Eat This Food Before Your Training Sessions

Before you engage in Kickboxing, Strength and Conditioning, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, or whatever your favorite choice of physical exercise may be, you want to make sure that you are fueling your body with the right foods. It’s a horrible feeling to feel full and queezy during your training session. It’s also no fun feeling hungry and weak while you’re trying to give it lift one more rep, or complete the last 30 seconds of a tough round.

Ideally, you eat a well balanced meal several hours before your kickboxing or muay thai session. Sometimes that isn’t an option, so you’re left trying to get some food in your stomach before you head to the gym. You want a food that will give you energy, not sap it. A food that will satisfy your hunger, but not make you feel full.

The choice is easy. Eat….a banana.

There are a whole host of reasons why bananas are a great pre-workout snack, so let’s take a look at why this piece of fruit offers so many benefits before your training session:

• Potassium: Long known for their abundance of potassium, this mineral is vital for hydration and keeping your muscles firing on all cylinders. Potassium helps to keep your fluid levels even, and serves to transmit electrical pulses to allow proper muscles function. Often times when athletes feel tired or depleted during their kickboxing, muay thai, or weight lifting sessions it is because of a lack of potassium in their body.

• Easy Digestion: The last thing you want is a bunch of heavy food sitting in your body while trying to do kickboxing or muay thai. Bananas are primarily simple sugars so they digest easily, helping you to avoid feeling bloated or gassy. While proteins and fats take a while to break down, carbohydrates are easier for the body to process.

• Sustained Energy: While digesting comfortably in your stomach, bananas give you the easy-to-use carbohydrates you can use for energy during your kickboxing or muay thai sessions. Bananas typically have more sugar than water based fruits, giving you enough fuel for your hour long training session.

 

So next time you’re in a pinch and need an energy booster for kickboxing, muay thai, or any kind of physical activity, grab a banana and enjoy the many benefits it will provide!

Jim Sheppard coaches Cardio Kickboxing and Foudations Muay Thai at Straight Blast Gym Buford.