What's a great, healthy energy booster to take prior to going to the gym, or starting a run or bike ride? I currently eat a Cliff Bar or Powerbar, but they don't provide much in the energy department.
Keep an assortment of fruit handy. None of those other artificial energy boosters beats an apple or a banana. Just my $0.02.
7 Answers
Indeed, a banana is always good before and after a workout.
In the realm of shakes and bars, Go is a lesser known but renowned sports drink in the professional and collegiate world of sports. Evidently Dr. J Robert Cade, the inventor of Gatorade, developed this. A strength coach from the University of Texas introduced me to this several years ago. Great for energy as well as post-workout recovery.
May not be as healthy as a banana but has become a pretty popular pre-workout supplement. BSN's NO-Xplode
In previous years it provided crazy amounts of energy before a workout, but over time BSN has limited the ingredient that provides this but still provides some pretty great results.
I've used this off an on in stages for a couple years and saw great workout result as well, but it all depends what you are looking for. Check out BSN's Site for more info on the product. It may be what you're looking for.
A healthy, well balanced diet beats any supplement. Reality is your body already has enough fuel already to run several marathons or cycle hundreds of miles. Tapping into those energy stores is the hard part though part of that is conditioning, namely gradually increasing the amount of activity over a period of several months.
Personally, I'm very leery of many performance enhancing supplements. These products receive little (if any) regulatory oversight from the FDA and many receive only minimal testing before being unleashed on a gullible public looking for a quick fix. Do a few minutes of research and you'll see that many health and diet supplements have been pulled due to potentially dangerous side effects. Don't think that just because the label says "all natural" that something is healthy. After all hemlock, plutonium, and many other potentially deadly substances are naturally occurring!
Well, you want carbs before your workout and protein after your workout. I think Clif bars and Powerbars are high in protein and protein doesn't supply energy, but is great for after a workout.
Any fresh squeezed juice! whether it be apple, orange or grape! Fresh fruit juices provide your body with one main ingredient: glucose. Glucose is also your bodys main metabolic intermediate. Yes, glucose is found in starches, but starches take a long time to digest! especially if your in the works of exercising. By eating a starch pior to a workout, your body is expending energy to breakdown the glucose from the starch. Add a work out to that, and you're going to be burnt faster than anything. By drinking a fresh fruit juice 30 min. prior to your workout, your body will be able to extract the glucose from the juice more efficiently, mainly because it is already in liquid form and your stomach does not have to mess with the extra fibers found in the fruits main body. Another bonus: glucose also stimulates your brains processing functions, so you will be able to focus more on your workout. If you dont have a juicer, the guys at the Gracie Academy made juicing easier with the new Gracie juice bag. http://gracieacademy.com/storeitem.asp?r=74903. Enjoy!
Keep an assortment of fruit handy. None of those other artificial energy boosters beats an apple or a banana. Just my $0.02.