Have you ever entered into a hard workout without eating anything? Is it common for you to workout and eat nothing after? 

You could be losing all the hard work you’re putting into your training.

Nutrient & meal timing involves eating at strategic times to achieve specific goals. 

Meal timing is important. Eating before your workout will aid in higher performance within your training, leading to burning more fat and building more muscle. It is also important to eat after your training to aid in recovery, reduce muscle soreness, increase energy and get you back to training the next day.

However, what works best for one person may not work for another. All of us are made differently. Testing various meals and the timing of those meals are important for discovering what works for you. 

With many of our clients, applesauce with a half scoop of whey protein 30-60 minutes prior to training has improved performance, recovery and how they’ve felt within their workouts. 

For a post workout meal, eating a banana with a full scoop of whey protein within 30 minutes of completion and a meal consisting of a source of protein and carbohydrates within 2 hours has proven beneficial for reduced muscle soreness, improved body composition and energy.

As I mentioned above, it’s important to test meal timing. Discovering what works for you is the secret to success.

Test your meal timing effectiveness by performing a benchmark. A lift, a workout with a time component, a waist measurement, or body composition works really well.

Choose only one aspect of meal timing you’re going to change first. For example, start only with eating applesauce and a half scoop of whey protein an hour prior to your workout time. 

Commit to it for 30 days. Take notes. Are you feeling better? Do you have more energy? Is anything different?

After 30 days, re-test your benchmark. Did it improve? What was different? How did you feel? 

Evaluate what did and didn’t work. If needed, try testing other meal timing strategies. Maybe you felt too full or sluggish during your training? You could try eating less, eating your meal earlier before your workout, or eating something different.

If you test other meal timing techniques, commit to them for 30 days before you rule them effective or not. 

This may take awhile to track, but eventually you’ll get an accurate idea of what works for you, what doesn’t, and if it’s important for you to do to accomplish your goals.

Our nutrition team at Lincoln Nutrition & Fitness, is dedicated to helping you reach your goals. If you have questions about meal timing or don’t know where to start, schedule a free consultation with a nutrition coach today! 
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