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Pre-Workout Foods for Muscle Growth

Published By Nutrition with Kimberly & Newport Boxfit



To increase muscle size and density you have to lift weights but if you aren’t feeding

your body high quality calories in the right quantity, you will miss out on valuable gains inside and outside of the gym.


When building muscle mass, every single set, rep and exercise you complete in a given

workout is crucial. So to sustain energy for a weight lifting workout, a lot of fuel is needed.


Building a lean body will require the majority of your carbohydrates to be consumed around your workout in the pre and post time frame. Studies have shown that when athletes consume carbohydrates 1 hour prior to a workout, insulin and blood glucose levels are reported to elevate immediately before exercise. Carbohydrates play a useful role in helping to maintain enough energy to push through an intense workout in the gym and then recover from that workout. When you are preparing for an intense workout, you’ll want something that digests quickly, like a simple carbohydrate and protein. During the preworkout window, it’s best to choose a protein source that has an adequate amount of fast-digesting protein.


Options for ideal preworkout protein sources include whey protein, egg whites, chicken, ground turkey or tuna.


Avoid Foods High in Fat!!!


Fats are an important part of any muscle-building diet, but they should be used sparingly

in the preworkout meal. Fats should be present in other meals throughout the day, but you should primarily stick with carbs and protein before and after your workout.


2 hours before your work out:

  • Of all the animal protein sources you could consume preworkout, chicken is one of the best because it’s high in protein, and its low in fat.

  • Choose brown rice or white rice. White rice is faster-digesting than brown rice, so it can be consumed an hour or so before your workout, whereas brown rice should be consumed a few hours before your workout. Rice has a double benefit, because it is relatively high in protein compared to other grain sources and it is also very low in fat.

  • Egg whites are a great protein source preworkout.

  • While wheat bread is definitely acceptable in the preworkout window (as long as you wait at least an hour before your workout), white bread is a perfect example of a fast digesting , aka digested and used for fuel quickly.

30 minutes before a work out:


If you want a simple meal that will give you the perfect macronutrient combo, then whey protein and oats is perfect. Oatmeal, plain quick oats or rolled oats, or steel cut oats and the whey protein powder of your choice

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