Nutrition Tips for Better Workouts

Have you started to feel sluggish during your workouts? Are you starting to feel less motivated or seeing lackluster results? If your fitness plan isn’t delivering the results you desire, you might think about changing your program or, worse, ditching your plan altogether. But before you give up, you might want to examine your nutrition plan. Exercise physiologists often target nutrition to improve workout performance.

 What you eat—and sometimes what you don’t eat—can have a big impact on the quality and effectiveness of your workouts. Unfortunately, most people increase their activity levels without adjusting their eating habits. If you want to lose weight, change your body composition, run faster, build muscle, or simply just get more out of your fitness plan, follow a few basic rules to fuel your workouts effectively. 

5 Essential Workout Nutrition Tips  

1. Balance Your Macros. Social media influencers and headlines about diet trends may suggest that you limit or completely eliminate certain macronutrients, like carbs or fat. But the truth is that you need a balanced approach to nutrition to thrive. You won’t see workout results unless you follow the guidance provided by professionals, like the experts at the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), Dietitians of Canada, or the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND).

You need adequate carbohydrates (45%-65% of daily calories), protein (10%-35% of daily calories), and fat (20%-35% of daily calories) to see real change from a fitness plan.

To determine the right ratio of each macro, follow USDA guidelines or pick up a copy of Macro Diet for Dummies to learn how to personalize your numbers for optimal performance.

2. Avoid Over- or Undereating. It is not uncommon for new exercisers to overeat. After all, when you finish a hard workout, you’re often hungry and it’s tempting to feel that you deserve a reward. But a supersized meal can quickly undo all of the hard work you did at the gym.

Keep in mind that most workouts burn roughly 300-500 total calories—only about 200-300 more calories than you would normally burn if you had sat on the couch (depending on the amount of time involved). So, the calorie expenditure from exercise is usually lower than you might expect. A big meal could easily add up to 1000 calories or more, potentially putting you in a calorie surplus, which can cause unnecessary weight gain.

On the flip side, you might be tempted to restrict calories if weight loss is your goal. While you do need a calorie deficit to lose weight, cutting back too much can backfire. If your energy levels plummet from lack of nutrition, you won’t be able to perform at your best in the gym. Poor workouts won’t help you reach your long-term goals.

Try to build balanced meals around lean protein, healthy whole grains, and plenty of nutritious vegetables for optimal training and fat loss.

3. Never Underestimate Proper Hydration. Do you drink enough water during the day? Proper hydration is essential to keeping your energy levels elevated for high-intensity workouts. So, how do you know that you’re getting enough fluids? Many sports nutrition experts now advise that you can use thirst as a guide throughout the day. But you can also use hydration guidelines during your workouts to get enough fluids.

According to the American Council on Exercise (ACE), try to drink 17 to 20 ounces two hours before exercising and seven to 10 ounces of fluid every 10 to 20 minutes while exercising. If you participate in long exercise sessions lasting two hours or more (or workouts where you sweat heavily) consider using a sports drink that contains sodium.

And be careful about alcohol consumption. The day after drinking, you may be more dehydrated than usual. As a result, you may want to increase your fluid intake to compensate.

4. Get Savvy About Supplements. There is no end to the tips and advice you’ll find online about supplements, especially workout supplements. Pre-workout and post-workout powders and pills are widely available but not usually well-researched or advised by independent, credentialed experts. If you can meet your nutritional needs from whole foods rather than supplements, your body (and your budget!) will benefit.

Plus, there are drawbacks to the use of unregulated supplements.

The Food and Drug Administration does not regulate supplements like they do medications or food, so the claims you see on product labels are often unsubstantiated. Even the mention of studies can be misleading. Product manufacturers can conduct their own limited studies to support supplement sales.

To make sure that you don’t fall victim to useless or harmful products, athletes should seek the guidance of a credentialed nutrition expert. Alternatively, look for online or print sources that use evidence-based guidelines offered by research organizations like ISSN or AND.

5. Seek Expert Advice. While it’s tempting to follow the latest Instagram diet trend or adopt the same eating plan as your gym buddy, this is probably not the smartest approach if you are serious about getting fit.

According to the ACSM, your diet plan should be personalized.

“Nutrition plans need to be personalized to the individual athlete to take into account the specificity and uniqueness of the event, performance goals, practical challenges, food preferences, and responses to various strategies.” 

You can invest in a few sessions with a registered dietitian or credentialed sports nutrition professional to help you build your plan. If that is not in your budget, pick up a copy of Macro Diet for Dummies which will walk you through the entire process of tailoring a nutritional plan based on your specific goals and the guidelines provided by nutrition experts. Whether you want to lose weight, burn fat, build muscle, or perform better, you’ll find step-by-step guidance to reach your goals.