Does watching the Olympics make anyone else feel energized and pumped up to work out? While seeing those athletes, I wonder: How do they fuel up and how important is fueling before and after a workout? According to Martica Heaner, from MSN Health and Fitness a New York-based exercise physiologist-nutritionist-personalized trainer, it’s vital for the body to consume extra energy in order to properly “fuel the activity.”
Heaner advises, in an article for MSN Fitness, to eat foods like “fruit, juice, or bread” before a rigorous workout, and avoid eating foods high in fiber to prevent a stomach ache. Then, after a workout it’s important to refuel because “enzymes that replenish muscle carbs are at their highest levels.” And your insulin levels, which generate your proteins, are at their highest points post-workout. This is the best time to refuel with protein and carbohydrate combination meals. Eating after a workout allows your body to maintain muscle and even “reduce the amount of fat your body stores,” Heaner states.
Maybe you can eat some oatmeal with peanut butter mixed in!?
We love Coach's Oats! We've made it part of our daily routine for the past 6 months and are healthier and better off for it! From two fellow gymnasts to another, thanks!
Jon and Cari Ham
U. of Illinois gymnastics – '98-'01
So good to hear! Thanks so much for stopping by and being a fan 🙂