Should You Eat BEFORE Boxing?

Should you eat before you box? If so, what? And how much should you eat? And how long before exercising should you eat?

This is somewhat of a hotly-debated topic in the fitness and nutrition industries, as it can vary person-to-person. Your body relies on stored energy from carbohydrates (glycogen) and body fat to fuel workouts. Of course if you are someone who is trying to lose weight, the idea of adding food before your workouts might seem counterproductive. But here's the thing: pre-workout snack or meal with easy-to-burn carbs may very well improve your performance so you may very well still come out ahead in terms of net calories. When we are talking about boxing specifically, this may lead to other benefits too. As performance increases for boxing, your skills will develop faster and your technique will get better too. As I say every post (and every day), the better you get at boxing, the better the workout becomes. So a better workout today may lead to a better workout tomorrow, next week, next month etc. Whereas if you feel yourself really fading at the end of a boxing session, your ability to absorb technique may suffer.

In general, a quick, healthy snack (200-300 calories) with complex carbohydrates and lean protein is recommended before boxing. If you train early in the morning, like at 5am however, and just work up a few minutes before, eating this snack may not be as beneficial depending on what you had for dinner the night before, when you went bed, etc. Plus for some people, food may not agree with them right upon waking at the crack of dawn. If you train later in the morning, most of us are going to be best served by a snack, 45 minutes to an hour before boxing. There are plenty of studies to show that this will indeed improve overall performance (ex: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7284704/). 

There are also studies that show how fasting before a workout can have advantages too (ex: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-016-0594-x). 

I can tell you anecdotally that I and the vast majority I have spoken to had a better experience with the former. Again, this can be a hard sell if your goal is weight loss but you may have to just trust that you will net out better. Of course if you're not finding this to be true for yourself, you can always try to the other way too. Let your own body tell you. If you're starting to feel shaky and can tell that you are really fading (decreased performance) at the end of the workout, maybe consider a better snack. If not, then you are probably on the right track.

When it comes to morning eating in general and losing weight, most studies I have read suggest that skipping breakfast provides no benefit and in some cases, a hinderance to weight loss. But I also want to continue to stress that it can vary from person to person and certainly can depend on what you eat. Remember, carbs provide most of our fuel so if you eat something with no carbs before working out, it likely won't contribute as much to your performance. But then on the other side, if you crush a couple of donuts before boxing, sure you will get tons of carbs and fat but it will cause your glycemic levels to spike and make you tired quickly and require more food, eventually leading to bigger problems like diabetes down the road. Here is link to more information about your glycemic index and food suggestions - https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/glycemic-index#low-glycemic-diet 

What about boxing in the afternoon or evenings? A large meal right before boxing isn't recommended for anybody. 2 hours is a pretty good lead time although like everything else, this can vary person to person, age to age. If you train later than 2 hours after your last meal or your meal provided no-to-low carbohydrates, a quick snack is once again recommended. 200-300 calories.

I've posted earlier about what to eat after boxing - - https://theboxingmanifesto.blogspot.com/2022/02/what-should-you-eat-after-boxing-workout.html - so check that out too.

And don't forget about hydration either! Plenty of people drink water or sports beverages while they're working out or after they finish but if you go into a boxing session already pretty dehydrated, your performance will almost definitely suffer no matter how much you drink during. 

I'm not a nutritionist nor dietician but these basic guidelines are pretty universal and have been followed for a long time. Every body really is different though, so, as I mentioned earlier, you have to listen to yours specifically. What works for someone else may not work for you, when it comes to frequency and the exact foods you eat. Some professional boxers eat 6 small meals a day. Some eat 2 large ones. If energy level and performance are feeling out of your control, this is where a professional nutritionist or dietician can be helpful. Just make sure they understand that your needs may be different than someone else's and don't have a one-size fits all approach.