Foods serve as the fuel of our body.
In doing workouts, an empty stomach may lead to poor performance. So it is best to eat the right amount and kinds of food hours ahead of your exercise to gain enough energy.
However, there are some types of meal that can hamper your training. Instead of powering your exercise, your energy will be directed at digesting them, making your workout less effective. Here are six foods you should shun before your exercise.
Aside from choosing the right food to eat, make sure you wear your gym workout jackets for comfortable and safe training.
1. Fibre-rich foods
Foods such as wholegrain bread, oats, and pasta are filled with fibre. These foods may be useful for refueling the body, but taking them before training can cause gastrointestinal distress as the process of digestion may take longer. If this happens, a person may suffer from stomach cramps, bloating, or nausea during a workout, which can delay his progress.
2. Carbonated Drinks
Carbonated drinks such as soda and seltzer are poor pre-workout drinks as they are rich in sugar and sodium content. Sugar can cause abdominal pain, bloating, and gas during workouts while sodium can result in dehydration as it draws out water in the body.
3. Avocado
Fruits are a great pre-workout snack. They provide extra fuel to the body, especially to the muscles, and have a very high water content. But one no-go fruit before an exercise is avocado, which is rich in fibres but also contains a high percentage of fats. The combination of these two nutrients will result in slower digestion, increasing the chances of stomach cramps and abdominal pain.
4. Nuts
The body has to be on its prime going into training. Foods eaten need to be fully digested so that they can be immediately used as fuel. However, fats can cause a delay in the digestion process. The more fats in a snack like nuts, the slower it will take your digestive system to turn the foods into fuel. After taking fats-rich foods, have at least two hours of allowance before performing an exercise.
5. Refined sugar and Dairy Products
Eating manufactured products, which contained refined sugars, may cause lethargy and fatigue during a workout. Meanwhile, dairy products such as milk and cheese contain fats that raise acid content in the stomach. Instead of consuming these foods before an exercise, better eat them in post-exercise to refuel your body.
6. Spicy Foods
While spicy foods can provide an extra kick to your intensity, it should be avoided before an exercise as it may cause heartburn and cramping. With the presence of various seasonings, the digestion process can be slowed.