8 Best Pre-Workout Snacks to Enhance Your Performance

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To optimize your workout performance, you’ve got to fuel up the right way. And nothing is better than having a good healthy snack prior exercise. This helps you get that energy boost you need to maximize your performance – whether you’re at home or the gym.

Your snack choices may greatly affect your endurance for activity. When it comes to gearing up for a workout, macronutrients such as carbohydrates and protein are your gym BFF.

Carbohydrates readily break down into glucose which is the body’s principal energy source. So, filling up your glycogen stores pre-workout will prevent exhaustion.

As for protein, our bodies need this component to build, maintain, and repair body tissues. By consuming protein rich snacks before action you can give your body the amino acids that it needs to prevent muscle breakdown.

The best time to eat your snacks is about 30 minutes to an hour prior exercise to give your body a chance to break the nutrients down.

Below are 8 best pre-workout snack ideas that will help you perform and train at your best. Keep reading.

  1. Sweet Potato and Soft Boiled Egg

Sweet potatoes are great sources of complex carbohydrates. Perhaps you’ve heard from a nutrition source that you need to limit your intake of simple carbohydrates.

Complex carbs are beneficial in a way that they contain dietary fiber. Not only will this support a healthy weight loss, it also enhances your immunity and digestion.

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Combining sweet potato with a good source of protein such as soft boiled eggs will allow you to have a slow-releasing energy to fuel your body all throughout your workout.

  1. Tuna Stuffed Avocado

Consumption of avocado will help you keep feeling full for a longer period because this wonder fruit is pretty rich in fiber.

It will also help your body absorb fat-soluble nutrients like vitamins A, D, E and K. These vitamins store antioxidants that nourish your body, inside and out.

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If you’re wondering which healthy snacks are rich in protein and carbohydrates you need to consume prior to a successful workout, I recommend tuna stuffed avocado. This snack recipe contains at least 10 grams of protein. The creamy texture of avocado compliments the flavorful taste of tuna.

  1. Fruit Smoothies

Fruit smoothies provide a varied mix of vitamins and minerals that are beneficial to your health and well-being.

Choosing to have a fruit smoothie as a pre-workout snack can provide you with a good source of fast-acting glucose. And with a sufficient amount of glucose, you will not easily get tired.

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What’s a delicious fruit smoothie to try out? I suggest a mixture of frozen berries with natural peanut butter, rolled oats, and soy milk.

  1. Greek Yogurt and Berries

Greek yogurt has almost a doubled amount of protein than the regular yogurt. But both kinds are beneficial for your athletic performance and will allow you to avoid muscle catabolism during your workout.

Adding berries such as blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries into your yogurt will make you feel full, help you lose weight faster, and prevent disease because these fruits are very rich in fiber and antioxidants.

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  1. Trail Mix

This snack can be very convenient especially if you are running to the gym from work and have a little bit of time to prepare.

You can either buy a pre-packed trail mix from the nearest grocery or you could carry with you a self-prepared mix of nuts and fruits.

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This handy snack contains carbohydrates, protein, and good fats that can help fuel your workout, while the fruits can provide you with vitamins and minerals.

Incorporate different types of healthy nuts such as pistachios, almonds, peanuts, walnuts, and cashews. The reason why these nuts are great to include in trail mix is that they lower inflammation in your body.

  1. Nutrition Bars

Another convenient pre-workout snack is nutrition bars. Eating a bar before a cardio or strength workout can help pump up your energy.

If you plan to have intense endurance training, you should choose to have high-carbohydrate energy bars. For muscle-building workouts, choose a protein bar.

There are also nutrition bars that may aid you in attaining faster weight loss. Those kinds that are low in calories and sugar, but high in stomach-filling fiber and protein.

Homemade ones are also a great option. They’re super easy to make and will be perfect if you store them and use them for a quick on the go pre-workout food.

  1. Whole Wheat Toast with Peanut Butter

Whole-wheat toast with peanut butter gives you both complex carbohydrates and muscle-friendly potassium.

Complex carbohydrates help you release a slow and steady energy all throughout your workout routine while potassium boosts muscle strength.

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Peanut butter sandwich can be considered as a good diet food because it has the enviable combination of fiber and protein. And like the fruits mentioned above, it can also make you feel full longer, so you eat less overall.

  1. Bananas

This fruit is a great source of natural sugars and simple carbohydrates. Bananas are also a perfect pre-workout food because they help in raising your body’s potassium levels which tend to drop with excessive sweating.

So try consuming a banana around 30 minutes to an hour before your workout to boost your glycogen stores and increase blood sugar levels and therefore give you more energy.

CONCLUSION

For a favorable outcome in your fitness goals, it is just only but necessary that you should be able to identify what’s best for your body.

Snacking is actually a healthy habit that maintains your energy physically and mentally. Remember to avoid snacks that are high in unhealthy fats and sodium.

Proper nutrition will always be a big help in your workout performance and endurance. So, to fight off exhaustion, always equip yourself with these 8 best snacks and get the most out of every workout.

 

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