Eating and Exercise

Every time you start an exercising program, you do it in order to maintain a healthier lifestyle. Along side exercise, you also know that eating nutritiously is a great companion to being healthy. You need to eat well to give your body the energy that it needs to exercise and maintain so it will be able to perform the tasks that you do in your daily life. Getting the best exercise workout totally depends on what you eat before and after your workout. This is very important.

It doesn't matter if you are doing some kind of cardio or resistance workout, you should always make a point to eat a well balanced meal of protein and carbohydrates. The determining percentage of carbohydrates and proteins you consume depends whether or not you are doing some kind of cardio or resistance exercise and the intensity level you are planning to work out at.

The ideal time for you to eat your preworkout meal is about an hour before you start. If you are planning on working out at a low intensity level then you would want to keep your premeal down to around 200 calories. If you are planning to work out at high intensity level then your calorie intake would be between 4000 to 5000 calories.

If you are planning on doing a cardio session you will need to consume a mixture of two-thirds carbohydrates and one-third protein. Doing this will give you a longer sustained energy level from the extra carbohydrates with enough protein to keep your muscle from breaking down while you are exercising.

If you are planning on doing some resistance training, you will need a combination of one-third carbohydrates and two-thirds protein. This will help you get lots of energy from the carbohydrates to carry out each set that you do and the extra protein will keep the muscle break down to a minimum.

Eating after you exercise is just as important as eating before a work out. Anytime you workout, you exhaust your energy in the form of glycogen (sugar). The brain and central nervous system depend on glycogen as their main fuel source. If you don't replace it after exercising, your body will break down your lean body muscle tissue into amino acids, convert it into usable fuel for the brain and the central nervous system.

After you finish a resistance workout, you will need to consume a combination of proteins and carbohydrates. Unlike cardio, resistance workouts break down muscle tissue by creating micro tears. You will need protein to build up and repair these tears so that the muscle can increase in size and strength. The carbohydrates not only replace the glycogen lost in the muscle but it will also help the protein get into the muscle cells so that it can synthesize into structural protein or the muscle itself.

After your resistance exercise, you should wait up to 30 minutes before eating. The reason for this is then you won't take the blood away from your muscles to fast. The blood in your muscles will help the repair process by removing metabolic waste products.

After a cardio workout, you will need to consume mainly carbohydrates, preferably high fiber. Rice, oatmeal, whole wheat bread, pasta, and northern fruits are excellent choices. Try to also consume 30 to 50 grams of these types of carbohydrates. It is fine to eat within 15 minutes after working out.

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