What to eat before training? Many believe that working out on an empty stomach is better than working out after eating. In fact, many research centers have tried to give a definitive answer to this question. Most of them came to the conclusion that there is no difference in calorie consumption between those who decide to train on an empty stomach and those who prefer to eat something.
The first workout of the fourth week of the fourth month involves an easy ten-minute run as a warm-up. We will then alternate two minutes of fast running with two minutes of fast walking. This little circuit must be repeated eight consecutive times. In total 42 minutes of work. We already have analyzed in detail the effectiveness of this training system.
Eat before training: pay attention to digestion
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Returning to the question of “what to eat before training” we must make a premise. For our body, digesting is challenging. We notice this every time we overdo it with food. For digestion, a large amount of blood must be drawn to the stomach. This is because a certain temperature is needed. This temperature must remain more or less constant. If we intervene during this process, we will have consequences. This is why, for example, it is better not to take a bath immediately after a large meal. Not so much for the water itself, but for the temperature of the water. So if we change this situation, the digestive process will have consequences with symptoms such as malaise, heaviness, nausea, up to a real congestion.
So when we talk about eating before training we mean two things:
- if we have a full meal, we have to let a few hours pass;
- when too much time has passed since the last meal, a pre-workout snack can be useful to have more energy.
Eating before training: for science it is useless to fast
The best snack is carbohydrates. As we know, during training our body burns the available energy. Sugars are perfect for this purpose. We assimilate them quickly and they provide us with a burst of energy. It is false to believe that the body uses up its reserves of fat when exercising on an empty stomach. Otherwise, those who train on an empty stomach would have a very fast weight loss and this does not happen. On the contrary, the body uses the proteins of the muscles, which we would like to tone up.
Tips for a right snack
It is best to have a snack half an hour or an hour before a meal. Some great tips are to eat natural yogurt with fruit, a little pasta or rice with a drizzle of oil, crackers with cheese or a little bresaola.
