Nutrition and exercise go hand and hand in achieving your fitness goals. Whatever your goal may be, how you choose to fuel your body is key. Protein keeps you feeling satisfied when calories are restricted and helps maintain lean muscle. Fat helps the body utilize important vitamins like Vitamin D and produce hormones like estrogen. Carbs are the body’s preferred source of energy.
When we are stressed, via exercise or other strenuous activity, all of these things get depleted. How we perform during a workout or recover for the next is effected by what we eat before, during and after our workout.
Protein bars can be a quick source of workout fuel or nutrients to start the recovery process. When choosing a bar for workout energy and recovery there are three things to look for:
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Carbohydrates that are easily accessible to the body.
This is when natural forms of sugar from honey or dried fruit can be a positive thing. Not only does your body need the energy for the workout, your body is better able to process them post exercise.
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Protein that is also easily accessible.
Whey protein is a fast digesting protein, meaning it can get to the muscles more quickly to start the recovery process. Soy and brown rice are also good options for muscle recovery.
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Low in fiber and artificial sweeteners.
The last thing you want is gastro-intestinal distress during a long run. Artificial sweeteners, particularly malitol, can cause bloating, gas and diarrhea. Fiber slows down the absorption of the carbohydrates. This is normally a good thing but not during a workout where you need quick energy.
Check your labels when shopping for a good energy/post workout bar for these things plus calories. And of course taste always matters. After doing my own taste tests, I’ve come up with my top picks for your energy and recovery needs.
Larabar ALT Peanut Butter Cookie
Take all the yumminess of the original Larabar and add 10 g of plant based protein. The first ingredient is dates (link to 4 Easy Recipes with dates) – one of my favorite sources of quick energy. These bars are also both vegan and gluten free and have only six all natural ingredients, making them the perfect energy or post workout bar for any kind of eating plan.
Bonk Breaker Coconut Cashew
This bar is a classic among runners but I personally had never tried them until I decided to do these taste tests. I was pleasantly surprised. It tasted great and held my blood sugar stable through 4 back-to-back training sessions. It’s also gluten free and dairy free, but not vegan (it contains honey). It’s a small but filling choice.
Honey Stinger Energy Bar Berry Banana Buzz
The name says it all. This bar is pure energy from honey. Honey is the first ingredient and the bar has 22 g of sugar. If you are biking, hiking or doing anything else that requires hours of endurance this bar provide a blast of quick fuel to keep you going. It has some protein but not a lot because protein and fat do slow down the release of glucose to the blood stream. Normally this is a good thing, but when you are depleted on mile 9 of a marathon you want quick energy not time released fuel.
Next week we’ll talk about snack bars. I’ve got some great picks to keep in your office snack drawer!
What do you fuel up with before or during a workout? Do you have a favorite post workout bar?
