What to Eat Before and After a Workout

What to eat on heavy training days

On heavy training days you'll need to pay close attention to hydration levels and up your


carbohydrate intake. Make sure you're eating the right kind of carbs with our recipe suggestions...

Nutrition plan for heavy training days (two or more training sessions or a long, endurance-based session)

Increase the carbsCarbohydrate intake is raised on these days, and a serving should be included at all main meals. Snacks can also be used to boost intake to support high training needs. A low-GI breakfast will provide sustained energy during the morning and for a longer run. Higher-GI carbohydrate snacks are useful pre-training. The increased carbohydrate intake means you should aim to limit fat, but a moderate protein intake should be maintained with each meal. Be sure to include an evening snack containing protein, as this is vital to help your body recover from a heavy training day and assist muscle growth overnight, as this is when the majority of adaptation will occur.

Other nutrientsUp your fluid intake to compensate for sweat losses during training and stick to tried and tested foods before setting out on a long run. Avoid foods that may cause gastrointestinal issues, such as spices, fatty or very high fibre foods.

Meal options:

Breakfast options:



Cinnamon buckwheat pancakes with cherries

Blueberry bircher pots

Good-for-you granola

Morning snack options:

Banana & blueberry muffins

Cinnamon berry granola bars

Banana yogurt pots

 

Lunch options:

Falafel burgers

Chicken & broccoli pasta bake

Quick chilli bean wraps


Afternoon snack suggestion:

Instant frozen berry yogurt


Evening snack suggestions (optional):

Spiced hot choc

Creamy mango & coconut smoothie

Now find out what to eat on easy and normal training days.




More training & nutrition tips for runners
Now you've perfected your training nutrition, make sure you eat right in race week with our marathon meal plans and top race day foods.

Get to grips with eating before, during and after running with our guides.

Our marathon nutrition hub will teach you how to hydrate properly, carb-load and even how Mo Farah fuels for training.



Are you training for a race this year? What have you found most challenging and do you have any top tips to share with other runners? We'd love to hear from you below...