A balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins is essential to supporting our lifestyle and training activities throughout the day – aiding in our energy levels, sleep quality, hormone health and post-training recovery. When we think about our training sessions, it is also important to consider how we are fuelling our bodies before and after exercise.
Our pre-training nutrition (within the hour before our session) should aim to provide us with energy to support us throughout our session and will also help to support our recovery after training. This is a good time to include some simple carbohydrates and good fats as they will support quick energy release for exercise. Pre-training meals or snacks may include breakfast cereal, fruit and yoghurt or crumpets with honey or jam.
Post-training nutrition should aim to support our recovery and replenish energy stores used during exercise. A balance of high-quality proteins (for muscle repair) and carbohydrates (to replenish glycogen stores) are a good choice post-workout. Some options for post-workout food choices are protein shakes, yoghurt (you can also mix in protein powder if you’d like), sandwiches (for a balance of lean proteins and carbohydrates), or protein oats.
