Avoid muscle fatigue, excessive tiredness, and unexpected weight gain during exercise by preparing your body for the best. You can get better results from your workouts at your garage gym by focusing on three main things: hydration, nutrition, and timing.
Mike Tyson once said “I can beat anybody in my prime on just water, vegetables, and vitamins”. Natural foods play an important role even in the conditioning and performance of athletes.
Once you focus on the key areas of betterment, you will start seeing magical results from your workouts. Let’s take a look at what your diet should consist of when it comes to getting better results from your workout.
First of all, there are three main macronutrients that your body needs in large quantities. They are:
1. Carbohydrates
2. Proteins
3. Fats
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are broken down and absorbed as glucose in the body before they are utilized as energy for physical activities. That said, there are two different types of carbohydrates you need to know: simple and complex. The former is mostly sugar and hence it’s sufficient if 10% of your daily calorie intake comprises simple carbohydrates. On the other hand, complex carbohydrates take more time to get absorbed and hence they are good for people whom exercise on a daily basis. You can have up to 50% of your daily calorie intake in the form of complex carbs like brown rice, potatoes, wheat bread, and whole grains that is if you exercise every day.
Proteins
When we exercise, the muscles are stretched out beyond their normal limit and hence they suffer tears. Proteins are the building block of muscles that repair and re-strengthen them after they’ve suffered wear and tear during exercise. That’s the reason why majority of the bodybuilders’ diet constitutes proteins. They are quickly absorbed when taken with small quantities of saturated fat. The quantity of proteins that you should take purely depends on the intensity of your workouts. The richest sources of proteins are eggs, dairy products, soybeans and supplements.
Fats
Because they carry more calories than other macronutrients, fats have a bad reputation among athletes. However, various researches have shown that the body needs a sufficient amount of fat (around 20%) to produce more energy during exhaustive workout sessions. There are three types of fats and they’re:
1. Trans-fat
These are heavily processed food stuff like packaged and bakery items. Trans-fat refers to manufactured fat that isn’t easily digested by the body. In other words, it sticks to the blood stream much longer and has the risk of causing cardiac arrests in people. So, this type of fat is to be strictly avoided.
2. Saturated Fat
This one too is harmful for the health when consumed in large quantities. It’s commonly found in dairy products, some oils, and meat varieties. Palm kernel, and coconut oils are the common kitchen items that contain more saturated fat. For better health, try to minimize this type of macronutrient to below 7% of your daily calorie intake.
3. Unsaturated Fat
The best way to meet your daily fat requirement is to take unsaturated fat, which in turn is classified as mono and poly. Some of the richest sources of unsaturated fat include sunflower oil, olive oil, nuts, soy, and avocados.
When you supply your body with a balanced mix of macronutrients, you will start seeing better muscle development and energy during exercise.
Apart from these, there are two more important elements you need to take to supplement the benefits of macronutrients. They are as follows:
Iron
The red blood cells help carry oxygen to different parts of the body and help produce energy. Iron is an important component of red blood cells, so you need to take them in more than adequate quantities to improve your workout results. Include plenty of dark green leafy items, dates, papaya, nuts and dried fruits in your diet to maximize the iron content in your body. Also, make sure you take Vitamin C whenever you take iron-rich foods because it helps the body to absorb iron readily. The most common sources of vitamin C that are available for cheap are lemon and orange. Avoid taking iron tablets because artificial iron is hard to get digested and sometimes they come with harmful side effects as well.
Water
White it’s mandatory for everyone to drink at least eight glasses of water every day, people who exercise are required to drink much more to last longer during workouts. Ideally, gym rats (and even weekend gymmers) are recommended to drink at least six ounces of water every 15 minutes during workout starting 30 minutes before starting a session.
Timing
What you eat before and after workout plays a major role in conditioning your muscles and energy. While there is no one-size-that-fits-all idea, here are some pointers you could keep in mind:
Pre workout
If you are on weight loss, eat a bowl of fruits 30 minutes before workout and if you are into bodybuilding, then take five to seven egg whites to get an instant protein boost to see fantastic results from your workout.
Post workout
After a rigorous workout session, your body will crave for a replacement for the lost sugar, so it’s advisable to take any natural sweet food or drink like honey, fruits, or shakes 30 minutes after exercise. For the rest of the day, you can stick to your regular diet advised by your diet consultant or the one you found from online research.
