Today’s post is from guest blogger Miki, who writes for RunReviews.com. In this article, she writes about the balance of eating and training for athletes of all levels.

Athletes have a very serious chore in the matter of matching their diet with their training frequency. A healthy diet must be one of their main concerns. In extent, a healthy eating program right before workout must be closely looked upon. An eating program ensures performance during exercising and comfort afterward.

The balance between eating time and training time must be carefully kept. A golden rule is not to exercise with a full stomach. It’s not desirable; it’s not good for your body and neither for your performances. Food remnants may cause stomach aches and nausea and will cease energy supplies.

A workout session must be conceived wisely. This implies also rationalizing the steps prior to training itself. In the preamble of this kind of physical effort you must build up a nutrition schedule to supervise your meals one hour, two hours, three or four hours before the effort. Time depends on what you choose to eat in order to make sure the digestion process is completed by the time you start exercising. You should experiment a few times prior to workouts to determine what hours work best for you.

Waking up early in the morning can be a challenge. If this applies for you too, you should make an effort and have your pre-exercise meal at a proper time. Still, if the race is early in the morning and you don’t succeed to wake up at an appropriate time, you can eat or drink something easily to digest. Liquids are a better choice as they go easier in the stomach. This way you get right nutrition and no discomfort.

Always have in mind that glucose is an important energy source and a metabolism intermediate. Its contribution to brain activity is of no match. For sports, glucose income is sine-qua-non, which is why foods like fruit, pasta, bread and liquids are recommended before exercise.

On the race day it is best not to experiment with neither new shoes nor new foods. You cannot anticipate how your body reacts and you don’t want to have a bad surprise. So you need to know in advance how to match time, how and what food you need and the energy fuel that works for you.

If there is only one hour separating you from the race, you should have liquids at hand (and not just any kind). Choose fresh juice, like orange or tomato juice and fresh fruit such as pears, watermelon or grapes.

If you still have two hours left, go for some fresh fruit, vegetable juice, yogurt (but only low fat) or starchy food like bread or bagels. Do not overload your stomach; it will not have enough time to digest and it will kick you back when you at least expect it.

If there are three or four hours left, the range of products you can choose from is more various and you may be picky between fresh fruit, fresh vegetable juice, starches, cereals, low fat milk, yogurt, cheese or even some peanut butter.

Energy bars or sport drinks may give you energy, but they don’t work for everyone so make sure you test them before the actual race.

Don’t forget that every body reacts differently and what works for you may not work for the one sitting next to you. Find out what your body’s needs are, respect them and be in permanent watch over changes that may occur.

This article is a guest post by Miki, writer for runreviews.com, a site where you can read all kinds of treadmills reviews.