Tag Archives: working out

What are you supposed to eat before you workout?

That is the age-old question. What should I eat before a workout?

Healthy Lifestyle Tip: Pre-Workout Snack That Torches Extra Calories

Before you spend time pumping iron or getting your heart pumping, feed yourself a little protein-rich snack. Research suggests that a protein fix before a workout could boost your metabolic rate and thus your calorie burn for a full 24 hours after you strength train.

Strength training revs up your body’s calorie burning from hours to days after a single session. And there are two reasons why: First, your body is simply working overtime to replenish the fuel – oxygen and blood sugar – you used up in your workout. But second, your body is also trying to rebuild the muscle broken down in the workout. As it turns out, a little extra protein may encourage your body to work even harder on that second part.

In a study done on exercisers, a protein-rich drink consumed 20 minutes before strength training resulted in an 8 percent increase in metabolic rate, and the increase lasted for a full day. However, a carb-rich pre-workout beverage only produced a modest boost in calorie burn rate afterward – just a 3 or 4 percent bump. All of which suggest that the extra protein in the first drink helped fuel a more powerful or extended muscle-rebuilding effort after the workout. So for extra calorie crunching, consider a little pre-workout protein fix, such as a slice of low-fat cheese, a hard-boiled egg, or a few ounces of Greek yogurt.
Source: Realage.com