The Best 7 Things to Do Before Your Workout

Whether you’re just entering the fitness world, or you’ve been working out for years, we all want the same thing: for our workouts to be as effective as possible. We want our exercise to get us closer to our weight loss goals, and our muscle strength goals. But tell me if this sounds like you: Have you ever gotten to the gym or started your workout, already knowing that your body feels off somehow? You already feel tired or drained, your heart’s not in it, and you’re dreading even the warm up (so much that maaaaybe you’ll skip it–just this once). 

Don’t worry, friends. We all have those days when working out is the last thing we want to do, but there are things you can do before your workout to help you feel more “in the zone.” Without further ado, here are 7 things you can do before your workout to help you feel your best, and get the absolute most out of your workout.

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For those jetting off to do important, non-blog reading things, here’s the list:

Get enough sleep the night before a workout

It might seem obvious, but in case you needed the reminder that you need good sleep to have an effective workout, here it is: You need good sleep to have an effective workout.

Not only will you not be able to lift as much without a good night’s rest, but if you’re too tired, it’s much more likely that you’ll practice bad form and end up hurting yourself during your workout. 

Additionally, if you’re working out consistently, you need good sleep in general to build muscle. Make sure you’re getting at least 7-9 hours of sleep before a workout, and make sure those sleep hours are taking place during regular sleeping hours. For example, don’t go to bed at 2 a.m. and wake up at 10 a.m. expecting to feel your best. Your body will feel drained and probably a bit out of whack.

Don’t drink alcohol the night before you workout

There are some crazy people in this world who go to work hungover, go to an 8 a.m. class hungover, and even workout when they’re hungover. If your goal is to have an awesome workout, get results and get stronger, don’t drink the night before a workout. Seriously. Even if you don’t drink so much that you have a hangover, it’s just not going to be productive for your fitness goals. Not to mention the fact that alcohol fudges with your sleep, so your sleep won’t be as deep or restful.

If you rely on alcohol to get relaxed enough to sleep at night, don’t worry. I’ve got a list of highly effective herbal teas you can try in this post that will help you fall asleep right away. 

(For real, my boyfriend tried a cup of Kava Stress Relief tea one night and looked like he was going to pass out. He immediately went to bed after.)

Eat (or don’t eat) with intent

There are debates about whether or not you should eat before a workout.

And of course, everyone’s bodies function differently. If your goal is to lift heavy and put on muscle, it’s a good idea to have a healthy snack that’s high in protein and carbs to fuel your body through the workout. For example, a slice of whole grain toast with organic peanut butter (preferably with only 2 ingredients: peanuts and salt) would be perfect.

It’s been said that doing cardio on an empty stomach (called fasted cardio) can help burn fat faster because theoretically your body will burn the existing fat instead of burning off the food you just ate. It just kind of depends on your personal preference.

If you want to lose fat fast, you can try fasted cardio consistently for a couple months and see if you like the results (don’t go over an hour of fasted cardio!).

However, if you have a long workout or are planning to lift heavy weight, you need to eat at least a small snack to sustain you through your workout. 

Have an apple, a banana, toast with peanut butter, oatmeal, greek yogurt with fruit, or a protein shake.

If you’re an early morning exerciser and don’t have time to make a meal or snack in the morning, try making overnight oats.

To make overnight oats:

• Fill a mason jar of your desired size with oatmeal
• Fill the mason jar with milk or a dairy alternative until it just barely covers the oatmeal
• Add some tasty ingredients such as: peanut butter, maple syrup, stevia, honey, strawberries, blueberries, almonds, etc.
• Leave the covered jar in the refrigerator overnight
• Enjoy the next day!

Overnight oats are delicious and are ready as soon as you wake up, so you don’t have to wake up extra early to make breakfast or a snack.

I typically have my pre-workout snack (or meal) 30-60 minutes before my workout so I don’t feel too bloated or upset my stomach during the exercise.

Consider trying supplements

Supplements aren’t for everyone, but myself and a lot of weight lifters and gym-goers like to take some kind of pre-workout supplement. Caffeine, creatine and BCAAs are popular ones.

Caffeine

For endurance and energy during a workout, caffeine is obviously a great option. Especially when you’re on a calorie-deficit diet (eating less calories for the purpose of losing weight), your energy levels are going to be lower than usual, so you might want the extra boost. 

But a lot of pre-work out supplements and powders have artificial flavors and sweeteners in them, and I usually try to stay away from the fake stuff. Fake sweeteners, fake news, fake friends, you know. So if I want caffeine before a workout, I usually just make myself a cup of black coffee or buy a cold brew.

Beta-alanine or niacin

Beta-alanine and niacin are also common ingredients in pre workout supplements. However, there are some fitness experts that claim beta-alanine doesn’t offer any real benefits, unless you’re taking it every single day consistently). Beta-alanine and niacin are the ingredients known to cause tingling or itching in your skin. I’m kind of weird, according to my friends, because I actually enjoy the tingling feeling–though I’m sure that’s not the only reason they think I’m weird. The tingly feeling gets me hyped, but it is totally not necessary for a good lift. My boyfriend absolutely hates it and almost can’t focus on his workout at all if he takes those kinds of supplements. It just depends on what your preference is. 

Occasionally, I’ll still take a pre-workout. My go-to pre-workout is Earth Fed Muscle’s pre-workout. (They used to have a lemonade flavor but I’m not seeing it right now!) Earth Fed Muscle is my favorite because they don’t ever add artificial sweeteners or colors. It contains beta-alanine to increase blood flow to the muscles, and about as much caffeine as a large cup of coffee. It’s always been super effective in getting me pumped, energized and ready to tackle my workout.

If you go with preworkout, take it usually about 20-30 minutes before you start your workout. Check out some more pre workout choices from Amazon below that I picked out based on both reviews and the products’ natural ingredients!

Creatine

Another great pre workout supplement is creatine, which is known to support muscle growth, mass, and overall exercise performance. According to this Healthline article, people who take creatine have been shown to gain 5-10% more muscle strength than those who don’t. 

BCAAs

Finally, I suggest taking BCAAs. BCAAs are a group of three essential amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, and valine) known to reduce muscle fatigue, reduce muscle soreness and build muscle. You can take them before your workout, or after your workout. Taken before your workout, BCAAs can be a good source of energy. Taken before or after your workout, BCAAs will help you build muscle mass and relieve some of that soreness.

Feel free to mix BCAAs into your water or sports drink of choice, which leads me to…

Have your water bottle/sports drink handy

Should this go without saying? Probably. Do I still forget to bring my water bottle to the home gym at my boyfriends’ grandparents’ house almost every day? Most definitely. 

During workouts, it is super important to keep your body hydrated to fight fatigue and just to stay hydrated in general (kinda self explanatory). Besides, if you’re trying to lose weight, your body NEEDS that water–all the time and definitely during a workout!

Drinks that contain electrolytes are extra great because they make up for what you’re losing when you sweat. Adding BCAAs to your drink will also help fight fatigue, soreness and build muscle. BCAAs come in powder form or tablets, though I prefer powder because 1) they usually add great flavor to my water and 2) I hate swallowing pills.

If you want a good during-workout beverage to replenish your body, I suggest BodyArmor Lyte. There are only 20 calories per serving, the flavors are tropical and taste SO FREAKING GOOD (coconut is my favorite), they contain only natural sweeteners, and are full of potassium-packed electrolytes.

Additionally, you can drink pure coconut water (full of electrolytes) or squeeze a lemon in your water.

Don’t skip the stretching or warm up

This is the part that people skip when they’re in a hurry, or only go through half-way because they’re distracted or not motivated. But it’s probably the most important aspect of having a good workout because a good stretch and a good warm up are what’s going to keep you from pulling something funky.  Plus, warming up your muscles before your workout will improve your overall performance during your workout.

Before a workout, do dynamic stretches to get the muscles warmed up. (After a workout, you can do static stretches because your muscles will already be warm, but that’s a story for another post.)

Dynamic stretches include movement and are basically to get your joints and muscles going through the range of motion that you’re about to do during your workout. For example, I do body weight hip thrusts before a workout when I’ll be using a dumbbell for my hip thrusts. 

Other dynamic stretches include: trunk twists, walking lunges, and hip rotations. For more examples, check out this article.

Roll out before you work out

I’ll be the first to admit it: I don’t love rolling out. But what I will admit to are the benefits of rolling out. Only in the last couple years did I learn about rolling out, and even then I didn’t do it much. Rolling out is when you use a roller, like this one, and using the weight of your body, you roll back and forth over it while targeting a specific group of muscles. 

Truthfully, using a roller is pretty uncomfortable, but it’s super useful in increasing the blood flow to your muscles. It also works to to decrease muscle tension and get your body ready for the workout by stretching and loosening those muscles.

Conclusion

These points might seem like small details in the larger scheme of things. But, the reality is that your body will perform better during your workouts if you follow these rules. Without following these pre-workout steps, you could end up too sore to work out the next day, too exhausted or dehydrated to perform your best, and (worst case scenario) injure yourself and have to put a hold on your workouts for a week or more while you recover. (Been there, done that. It sucks. Don’t do it.)

Alrighty then, everyone, that’s it for today’s post! What do you like to do to prepare for a workout? Let me know in the comments below! : ) 

If you found this post helpful (which I hope you did!), you might also like:

• 12 Simple Ways to Stay Fit During Quarantine
• 5 Home Gym Essentials for Beginners

Enjoy your day, everyone!

Love, hugs and good vibes,

Sav