What to Eat Before Morning Practice: Tips to Fuel Your Workout
When athletes have to be up early for morning practice, they are often rushed to get out the door. Providing athletes with easy ideas for what to eat before morning practice can help ensure that they go into their workouts well-fueled.
What to Eat Before Morning Practice: Carbohydrates for Energy
If athletes want to get in a high-quality morning workout, it is important they make time to fuel their bodies with carbohydrates before practice.
Similar to gas in a car, carbohydrates provide the body with the energy needed to perform at its best.
When athletes have limited time (<1 hour) to eat before morning practice, they should focus on fueling with easy-to-digest, high-carb snacks.
Easy ideas for high-carb snacks that athletes can eat before morning practice include:
- Banana or small piece of fruit
- Applesauce squeeze pouch
- Dried fruit, fruit leather
- English muffin, toast with jelly, bagel
- Instant oatmeal, cream of wheat
- Toaster waffle, low-fat muffin
- Breakfast bar, fig bar, low-fat granola bar
- Dry breakfast cereal, graham crackers, animal crackers
- Sports drink, chews, gels
Mini-Meals Before Morning Practice
When athletes have more time before morning practice, they can eat a larger snack or mini-meal to fuel their workout.
The mini-meal should include a food high in carbohydrates paired with a food providing a lean source of protein.
Mini-meal breakfast ideas for before morning practice include:
- Fruit smoothie
- Greek yogurt parfait with berries and granola
- Bagel with nut butter and banana slices
- Fig bars with hard-boiled eggs
- Kodiak Cakes® toaster waffles, apple slices
- Instant oatmeal with walnuts and raisins
- Breakfast bars with string cheese
Foods to Limit Before Morning Practice
Every athlete is unique in terms of what foods they feel most comfortable eating prior to exercise.
However, there are some types of food that may lead to GI distress when eaten too close to the start of activity. In general, this includes foods that are high in fat, fiber, and/or protein (1).
When planning what to eat before a morning practice, athletes may want to limit foods such as:
- Fried foods such as donuts or fried hashbrown potatoes
- High-fat or greasy breakfast meats such as pork sausage and bacon
- Heavy cream, cheese, or greasy sauces such as gravy
- High-fiber breads or cereals
- Beans and high-fiber vegetables
What if I Have a Sensitive Stomach?
Some athletes have sensitive stomachs and have a difficult time finding foods that they are comfortable eating before a morning practice.
I suggest athletes with sensitive stomachs, consider experimenting with the nutrition strategies below.
Decrease the Size of the Snack Before Morning Practice
If athletes are consuming too much food close to the start of activity, this may lead to an upset stomach during practice.
Athletes can experiment with decreasing the size of their pre-workout snack, particularly within the hour before practice. It is common to recommend athletes consume ~1 gram of carbohydrate per kg of body weight in the hour prior to activity (1).
However, athletes with sensitive stomachs may need to reduce this amount. They may try consuming ~30 grams of easy-to-digest carbohydrates in the hour before morning practice to see if this helps.
Limit Fiber Before Morning Practice
In addition to reducing the size of the snack, athletes with sensitive stomachs should try limiting high-fiber foods prior to practice. Fiber slows down digestion, thus foods containing fiber will stay in the stomach longer and may cause GI distress during activity.
With the pre-practice mini-meal or snack, athletes with sensitive stomachs should make sure to choose foods that are low in fiber and easy-to-digest.
Stick with Liquids
Finally, if food bothers an athlete’s stomach, they may consider getting their carbohydrates before practice from a liquid source.
I have found that many athletes can tolerate apple juice well in the hour before practice. Applesauce squeeze pouches, as well as sports drinks that contain carbohydrates, are also good options.
How to Hydrate Before Morning Practice
In addition to carbohydrates for energy, it is also important for athletes to be mindful about hydrating prior to a morning practice.
In the 2 hours before morning practice, athletes should aim to drink 3-5 mL of fluid per kg of body weight (2).
For a 165-pound athlete, this calculates to be ~8 – 13 fluid ounces. Thus, consuming approximately 1-1.5 cups of fluid with the mini-meal before practice can assist an athlete with meeting this goal.
If the athlete has limited time to hydrate before the start of practice (<1 hour), I encourage the athlete to aim to drink at least 8-oz of fluid before practice starts.
Athletes should then continue hydrating every 15-20 minutes throughout the practice session.
What to Eat After Morning Practice: Recovery Nutrition
Following a morning practice, it is important for athletes to have a plan for how they will meet their recovery nutrition needs.
Too often I find that athletes head straight from morning practice to class without eating a post-workout meal or snack. Thus, they miss a key opportunity to fuel their bodies.
The three key areas of recovery nutrition that athletes should focus on following a morning practice include:
- Fluid and Electrolytes: Rehydrate to replace sweat losses
- Carbohydrates: Replace energy stores
- Protein: Build and repair muscles
Snack Ideas for After Morning Practice
Below are a variety of easy snack ideas that athletes can enjoy following a morning practice.
Athletes should be reminded that eating a healthy snack after morning practice is especially important if it will be several hours until their next meal.
- Low-fat chocolate milk and breakfast bars
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwich with low-fat milk
- Cottage cheese with fruit and graham crackers
- Individual container of Greek yogurt, fresh berries, dry breakfast cereal
- Protein overnight oats
- String cheese, fig bars, high-protein milk
- Turkey and cheese wrap, sports drink
- Beef jerky, pretzels, banana, sports drink
- Post-workout smoothie
- Sports bar with sports drink
Why is Chocolate Milk Recommended to Athletes After Practice?
Athletes are frequently encouraged to drink chocolate milk after practice to support them with meeting their recovery nutrition needs.
Chocolate milk is 90% water. Thus, it can help athletes with rehydrating following activity. In addition, a 1-cup serving of chocolate milk provides 8 grams of complete protein and 26 grams of carbohydrates (3).
Therefore, chocolate milk can help athletes with rehydrating, refueling with carbs, and repairing with protein after a morning practice.
I also find that it is common for athletes not to be hungry following an intense practice. However, they are thirsty and willing to hydrate.
Since chocolate milk tastes good and checks all three recovery nutrition boxes, it can be a great choice.
Post-Practice Breakfast Ideas for Athletes
When time allows, athletes should aim to eat a post-practice breakfast that supports their recovery nutrition needs.
Healthy breakfast ideas for athletes to enjoy after a morning practice include:
- Pancakes, scrambled eggs, fresh sliced strawberries, low-fat milk
- English muffin breakfast sandwich with ham, egg, and cheese, 100% fruit juice
- Breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, and sliced avocado, grapes, 100% fruit juice
- Avocado toast, cottage cheese with pineapple, low-fat milk
- Kodiak Cakes® toaster waffles with nut butter, Greek yogurt and berries parfait, 100% fruit juice
- French toast made on whole grain bread, fresh sliced melon, low-fat milk
- Oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts, banana, low-fat milk
- Chick-fil-A: Egg White Grill, berry parfait, 100% orange juice
- Whataburger: Potato taquitos, apple slices, low-fat milk
- Panera Bread: Garden Avo & Egg White Sandwich, fresh fruit cup, strawberry smoothie
If athletes have the opportunity to go to the school cafeteria for breakfast after practice, they should be encouraged to do so.
Even if athletes only grab a chocolate milk and a quick breakfast on-the-go from the cafeteria, it can help support their recovery nutrition needs and prepare them for the day ahead.
Plan Ahead to Fuel Your Morning Practice
Finally, it is important for athletes to plan ahead for how they will fuel for morning practices during the week.
Athletes may consider making time on the weekend to meal prep meals and snacks they can enjoy on busy weekday mornings.
Easy meal prep tasks may include:
- Hard-boil eggs
- Chop fresh fruit
- Prepare overnight oatmeal
- Package dry breakfast cereal or graham crackers into individual serving-size bags
- Create snack bags that can be grabbed on the way out of the door in the morning
The more athletes can plan in advance, the greater chance they have for sports nutrition success throughout the week.
What to Eat Before Morning Practice: Tips to Fuel Your Workout
You are now set with ideas for what athletes can eat before and after morning practice to fuel their workouts.
For additional sports nutrition tips for athletes, check out my blog on nutrition for two-a-day workouts.
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About the Author
Mandy Tyler is a Sports Dietitian Nutritionist in the San Antonio, TX area. She is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, a Board-Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, a Licensed Athletic Trainer, and is a Certified Exercise Physiologist through the American College of Sports Medicine. Mandy has experience working with athletes at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. She believes the key to reaching one’s full potential, both in everyday life and in sports performance, relies on a healthy nutritional foundation.
If you are looking to take your performance to the next level, make sure to check out my new Sports Nutrition Game Day Guide. This downloadable guide is written to help athletes develop an individualized plan to achieve peak performance on game day.