Ok, to keep things straight this is inreference to immediate pre-workout nutrition. So this means less than an hour before you go to the gym. We want to ensure you train at your best, possibly include a simple protein source and maybe even add to your overall varied diet.

There are some pre-workouts on the market that are basically just caffeine, have proprietary blends that are massively under dosing things like creatine and may even contain banned ingredients if you were to take a drug test.

Here are some simple guidelines I use when constructing my pre-workout:

1 – I like to have some caffeine. Caffeine is a great stimulant and one at around 1-3mg per kilogram of bodyweight should help give you a good kick to get things going. For me I prefer to have as a coffee but others might prefer something like Pro-Plus or other tablet form of caffeine. The more sensitive you are the less you will need. 

Be aware that if you have a coffee you might want to avoid drinking too much water. My personal preference is an Americano.

2 – Find yourself a protein source for your pre-workout nutrition. This can be anything from a protein bar or even a whey protein shake. Something that would hit around 20-30g protein would be ideal. Keep it simple. Nothing fancy. Again beware of size of the drink. Glugging 1ltr might not be the best choice but maybe something around the 200-300ml mark would be just fine.

Tip: Maybe thing about brewing an Americano and add some scoops of whey (preferably chocolate). Blend it and you’ve created a really nice protein mocha.

3 – Look for a light carbohydrate for your pre-workout nutrition. You might fancy the latest posh carbohydrate blend that MyProtein are offering. This is likely expensive and offering you nothing more than what my recommendation might be. I think this is a great opportunity to maximise your fruit and veg intake by consuming something like a banana or even an apple. Good, mixed source of carbohydrates, tasty and packed full of vitamins and minerals.

4 – This may also be a convenient time to take some supplements. Things like creatine and beta alanine could be added making it easy to remember to take them.

Keep it simple stupid (KISS). Pre-workout nutrition doesn’t really need to contain expensive concoctions are rarely any good and even worse could contain banned substances.