Do Your Pre- and Post-Workout Meals Matter?

Food is fuel. It provides energy as well as the necessary nutrients and building blocks to repair and grow muscle. When it comes to training, does the timing of your meals matter? Normally, timing meals with an exercise routine is done to achieve certain outcomes. The research is still in session, so to speak, when it comes to nutrient timing. With that being said, the most important factor in any meal, whether that be a pre- or post-workout meal, is the quality of what you are eating and putting into your body. Smoothie King has a complete list of things we prohibit from entering our blends – we call it the No-No List.

Foods to Focus on

Before thinking about the precise timing of a meal, let’s talk about the basics first. To achieve your goals, you should focus on consistency, daily calorie intake, food quality, and the sustainability of what you eat. Once you have that down, you can tackle advanced methods like nutrient timing.

Keeping that in mind, you should consume foods like whole fruits, organic veggies, quality carbohydrates, and clean protein blends. Cutting out added sugar and staying hydrated are equally important goals when it comes to your nutrition. Drinking adequate amounts of water before and after workouts as well as throughout the day helps your body function properly.

Pre-Workout Smoothie

Now let’s dive into pre-workout meals – pre-workout smoothies, specifically. The main goal of a pre-workout meal is to fuel your body and give it what it needs to have peak performance. Ideally, you’d like to eat two or three hours before a workout. For those early morning gym sessions, however, it may not be feasible to get a good meal in before working out. Since we can digest liquids more easily, a pre-workout smoothie would be better in this case. Whatever you eat before your workout, though, you should look for two main nutrients: protein and carbohydrates.

These nutrients provide energy, building and supporting proper muscle function. Ingredients like almond butter, banana, dates, and a good protein (paleo, keto, vegan, or whey) provide adequate protein and carbohydrates for you to succeed. Take our High Intensity Workout Chocolate Cinnamon smoothie, for example. This blend can help you maximize your workout by providing support for your strength and energy.

Post-Workout Smoothie

As important as pre-workout energy is, recovery is just as important to any sort of fitness regimen. Keeping muscles stretched and limber to avoid soreness and properly cooling down are all aspects of a normal post-workout protocol. Careful consideration in a post-workout meal should be just as important as what you do in the gym or your workout routine. Normally, people put more thought into a pre-workout meal than they do a post-workout one. Just like a pre-workout meal, you should focus on proteins and carbohydrates post-sweat sesh for fueling and recharging. Proteins help repair the damage you just put on your muscles, and carbohydrates help keep your energy levels stable after using fuel storage.

As far as timing goes, experts recommend eating no later than 45 minutes after your workout. It doesn’t have to be precise, but eating as soon as possible will help maximize your efforts. Plus, you just worked really hard, so it’s likely you’ll be hungry – or hangry, depending on how hard you went.

Our Activator Strawberry Banana smoothie a great post-workout smoothie. With hydrating coconut water and whole bananas and strawberries, this protein blend offers the nutrients to help you recover from a rigorous workout. Top that with the choice to customize any of our smoothies and you can tailor your meals to the ever-changing requirements of your workouts.

Why Smoothie King?

As we’ve said, hydration is super important pre-, during, and post-workout, and smoothies are one of the best ways to balance hydration with needed nutrients. At Smoothie King, we’re dedicated to helping you Rule the Day™, which is why we take into careful consideration what we offer our customers. We have multiple pre- or post-workout smoothies to choose from. From the bottom of the cup up, it’s our commitment to blend a more nutritious smoothie for you!