If you don’t eat properly before your workout, you can undermine your efforts of staying fit. Eating the best pre workout snack before your workout will provide you with the fuel you need to help you get through your workout.
If you find yourself losing steam halfway through your workout or feeling completely drained after going to the gym, your pre workout snack could be to blame. See, what you eat before you exercise helps to fuel your body to give you the stamina you need during your workout. It’s also meant to help your body gain lean muscle and in muscle recovery. Besides wanting to get the most out of your workout and prepare yourself mentally for a great workout, you shouldn’t forget to eat the best foods before your workout. This will prepare your body and help maximize your efforts with different nutritional requirements that balance the carbs, proteins, and fats to fuel your body, fight fatigue, stave your hunger, and help with recovery.
Here are some points you should consider to help you know what to look for in a pre workout snack.
Eat carbs
Most people think you need protein to fuel your exercise especially if you’re doing strength training. And although protein is good for muscle building and repair, carbs provide sustainable energy for your body throughout your workout. Carbs are broken down to glucose which your muscles need to provide enough energy so that you can exercise at your optimum best. Your muscles store the glucose in form of glycogen and use it as you work out. So when you eat carbs you’re storing extra glucose to replace the glycogen you use up during training.
If you don’t have enough glycogen to keep you going, you will feel tired and weak and you might give up on training to rest. This is because your body will start to utilize your fat deposits for energy which burns at a slower rate than carbs slowing you down.
Don’t forget proteins
It’s also a good idea to eat a bit of protein before your workout, especially if you’re weight training. Your body needs proteins that are made up of amino acids to help repair any muscle damage, especially if you’re doing any strength training exercises. When you’re resting your body is able to repair and recover which helps to build bigger and stronger muscles. Consume easily digestible sources of protein, but don’t eat too much.
Eat healthy fats
Don’t cut fats completely out of your diet because they provide fuel to your body. For intense workouts, your body uses fats for energy after using up all the glycogen. However, not all fats are good. Saturated and trans-fats increase your blood cholesterol while mono-saturated and plant-based fats and oils help to regulate your oxygen levels, restoring your hormones, improve your immune and cardiovascular systems.
Stay hydrated
Before you go to the gym, it’s important that you hydrate. While there is no specific way of knowing the amount of liquid you need before a workout, you can start with 2 cups of water 2 or 3 hours before your workout and another cup 20 minutes before you start your workout. This helps to reduce dehydration which can cause low energy and muscle cramps. You can also drink a cup of water every 30 minutes to stay hydrated during your workout if you’re sweating a lot or your training in a hot place.
Timing is everything
After you eat, you should allow the food to properly digest and absorb before your workout. If you’re taking a large meal, it can take your body 3-4 hours to properly digest it, a small meal can take 3 hours, and a snack will take 30 minutes. Foods that are high in fiber, protein, and fat take longer to digest, but it also depends on the quality and type of food you eat. Plan your meals and snacks so that they provide ready energy when you exercise. Everybody is different, so you can experiment to see the best time for your body.
If you like exercising early in the morning, choose a snack that contains easy to digest carbs like oatmeal or a banana to keep you energized. This will help you avoid feeling weak, sluggish, or light-headed because your body doesn’t have sustainable energy to last your entire workout.
Reviewing the best pre workout snacks
| Item | Price | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|
| RXbar whole food protein bar | $ 69.00 | Amazon |
| Pure protein bars | $ 64.95 | Amazon |
| Honey stinger organic waffles | $ 16.90 | Amazon |
| Orgain clean protein shake | $ 26.99 | Amazon |
| Rise the simplest protein bar | $ 24.69 | Amazon |
| BSN protein crisp bar | $ 22.99 | Amazon |
| MP combat crunch protein bar | $ 16.15 | Amazon |
| Orgain organic plant-based protein bar | $ 17.85 | Amazon |
RXbar whole food protein bar
RXbar is a protein bar made with 100% chocolate and a mix of hazelnuts. It will give you a boost of energy you need to sustain you during your training. It contains 8 whole food ingredients that contain protein, fiber, with zero added sugars. This delicious protein bar is a convenient breakfast, on-the-go snack, or a pre workout energy snack. It contains clean, simple ingredients that include dates, nuts, and egg whites that are coated with irresistible chocolate to give you a delicious nutty flavour. This bar contains no GMO’s, gluten-free, and no artificial flavours. It comes in a box of 12 bars.
Pros
- A great source of clean energy.
- The ingredients are simple and clean.
- It’s a chewy and tasty protein bar.
- It contains actual food and not chemicals.
Cons
- Some customers complained about some bars containing mold and pebbles.
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Pure protein bars
Pure protein bars are nutritious snacks that contain high-quality protein to increase your energy levels. They are delicious, chewy chocolate chip bars that provide nutrition to your body to build lean muscle, strength, and performance. The bars are high in protein and carbs to make sure that you perform better in any sport. It provides your body with essential amino acids to promote lean muscle and strength with the help of a balanced diet and a workout plan. They come in delicious flavours and are convenient to carry anywhere and take any time you feel you need a boost of energy.
Pros
- They help curb your cravings.
- They’re edible and very tasty.
- Give you lots of energy.
Cons
- Some customers complained of inedible material in the bars.
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Honey stinger organic waffles
Honey stinger waffles is a single bar that consists of honey sandwiched between two waffles. It’s a great snack that satisfies your taste buds which is very convenient to carry and take anywhere and at any time of the day. It’s delicious, easy to digest and absorb into your body. Honey is a rich source of carbs that your muscles need for a great workout session. If you take it before your workout, it will provide you with a consistent source of energy, nourish your muscles and prevent fatigue during the workout, and replenish lost energy and reduce muscle soreness after your workout. Honey has low glycemic properties which makes it a good source of energy without having to raise your blood sugar levels during your workout. Each waffle bar contains 150 calories, but no dairy, soy, or gluten ingredients.
Pros
- They have a delicious taste.
- A great pre workout snack.
- Boosts your energy before, during, and after training.
- Easy to digest and doesn’t hurt your stomach.
Cons
- Crumbles easily.
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Orgain clean protein shake
Orgain clean protein is a nutritious organic shake made from 100% New Zealand-sourced grass-fed protein that is delicious and packed ready to drink. This protein shake has a creamy chocolate fudge flavour that will satisfy your taste buds with every sip. This is a healthy meal replacement for breakfast or a quick snack to provide your body with protein and reduce your hunger and cravings. It’s nutritious on the go pre and post workout snack, for weight loss, building lean muscle, and help with your muscle recovery after a great workout. It’s free of any artificial colouring, preservatives, GMO’s, gluten-free, soy-free, and vegan-friendly.
Pros
- It’s very high in protein and very little sugar content.
- It has a great taste and natural ingredients.
- It’s quick and convenient to take.
- Helps to curb your cravings.
Cons
- Has a very thin consistency.
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Rise the simplest protein bar
The rise protein bar is made of only 3 ingredients; honey, pure whey protein isolate, and almonds. It’s an easy to digest protein bar that is low in carbs and contains no fats or lactose. You can eat this protein bar as a pre workout snack to boost your energy, afternoon snack, post workout, or a meal replacement when you don’t have time to take a proper meal. This snack bar is rich in nutrients and high in protein, potassium, and fiber with vitamins and minerals. It contains no GMO, peanut, gluten, soy or artificial sugars or preservatives. It comes in many delicious variations and all are easy to digest to give you sustainable real energy.
Pros
- A great long-distance running snack.
- It’s delicious and has no after taste.
- Soft and has a delicious taste.
- Tames your insatiable hunger.
Cons
- Has some oil that leaks through the packaging.
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BSN protein crisp bar
Protein crisp protein bar is a convenient, easy to take a snack that is packed with whey protein isolate to give you a boost of energy during your workout. It has a crunchy texture that your teeth will sink into and satisfy your sweet tooth. It comes in nine delicious flavours that only contain 230 calories and 2g of sugar. This is a convenient protein-packed snack that you carry with you can take between meals, before, or after your workout or any time, you get a craving.
Pros
- Has a delicious crunchy taste.
- A great option if you need a protein boost.
- It’s high in protein and low in sugar.
Cons
- It’s a bit dry.
- Contains no vitamins or fiber.
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MP combat crunch protein bar
Combat crunch is a multi-layered protein bar with chocolate and peanut butter cup to give you a soft crunchy texture with a great flavour. It’s a delicious high protein bar that is low in carbs, high in fiber, low in sugar, and gluten-free. All these ingredients help to support your nutritional needs, digestion, and healthy weight goals while keeping you satisfied for longer which curbs your cravings. This gluten-free protein bar has a superior taste and soft texture, unlike other sports bars. A great source of energy before and even after a strenuous workout to replenish your energy and reward your sweet tooth in the same process with all the delicious flavours.
Pros
- Satisfies your sweet tooth.
- A great option for a meal replacement.
- It reduces your cravings.
- The whey protein is easy to digest.
Cons
- A bit messy to eat on the go.
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Orgain organic plant-based protein bar
Organic protein bars are made from 100% plant-based protein to give you clean nutrition any time you need it. They contain essential amino acids that provide you with sustainable energy and helps you build and maintain muscle mass. The 150 calories and very low sugar content make it a perfect on the go protein bar to keep you energized and replenished. The ingredients are natural, clean, nutritious, and vegan-friendly with a delicious taste to provide your body with its daily nutrients and nourishment. It’s a great snack you can take on the go, for lunch, to reduce cravings, or for pre workout.
Pros
- Has a sweet chocolaty chewy taste that doesn’t stick to your teeth.
- Contains less sugar than most protein bars.
- A great on the go snack to carry.
Cons
- Contains erythritol which is a sugar liquor.
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So, which is the best pre workout snack?
Getting the right snack depends on many things like the kind of training and its intensity, your goals, and your tolerance level. The best thing about pre workout snacks is you can take them before, during, and after your workout. RXbar whole food protein bar is a great pre workout snack. It contains whole foods that provide energy and nutrients to your body. It also contains fiber that is good for your muscles with no added sugars.
Why You Need The Best Pre Workout Drink For Energy
If you’re looking to boost your workouts, taking a pre workout drink will be a good option. The best pre workout drink for energy will give you the energy you need to improve your performance.
Nowadays if you go to the gym you will see many gym-goers with energy drinks and pre workout supplements. Some people prefer taking coffee to boost their energy and focus before hitting the gym, but most of the time it all depends on your preference. Coffee has always been a great energy booster when you’re feeling low and you can get it in many different variations. Pre workout drinks like coffee contain caffeine and other beneficial ingredients that help your body to be at its best during your workouts. Most of the pre workout drinks contain performance-enhancing ingredients like BCAA’s, citrulline malate, beta-alanine, etc. that are proven to improve your energy, focus, endurance, and power.
Do pre workout drinks work?
The short answer is yes, a pre workout can help you have a better workout. But, this is just one of the many factors you need to consider. First, you need to take care of your nutritional foundation, then get your training right, get plenty of sleep to help your body heal and repair, and lastly use the pre workout to help you achieve the remaining percentage of your fitness project. For some people, taking a pre workout will help them become faster, stronger, or bigger. It probably doesn’t, but it helps to improve your performance and with time it helps you become faster, bigger, and stronger. Pre workouts aren’t meant to improve your physique or build muscle, they’re meant to give you energy, focus, and endurance to perform better in your exercises.
What ingredients are in the best pre workout drink for energy?
Caffeine
Caffeine appears in your bloodstream 15-45 minutes after taking it, but it takes around an hour to reach its peak levels. It helps you to become more focused, reduces fatigue, which helps you to perform better. Your body also stops relying on carbs for energy but instead uses the fat stores which is beneficial in endurance exercises. Caffeine has been shown to increase your alertness, improve your tolerance to pain, sharpen your focus, help you burn fat, and exercise for longer during your workouts. Whether you’re doing endurance exercises, sprints, or intense workouts, caffeine can provide quick energy you can use to increase your power, strength, endurance, and reduce muscle soreness. However, you can build a tolerance to caffeine, but it won’t interfere with its performance-boosting benefits.
Beta-alanine
During intense workouts, your body builds up acidity which causes muscle fatigue and reduced performance. Beta-alanine acts like a buffer for your muscle cells which helps you to perform better. If you take large doses of beta-alanine, you will experience a tingling sensation mostly on your face and neck. This is a harmless and temporary effect, but it can be very uncomfortable. Taking small doses throughout the day for about 3 weeks consistently will give you great results and reduce the tingling effect.
BCAA’s or EAA’s
These essential amino acids help to regulate your protein metabolism which increases protein synthesis and decreases its break down. This means the BCAA’s help to build your muscle and reduce muscle damage and soreness. This way you’re able to train harder and faster and reduce both physical and mental fatigue during your workout. Most pre workouts contain a blend of essential amino acids or EAA’s which will also provide you with all the benefits of BCAA’s.
Nitric oxide boosters
These are pre workout ingredients that help to increase blood flow to your muscles to give you a great pump during intense lifting exercises. L-arginine is a popular nitric oxide booster, but another popular one is citrulline malate a non-essential amino acid. It’s found in its natural form in watermelons. It helps increase nitric oxide levels in your body to expand your blood vessels to provide more nutrients and oxygen to your muscles. It also helps to remove ammonia in your blood which causes fatigue. While citrulline boosts blood flow, malate fights fatigue and helps your body to recycle the lactic acid and use it for energy which improves your endurance and decreases muscle soreness.
Reviewing the best pre workout drink for energy
Essential amino energy blueberry mojito
Essential amino energy blueberry mojito gives you a caffeine boost from green tea and the green coffee beans to help improve your energy and focus at any time of the day. You can increase or decrease the number of scoops to fit your needs whether it’s in the morning or an afternoon pick me up. But, be careful of the caffeine you take throughout the day and don’t take more than 10 scoops a day. The BCAA’s help to promote muscle endurance during your workout. The beta-alanine will give you a temporary tingling sensation, but it will help enhance your performance and endurance. With continued use, the tingling sensation will disappear. This pre workout comes in multiple flavours that are made with naturally flavoured items.
Pros
- It contains caffeine in moderation and amino acids that your body needs.
- Gives you a nice boost of energy with no crashes.
- You don’t get any jittery feeling.
- Helps you to stay alert and focused.
Cons
- Some of the flavours don’t have great taste.
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Essential amino energy ready to drink
Essential amino energy ready to drink contains a unique blend of pre-mixed amino acids and liquid energy that you can carry anywhere and package in plastic bottles for convenience. You can take it along to work or the gym and take it when you want to increase your energy, mental focus, and muscle recovery. The amino blend is a mix of amino acids including beta-alanine to help with muscle repair and recovery after your workout. The energy blend will provide you with a boost of energy to help you stay energized and focused in the morning, increase your productivity in the afternoon, and increase your energy and focus in the evening when you go to the gym.
Pros
- It doesn’t have any unpleasant after taste.
- Gives you a great energy boost with no crashes.
- Doesn’t give you jitters.
- The BCAA’s are great for muscle recovery.
Cons
- It’s a bit too sweet.
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Celsius sparkling orange fitness drink
Celsius sparkling orange drink is designed to provide you with healthy energy that helps to increase your metabolism which helps to fast burn calories and fat. It contains no sugars, preservatives, artificial flavours, and is low in sodium and fructose corn syrup. It contains green tea extracts that are responsible for increasing your metabolism so that your body can burn more calories and reduce your fat deposits. The guarana seed extracts are a great natural source of caffeine to give you the energy boost you need any time of the day, while the ginger root gives the energy drink a spicy flavour and helps in thermogenesis which improves your digestive system.
This energy drink also contains vitamins and minerals that your body needs to boost your immune system, help in the breakdown of proteins and fat while reducing your hunger pangs.
Pros
- It helps to boost your metabolism and burn calories.
- Provides you with natural energy with no crashes.
- Tastes great with a subtle ginger aftertaste.
- Contains ingredients that help stabilize your blood sugar.
Cons
- Contains a lot of caffeine.
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Mr. Hyde nitroX pre workout powder
Mr. Hyde nitroX is a pre workout formulated with high-quality ingredients that boost your energy and focus during your workout. It contains 3 different types of caffeine to ensure that you get a powerful energy boost that is sustainable. It increases your intensity, power output, enhances your strength and pumps, without any energy crashes or other side effects. It’s also formulated with nitrosigine which increases blood flow to your muscles giving you massive pump you will love during your workout. It’s a perfect pre workout for both men and women who are looking or intense sustainable energy that will deliver bigger pumps with more power and strength and no crashes.
Pros
- It gives you massive amounts of energy.
- Gives you incredible focus.
- You don’t experience any crashes after your workout.
Cons
- It can increase your heart rate.
- It’s not for beginners.
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Cellular C4 sports pre workout powder
Cellular C4 sport gives you better energy and performance with every scoop. It’s made with two formulas that support energy and performance at the same time. For energy, it contains a powerful blend of caffeine and taurine to make sure that you’re well energized and focused. And for your performance, it contains creatine to help with your muscle endurance while arginine increases your blood flow to help you work out for longer, and beta-alanine fights your muscle fatigue. This sports drink also contains BCAA’s and electrolytes that keep you well hydrated, keep your energies up, fight fatigue, and help you endure through intense workouts.
Proteins provide nourishment for tired muscles and also to help new muscles grow so that you’re ready to work out the next day. With zero sugars and zero calories, this pre workout is excellent for anywhere and at any time.
Pros
- You get a steady boost of energy to complete your workout.
- Helps you in your weight loss journey.
- You’re more focused and perform better.
Cons
- It gives you a tingly sensation.
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Garden of life sport organic plant-based energy pre workout
Organic energy powder is a pre workout drink that focuses on providing you with energy and increased focus during your workout. It can be taken by both men and women to give you a burst of energy thanks to nitric oxide ingredients that include organic spinach, kale, and beets that are rich in nitrates. These provide increased oxygen and fuel for your muscles which improves your performance output. Vitamin B12 is a vital nutrient that helps in the metabolism of carbs and fats to provide energy and reduce fatigue to increase your endurance. This delicious organic blackberry drink contains whole food nutrition that keeps you energized, focused, fights fatigue, and reduces muscle soreness.
Pros
- It doesn’t have any unpleasant after taste.
- Gives you enough energy with no crashes or jitters.
- Helps you to stay focused.
- Has a great light taste.
Cons
- Some have complained of getting an upset stomach.
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Morning buzz orange pre workout nutrition drink
Morning buzz orange is a healthy and nutritious pre workout energy drink that ensures you get lasting energy to help in your workout endurance, focus, and mental clarity for better performance results. This energy drink doesn’t leave you with a tired feeling or energy crashes as coffee does. It contains healthy nutrients that give you a good burst of energy in the morning for a great run, sustain your energy levels in the afternoon to promote a healthy metabolism and an energized evening workout session without any crashes. It has a delicious orange flavour that you will look forward to drinking every time you want an energy boost.
Pros
- Has a great orange flavour that is refreshing.
- Provides you with good clean energy.
- It dissolves well in water without any residue.
- You don’t get any jitters or crashes.
Cons
- It contains sucralose.
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So, who is the winner?
Pre workout energy drinks are very beneficial to achieve a great workout. But, you have to know the type of pre workout you’re taking, why, and when to take it. Essential amino energy blueberry mojito is a great pre workout drink that caters to all your fitness needs. It provides consistent energy and focus at any time of the day you might need to replenish your energy levels. While the amino acids provide nutrients to your muscles to support muscle growth and repair and keep you well hydrated.
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