What to eat before and after a workout

Nutrition · 4 min read

Ask five people what to eat around a workout and you will get five confident, contradictory answers. The truth is simpler than most of it. A few sensible principles cover the vast majority of what you actually need, whether you are lifting, running or heading to cricket training.

Before you train: energy without feeling sluggish

Aim to eat a meal with carbohydrate and some protein one to three hours before you train. This tops up your energy stores so you can actually push through your session, rather than running on empty and cutting your last few reps or overs short. Keep it lighter on fat and fibre close to training time, both slow digestion and can leave you feeling heavy when you want to feel sharp.

If you are short on time

Training straight after work or school does not always leave three hours to digest a full meal. In that case, go smaller and faster-digesting: a banana, toast with honey, or a small bowl of cereal thirty to sixty minutes out works well for most people. Test what sits well for you and stick with it.

After you train: the recovery window is not as strict as you think

You have probably heard about a thirty-minute "anabolic window" you must hit or lose your gains. It is largely a myth. What actually matters far more is your total protein and carbohydrate intake across the day. That said, eating a proper meal within a couple of hours of training is a sensible habit, it kick-starts recovery and stops you arriving at your next meal starving and reaching for whatever is quickest.

What a good post-workout meal looks like

Keep it simple: a protein source, a carbohydrate source, and some vegetables or fruit if you can. Think chicken, rice and vegetables, or eggs on toast with a piece of fruit. Nothing exotic, just food that refuels you and helps your body repair.

The best pre- and post-workout meal is the one you will actually eat, consistently, not the theoretically perfect one you skip because it is a hassle.

What about supplements?

Whole food comes first, always. A protein shake is a genuinely useful, convenient top-up when you are short on time or appetite, not a requirement and not a shortcut that outperforms real food. For more on getting protein right day to day, see our guide to how much protein you actually need.

How we coach it

Nutrition guidance is built into every training plan we run, tailored around your schedule, your training and your real life rather than a generic rulebook. It is one of the things that quietly makes the biggest difference to how you feel in every session.