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Home › Nutrition › What to Eat › Eating For Exercise: The 5 Worst Ways to Fuel Up Pre-Workout

Eating For Exercise: The 5 Worst Ways to Fuel Up Pre-Workout

What do you eat before your workout? The wrong foods can wreak havoc on your body—and sabotage your exercise routine.

By John A. Phillips
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All psyched up for that killer session in the gym? Having explosive energy is key, but eating the wrong foods too close to go-time can really ruin your workout and set your training back in a big way.

“Putting the wrong things in your tank before you exercise can leave you lethargic, crash your system, or cause wicked cramps,” says Jim White, R.D., a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “And going on empty can do the same.”

So don’t doom your cardio or weight session before it even starts. Here, the biggest pre-workout diet mistakes many men make—and why you should avoid them.

TOPICSWhat to Eat healthy food workout snacks

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Eating For Exercise

Mistake #4: The Energy Drink

This one’s tricky, because research has proven that a little pre-workout caffeine can rev you up. The problem is, monstrous energy drinks also have tons of workout-crashing sugar (See: Mistake #1)—and relying on them regularly might kill your fitness game long-term.

“The high amounts of caffeine in many of these drinks can really wreck your sleeping habits, setting off a vicious cycle,” says White. “Because when you don’t get enough sleep, your workouts and diet suffer, too.”

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