Pre-Training Nutrition: What and When to Eat Before a Workout
Nutrient timing is a foundational principle of sports nutrition that helps athletes support both daily health and training demands. While consistent fueling throughout the day is essential, strategic timing before, during, and after a training session can further benefit how you feel and perform. This post breaks down pre-training nutrition by detailing the specifics of what, when, and how much to eat and drink to prepare for a workout
What to Eat Before Training
Since the main goal of eating something before training is to provide your body with the energy that it needs to complete the work ahead, carbohydrates are the optimal food choice for a pre-training meal/snack. Carbohydrates break down into glucose (a type of sugar) in the body, which is the body’s primary fuel source for moderate to high intensity activity. Carbohydrate intake can also help “top off” glycogen stores, the storage form of glucose housed in the liver and muscles, so that you have more fuel stores to dip into during your training session. Many people assume they need protein before a workout. While protein before training may support muscle protein synthesis across the day, it is not the primary performance driver in the pre-training window. Similarly, you may have heard that we use fat for lower-intensity exercise, which might lead you to think that you need to eat fat before training. While fat is used as a fuel source during lower-intensity exercise, the body primarily relies on stored fat (not dietary fat) to meet those energy needs.
It’s best to choose easy-to-digest, lower fiber carbohydrate options prior to training, such as a banana or other fruit, bagel, toast with jam, graham crackers, pretzels, breakfast cereal, fruit gummies, or a sports drink, gel, or chews. This is especially important if you have a very short time window, e.g. 30-60 minutes, until you start training. If you have longer than 60 minutes before you start, you might be able to tolerate slightly higher fiber options like oats, whole grain toast, etc. Additionally, you may be able to add a small to moderate amount of protein (~5-15 grams) to your pre-training carbohydrates if desired, but be mindful of excessive protein and fat intake, as both slow down digestion and therefore can contribute to gastrointestinal distress if consumed too close to training time.
Individual tolerance can vary significantly from person to person based on habitual diet, typical training start time, intensity, and duration, and baseline gastrointestinal health. Because of this, it can be helpful to experiment with different options to see what works best for you. For example, one person might be able to handle a bowl of oatmeal with peanut butter (contains carbohydrates, fat, and protein) before an easy run and another person with a more sensitive stomach might need to stick to white toast with jam (mainly carbohydrates with very minimal fat and protein).
When to Eat Before Training
The timing of your pre-training food intake depends on your schedule and goals. If you’re an early morning exerciser, you might prefer to wake up, grab a quick snack of easily digestible carbohydrates, and get going with your training. Then, you’d eat a full breakfast after finishing training. If you exercise midday, late afternoon, or in the evening, you will have (hopefully) eaten at least one, if not a couple, meals already. If you’ve eaten a full meal ~2-4 hours before you’re scheduled to start your workout, I recommend adding a snack in the 30-60 minutes leading up to training time to help top off your fuel stores. Again, our focus here is easily-digestible carbohydrates, which becomes increasingly important as you get closer to the start of training time given shorter time for digestion.
How Much to Eat Before Training
How much to eat before a training session really depends on your individualized needs, goals, and schedule.
For training sessions <60 mins: A very general starting point for a strength session or easy workout (run, ride, etc.) is to eat ~30-60 grams of carbohydrates about 30-60 minutes before training begins. This might look like 1-2 slices of bread with jam, one bagel, 2 bags of fruit snacks, or 1 large banana with a small glass of juice.
For training sessions >60 mins or higher intensity sessions: If you have a training session lasting longer than 60 minutes, it’s generally recommended to consume 1 to 4 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight within the 1 to 4 hours before training, with the exact amount depending on the intensity and duration of your planned training session, as well as your performance goals.
For example, if you weigh 150 pounds (~68 kilograms) and you’re planning to do an easy effort 90 minute run, you might aim to eat anywhere from 68-136 grams of carbohydrate (~1-2 grams of carbs/kg body weight) in the 1-4 hours leading up to your run.
If you’re planning to ride the indoor trainer for 2 hours with intervals mixed in, you might aim for 136-204 grams of carbohydrate (~2-3 grams of carbs/kg of body weight) in the 1-4 hours leading up to your ride.
Timing, context, goals, and gut tolerance are all factors to consider when determining your pre-training fuel plan. If you train first thing in the morning and have limited time to get out the door after you wake up, you may opt to start on the lower end of the recommended carbohydrate intake range since you have less time to digest the food that you’re eating. On the other hand, if you have a mid morning training session planned, you should have the opportunity to eat a full breakfast and add a pre-training carbohydrate rich snack.
Examples of Pre-Training Snacks
The following examples provide some (non-exhaustive) snack options for different types of training sessions. The examples below focus on easily digestible carbohydrates with minimal protein, fiber, and fat, and would be good options to consider eating in the 30-120 minutes prior to the start of your training session (note: larger quantities of food take more time to digest, so plan accordingly).
Early morning short/easy run (completed pre-breakfast)
1 large banana
1-2 pouches of applesauce/fruit puree
1 package fig bars
~2-3 Medjool dates
1-2 packets of fruit snacks/gummies
1 piece of toast with jam
60-75 minute run with speed work
2 pieces of toast with jam
1-2 handfuls of pretzels and sports drink
English muffin topped with honey
1 pack of Pop-Tarts (2 pastries)
Long run or ride >75-90 minutes
Bagel with jam
Bowl of cereal with low fat milk or plant-based milk and sliced banana
Pancakes with maple syrup or honey
60-90 minute strength session
Low fat greek yogurt with berries and cereal
1-2 pieces toast topped with peanut butter and sliced banana with cinnamon
2 rice cakes topped with almond butter and jam
Bowl of cereal with milk or plant-based milk and berries
Note: most people can tolerate small to moderate amounts of fat and protein prior to a strength workout, as there is less jostling of the stomach compared to endurance sports
Pre-Training Hydration
You should aim to start all of your training sessions well hydrated. Since fluid needs and drinking practices are so individualized, there’s no “one size fits all” recommendation for how to do this. If you need numeric guidelines, try aiming for ~16-24 ounces of fluid (e.g. water, sports drink) within the ~3 hours leading up to the start of your training. Consistent sipping is ideal. If you forget about hydration in the hours leading up to your training, it’s never too late to get at least a bit of fluid in. Aim for 8 ounces of fluid in the hour leading up to training start, or at least take a few sips just before starting if that’s the best that you’re able to do. A simple hydration check is urine color: pale yellow typically indicates adequate hydration. You can monitor this across the day to for a general gauge on your hydration status leading up to training time.
Putting It All Together: Pre-Training Principles to Remember
Fueling is a skill and it requires practice, just like your sport. While sports nutrition science can provide you with a framework and starting point, you’ll need to experiment with different options to test your gut tolerance and figure out the best strategy.
As you experiment with different pre-training options, keep these important principles in mind:
If you have 15-60 minutes before your activity, opt for easily digestible carbohydrates only.
If you have 1-2 hours before your activity, you can consider adding a small to moderate amount of protein with the carbohydrates since you have more time to digest. This is optional.
If you have 3 or more hours before your activity, make your snack a meal instead by including carbohydrate + protein + fat + fruit/veg on your plate. If you have a more sensitive stomach, you may need to be mindful of the fat and fiber content of your pre-training meal even when you have 3+ hours to digest.
The higher the intensity of your training, the more you should focus on simple carbohydrates (i.e. low fiber). Higher intensity training reduces gastric emptying and reduces blood flow to the gut, meaning it takes longer for food and fluid to leave the stomach and places you at a higher risk for gastrointestinal upset like nausea, cramps, etc. Sports drinks and gels can be good options here.
Don’t fear “simple” carbohydrates. Most people hear that they need to avoid added sugar and simple carbohydrates to support their health. This general health advice is not appropriate for the pre-training window in athletes, where we specifically want quick digesting carbohydrates to provide glucose to our working muscles.
As you experiment with different options, take note of what works and what doesn’t work for you so that over time, you’ll have a list of tried and true pre-training meals and snacks that you can count on tolerating.
If you need help developing personalized pre-training nutrition goals and meal/snack ideas, reach out and book an appointment so that we can build out your fueling plan.