Nutrition Notes - Pre-workout Nutrition

Monty Hopkins

Hello MAST Families,

From time to time I am asked this question.  "What should I eat before morning practice?" (and often the follow up, "What should I eat after morning practice?") 

Some people can tolerate food in their stomach during exercise better than others.  Either way, efforts should be made to eat before practice in order to get the most from your body.  I recommend gradually and deliberately using differente strategies to find what works best.  (Let me help get you started: A dozen glazed donuts and a 20 oz. Coca-Cola doesn't work. So you can skip that trial and move on to real food.)

I consulted Aaron Dorfman - certified dietician and former head coach of Mercy Seawolves for his thoughts.  Here is what Aaron had to say.

"My answers have been inconsistent for both of your questions because nutrition is NOT a perfect science and inherently, I tend to respond based on recent success.

Pre-workout meal before AM practice:

Old Answer -

High GI/GL foods, no lactose, no galactose, low fructose or citric acid, low fiber (less than 3 grams), low fat (less than 5 grams), moderate protein (5 grams up to 150 lbs, 10 grams 151 - 150, etc.)

Example1  -

1/2 cup rice krispies (has amylose/high GI, high GL - good) with 1/4 cup soy or rice milk, 1 Hard Boiled egg (if 150 lbs or less) and 1/2 ripe or on the turn banana. 20 fl oz water or "cut" sports drink.

Another option -

2 rice cakes with 1-2 T of natural peanut butter and a danjou pear (for not as much sugar) is always good as well.

New Answer -

Blood perfusion (the rate at which blood is delivered to tissue) with nitrates and other nutrients. Also, I've learned that some fat/FFAs will lead to much better results without hurting the flow of 0xygen rich blood traveling to the extremities. I've been fat phobic as it can take up to 4 hours for digestion...but I'm quickly learning performance boosts with fat.

Example 1 

1 Piece sourdough toast with smashed avocado on it, minced garlic (vasodilator with NitOx potential) and "everything bagel" seasoning on it. Alone, this will be 300 kcals. To add protein, add a handful of shelled sunflower seeds to achieve the 5-10 grams of protein.

Example 2

Beet smoothie (don't overdo beets - extreme NitOx potential but for some, it can be hard on the kidneys). Some studies are so -so with this (Penn State in particular) but there is more research to support beets are great. Make this with some beetroot extract powder (5 grams) in almond milk, blueberries (a little fiber is fine), and ice.

For a minor jolt of carb, a dash of wheat germ.

For a minor jolt of fat, a dash of chia or flax meal.

12ish oz will get you there. Some athletes prefer liquid over food so this is an option.

Refueling

(Most) Athletes love chocolate milk - 4:1 CHO to Protein. If they feel that they can get replenished drinking this, give them 2 glasses of the stuff.

Fibrous Carbohydrate (CHO) stabilize blood sugar and stress, which can dominate the body after a workout. Steel cut or irish oatmeal, buckwheat pancakes and even the Kodiak cakes are good.

No less than 20 grams of protein - vegans need to understand the DIASS* but fortunately, soy is up there. High DIASS for sure. Whey is high so cottage cheese is up on the list. Eggs are the obvious choice as well

Fat is again important. Make sure the balance of Omega 3 and Omega 6 is there. You can't have nuts and seeds all day. Back to the trusty avocado, hummus or even lox

Room temperature water is great for after practice. Or, a "cut" sports drink. The temperature of the drink can change blood pressure. If an athlete drinks ice cold water and a gallon of it, the body will continue to stress. This is not an absolute proven theory but something I've put some thought into.

So, an example

1/2 cup oatmeal (with cinnamon because it helps regulate glucose and how it is carried through the bloodstream) and flax

1/2 cup cottage cheese (low fat is fine)

1 fruit serving- orange and citrus are allowable.

Option 2 -

2 x 6" buckwheat pancakes with butter (this is a good fat as far as I'm concerned) but no need for syrup

3 oz Lox (a little sodium is fine) - protein and fat combination.

Or, they can do 2 eggs with yolk

1 fruit serving- doesn't matter what they choose.

Your 150 lb+ athletes will need to increase these amounts (CHO and PRO) by 25%-50% depending on their hunger (no catabolism) and the forecast of the next meal. I have them eating this expecting another meal in 3-4 hours max. Ideally, each time they eat they get 500 kcals. I think 6-7 meal times is optimal.

I hope this helps!

 

* Digestible Indispensable Amino Acid Score (DIAAS) is a protein quality method proposed in March 2013 by the Food and Agriculture Organization to replace the current protein ranking standard, the Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS).
The DIAAS accounts for amino acid digestibility at the end of the small intestine, providing a more accurate measure of the amounts of amino acids absorbed by the body and the protein’s contribution to human amino acid and nitrogen requirements. This is in contrast to the PDCAAS, which is based on an estimate of digestibility over the total digestive tract. Values stated using this method generally overestimate the amount of amino acids absorbed.