Should you eat before or after sport?

To make effective sessions safely and properly recover after a sport good nutrition is essential. Dr. Souveton, GP and high-level sport, deciphers for us the good habits and good food tempo of the athlete.

To the question should you eat before or after a workout, the answer is obviously both. However, there must be a certain period before and after the session and especially make the right food choices.

Eating before sport: Food preparation

2:30 BEFORE

The ideal is to eat about 2:30 before for not being too heavy during the session.It is possible to make a small snack just before but it should be light and should make sugars that the body can use immediately as a fruit, a slice of bread with honey, a sweet drink: "It takes energy the body will be able to use immediately. high glycemic index foods are to be consumed in that time, says Dr. Souveton ".

IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE ACTIVITY ...

Of course, the type of activity practiced will be important in the choice of diet. "If you practice an endurance sport, says Dr. Souveton, it will consume more carbohydrates (bread, potatoes, pasta rice) but not necessarily at the previous meal session. The day before, it's more interesting because the body will thus have time to digest this energy source they can use at the time of the effort. " The meal before the meeting it must first be digested and not too fat because beware sensations of heaviness.

"If one is about to do a session of weight training, we will emphasize the proteins that will help to increase muscle mass. Again, the ideal is to consume the night for that 'They were available at the time of effort. If we eat just protein before the meeting, they will not yet understood and therefore not available. And again, the meal before the meeting should not be heavy. We avoid all that is bold-type meats, pastries, meat, because it is more difficult and take longer to digest. "

In general, it is necessary to adapt the amount of calories the activity performed: one does not eat the same portion of starchy depending on whether we will practice session  yoga.

SHOULD WE MAKE SPORTS FASTING TO LOSE WEIGHT? 

Note, some think that by doing sports in the morning fasting, they burn more fat. Our expert think it's more of a myth than a reality. "Basically, if we run it for an hour will burn 900 calories and 100 grams of fat which is low in relation fat and minimal rest for weight loss. The loss is not worth the potential risks cause to play sports on an empty stomach, it is not recommended for everyone, warns the professional. "

What are the risks to zap breakfast or small snack before a morning session? "In the morning, energy stocks date from the day before and it is best to" resucrer "shortly before the effort otherwise we will struggle to recover. For you must know that for the effort the body needs sugar. The risk is to make sitting uncomfortable or even dangerous for some people unaccustomed to morning efforts fasting. " Not to mention that we will run out of tone and that the session will not be as effective as it could be.

Eating after exercise: Food Recovery

What we will consume after its meeting will allow the body to recover and replenish stocks used during the activity. Be careful that you will consume in the immediate environment of the activity. "Just after exercise, says Dr. Souveton, we are in a metabolic opening phase Specialists call this the anabolic window. During this period all carriers are available to replenish stocks it is important to drink. sugar water or eat fruit if we made a cardio session. During this phase, we will not store fat, they will simply replenish energy reserves. "

WHAT TO EAT AFTER A CARDIO SESSION?

If one out of a cardio session, avoid fat. But the body is well done and after exercise, our body rarely requires a fat burger, we turn more readily to healthy things and light.

WHAT TO EAT AFTER A STRENGTH TRAINING SESSION?

After a strenuous muscle building, collation recovery will be a little different, we must focus on protein essential for muscle. "A yogurt drink that's great, it brings milk and sugar. In general, digestible dairy products are perfect with the waning of effort bodybuilding given quality protein, advises professional sports medicine . "

At the next meal, it will focus on low glycemic index foods such as pasta, rice, bread (all in full version) and legumes. . "Beware of refined sugars that will increase the level of sugar in the blood that will turn into fats and will instead be stored It is the same for fats If our body needs. - In certain quantities and of good quality - it is better to consume away from the meeting. "

WHAT TO EAT IN THE EVENING AFTER SPORT?

Finally, for those who tend to play sports at night, just before bedtime, if the body is accustomed to this pace, advises Dr. Souveton still have a very light meal. "If the bed closer to the meeting, you can dine in a small portion of pasta, a bowl of rice, a fruit. And it will make a good breakfast the next day to meet the energy needs of the body. " But do not worry, after a workout, a frugal dinner, and eight hours of sleep, there is a good chance that hunger pincer we wake up!

Jessica Xavier

Created 7 May 2015

Sources:

Thank you to Dr. Souveton specializing in sports medicine and general high level, and CEO of METabolic PROFILE, for its information.