I am often asked how to eat right during aerobic and strength training, during fitness classes – what to eat before going to the gym, and what after, what dietary supplements to take and in what doses, what to drink – water or freshly squeezed juices that are poured into fitness club bar.

This is a very important topic, because the effectiveness of your efforts in the gym depends in no small measure on proper nutrition during training.

It is impossible to give one recipe to everyone involved, because nutrition must be balanced, taking into account the tasks that you set for yourself when entering the gym.

Do you want to burn fat or build muscle? Depending on your goals, you need to choose the right exercises and nutrition. Because if you want to lose weight, but at the same time you swing to exhaustion, and then wash down your workout with orange juice, you will not only fail to lose weight – on the contrary, you will gain a few extra pounds and a great appetite.

Let’s get smart about things. So, all sports training can be divided into three categories.

Aerobic training for weight loss that promotes fat burning (walking)
Strength training aimed at increasing muscle mass (weight lifting, weight training)
Workouts that improve the stability of the nervous system, the elasticity of the joints, etc. This category includes fashionable now yoga, Pilates.

Consider, for example, the correct organization of aerobic (in this case, ordinary walking) and strength training.

Aerobic exercise for fat burning

1. Aerobic exercise should be done in the morning by drinking a glass of water on an empty stomach.

The fact is that in the morning the body’s energy needs become critical, as glycogen reserves (the energy of carbohydrates) are depleted overnight. The body has no other options left, and it will be forced to “throw fats into the furnace.”

2. Leaving the house, apply any warming cream to problem areas and do a light self-massage (5 minutes – no more) in order to improve blood circulation in these areas.

3. It is recommended to take “L-carnitine”.

The unique feature of this drug is that it increases the permeability of cell membranes for fatty acids, without increasing the rate of breakdown of the adipose tissue itself. Simply put, it increases the rate of fat absorption. organism.

Thus, using carnitine, you kill two birds with one stone: you burn excess fat and get a lot of energy necessary for an active, fulfilling life.

If “L-carnitine” is in liquid form, then it should be taken five minutes before the load, if in tablet form, then half an hour. Single dose 1500 mg.

4. While walking, make sure that you do not experience shortness of breath. It is calm long walking that contributes to fat burning, and not running and exhausting workouts after which you can hardly breathe.

The fact is that with too intense exercise, carbohydrates are consumed in the muscles, and the formed incompletely oxidized products (acetone, lactic acid) block the processes of fat oxidation. After such exorbitant loads, the muscles completely relax, and fat oxidation does not occur in them. And more importantly, such loads greatly increase appetite.

5. Drink water! While walking, the body loses quite a lot of fluid, even in winter. Therefore, regardless of weather conditions, take a small bottle of water.

6. When you get home, take a shower and drink a second serving of L-carnitine. Single dose 1500 mg.

7. You can’t eat anything for an hour and a half after a workout, but you can drink water as much as you like.

8. If you do aerobic activity in the evenings (as an exception, of course), you should not eat anything for one hour.

Strength training for muscle building

When carrying out strength training, it is necessary to change the daily routine and diet, since more protein is needed for muscle growth, and the “right” carbohydrates for energy.

1. Strength exercises are best done at lunchtime or in the early evening, when glycogen stores are fully restored. This will help to achieve good results in working with weights.

2. For breakfast, you need one of the varieties of “slow carbohydrates” – maltodextrin, to energize our muscles with ATP. This carbohydrate is found in cereals, so in the morning oatmeal, barley, buckwheat, brown or wild rice should be present in the diet.

3. After some time, you can eat a couple of fruits and after another half an hour – a protein lunch.

4. An hour before the gym – nothing to eat. At the same time, water is not limited!

5. Half an hour before entering the gym, it is recommended to drink any sports supplement based on creatine. But no caffeine! Creatine dilates blood vessels, increases muscle blood supply and ensures good blood flow.

6. If the amino acid balance is not replenished after training, the injured muscle fibers will begin to break down and fat will begin to accumulate where the muscle tissue was.

So drink a protein isolate shake (pure protein, no carbs) within 20 minutes of your workout.

Why am I in favor of protein supplements? The thing is that just two tablespoons of modern protein supplements contain the same amount of protein as, for example, 100 g of a good steak.

Of course, eating a steak is much more pleasant than drinking some kind of supplement! Who would argue?! Yes, only a steak will bring us extra fats, and a protein shake does not contain them. In addition, we are not talking now about replacing food with powder mixtures, but only about supplementing the diet with them. This is fundamentally important!

If you do not have the opportunity to purchase pure protein in the form of a protein isolate, we increase the portion of the protein lunch (whether it be cottage cheese, fish or meat) according to the calculation of the protein you need and break it into 2 doses.

7. Until 18:00, if desired, you can eat another protein lunch, the protein of which will be used to build and restore muscle tissue.

8. It is necessary to carry out strength training regularly, at least 3 times a week, alternating strength training with aerobic exercise.

Naturally, we don’t take “L-carnitine” on the day of strength training, since we carry out not an aerobic, but a power load. In this case, we do not burn fat, so carnitine is simply useless!

Following these simple recommendations, you can easily achieve the desired results. And yet, it will not be superfluous to believe in yourself and look to the future with optimism.