold cuts or low-fat cheeses).
- Lunch and dinner: a source of complex carbohydrates with whole wheat flour such as rice, barley, spelled and oats or wholemeal pasta, bread, legumes, tubers. You have to add lean proteins such as chicken, beef, turkey, white fish, dairy products or lean cold cuts, eggs, etc. Discover the best foods to increase muscle mass.
The dishes should be seasoned with raw extra virgin olive oil. You can consume dried seeds and fruits to increase good fats.
Finally, eat 3 servings of vegetables a day and 2 of fruit and drink at least two liters of water a day.
To develop muscle mass it is important to focus on the quality of food and the choice of the right foods, always preferring organic and poorly processed solutions.
In any case, we recommend contacting a nutritionist or a personal trainer qualified to create food plans, in order to have a personalized, healthy and safe diet.
