What Carbs To Eat Before And After A Workout

Are you living in the city where sugar is king and heavy dosages of carbs are consumed at every meal?

The rent is extremely high when you live in Carb City.  The cost is your health, your body, and your teeth.

Carbs are a simple but very misunderstood entity in the fitness game.

Most people will either eat way too many carbs or they do not eat enough carbs.

Excessive consumption of simple, sugary carbs will make you fat and sluggish.

Avoiding or not eating enough carbs will make true muscle building almost impossible and will hinder your training performance.

Both of these are bad plans of action and will have you going nowhere fast.

The better plan would be to eat the correct amount of carbs at the correct times.

This will ensure the carbs are being used for recovery and fuel vs. being stored as excess body fat.

What Carbs Should I Eat Pre And Post Workout?

As a general rule of thumb, your complex carbs are the ones you want to eat the majority of the time.

By consuming these carbs before you train, they will give you the sustained energy to complete your training session.  Some great complex carbs to eat before you train are:

• Brown Rice

• Sweet Potatoes

• Oats

• Whole Grains

• Kidney Beans

The carbs that you should eat post workout are simple carbs.

They get into your bloodstream fast to help you restore glycogen (the energy used during lifting) and help you recover faster from your workout.

Some fantastic simple carbs you can eat after your workout are:

• Jasmine Rice

• Russet Potatoes

• Bananas

• Carbohydrate Powder (Oat Powder)

The important thing to remember is that the amount of carbs you are having pre or post-workout must fit your goals.

If you are overweight and trying to lose body fat then you can and should consume carbs before you workout.

But the amount of carbs would be lower than someone who is already lean.  You have to earn your carbs!

Notes:

• Along with the carbs, both of these meals should also be high in protein to protect/build muscle and low in fat for faster digestion.  Read more about proper pre-workout nutrition here.

Conclusion

If you are leaner and looking to add dense muscle to your frame than having a higher amount of carbs before you workout does wonders.

The leaner you are the more carbs you can handle in your diet.

I’ve had clients who have forgotten to eat before they workout.  Their workouts then predictably go right down the drain.

The next time they show up with carbs in their system, they have a dominant workout like peak Shaq against anybody from 2000-2002.

A man or a woman who is already very lean and muscular has much more leeway in their diet than someone who is fat.

This is called different strokes for different folks.  If you want to eat more carbs, you have to get yourself leaner.

I’ll holla at you next time,
The People’s Trainer
Fitman