A Short Guide To Eating During Cardio And Strength Training And On Recovery Days

If you take all the macronutrients - fats, carbohydrates and proteins, you should not worry about the effectiveness of your workout and your recovery, right? However, things are not so simple. Each type of training has its own specific requirements and in today's guide we will show you how to get the most out of your work. We will divide things by days, namely for cardio, strength training, and we will not neglect the weekends, which are designed to restore the body.

Guide to nutrition in cardio training

Eating before a cardio workout

If you prefer to eat 3 hours before your workout, include wholesome carbohydrates, proteins and fats in your diet. You can try the following easy recipe - lightly spread with olive oil 1 sweet potato, bake it at 200 degrees for about 45 minutes or until soft. Then mash the potatoes, beat 1 egg on it, sprinkle with salt, black and red pepper and return to the oven for another 10 minutes or until the egg is fully cooked to your liking.

If you eat 1 hour before a cardio workout, bet on a shake or smoothie, which includes carbohydrates and protein, but is low in fiber, so it is easier to digest.

Charging during a cardio workout

This is the time for hydration, so bet on water and / or an electrolyte drink, especially if the weather is warm. With a workout lasting more than an hour and a half, you can drink a sports drink with carbohydrates, because most exercisers burn between 30 and 60 grams of carbohydrates per hour, depending on the weight and speed of your metabolism.

Eating after a cardio workout

For the post-cardio diet, leave a window of about 45-60 minutes before doing. The point of this is to allow the body to benefit from its entry into the fat burning zone. Food should be composed of carbohydrates and proteins in a ratio of 3: 1. There is no need to use fast carbohydrates such as sugar, because your muscles will recover the necessary glycogen by the next day anyway. If you still plan to do two workouts, you can eat fast carbs after the first workout. A good and light option for eating after cardio is a salad with chickpeas and avocados.

Nutrition Guide for Strength Training

Eating before strength training

In case you eat 2-3 hours before your workout, include carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Here is one of our suggestions that will really help your strength training - shakshuka . If you have only 1 hour before your strength training, bet on a shake or smoothie, which includes carbohydrates and protein.

During strength training

Now is the time to take a dose of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs). The combination of leucine, isoleucine and valine is the building block of muscle proteins. BCAAs do not need to be broken down in the digestive tract, they enter the bloodstream directly and are delivered to the muscles immediately. The use of branched-chain amino acids during exercise has been shown to increase the rate of muscle protein synthesis and reduce muscle damage and the feeling of muscle fever.

Nutrition after strength training

Unlike cardio, here the feeding should take place within 15-30 minutes after the end of the workout, but not later. The goal is to avoid the catabolic effect, to quickly load the muscles with nutrients and so their recovery and growth will be much better. Food should be rich in protein.

Eating on recovery days

This is the perfect time to try some low carb recipes. During these weekends, it is not necessary to fill the depots with carbohydrates and there is no need to add additional protein to your diet, as you will not exercise. Here you can bet on healthy fats such as coconut oil, olive oil, avocado, butter. They can slow down your digestion, but on a non-training day this is not a problem. On recovery days, you may not adhere to your eating schedule, which is followed on training days. Here you can wait to get hungry, because on other days, in most cases, eat on schedule, whether you are hungry or not. Here's a suggestion for you: a low-carb pizza .

Key differences in nutrition during strength and cardio training

Although it is important to eat quality protein, carbohydrates and fats every day, here are the key differences in eating on cardio days and strength training days:

• On cardio days, don't forget to fill your carbs with carbohydrates, because they will give you more endurance, and you will also perform much better in short high-intensity workouts ( HIIT );

• After a cardio workout, wait 45-60 minutes before eating to maximize the fat burning window;

• On strength training days, increase your intake of protein-rich foods before the session! This will help reduce muscle damage and thus shorten recovery time. In addition, provide your body with branched-chain amino acids that increase the body's ability to build muscle.

• After strength training, you should eat your food no later than 15-30 minutes so that your muscles can begin to recover and grow immediately.