Level 3 Phase 2 - How to nourish your body to perform at your best!

Fuelling your body with the right nutrients before exercise gives you the energy and strength needed to enhance your performance. It’s important to learn how to adjust the timing and portions of your meals based on your workouts and variable energy needs from day to day.

During Level 3, your training intensity really picks up, so you want to make sure you are fuelling your body to reach maximum potential and results. 

Each macronutrient has a specific role before and after a workout.

How to promote muscle mass growth and strength gains through nutrition:

• Get optimal protein intake each day.
• Protein is the only macronutrient that stimulates muscle protein synthesis. If you don’t eat enough, you won’t your goal of building lean muscle and strength.
• Total daily protein intake is the most important factor to consider. Generally, intakes of 1.6-2.2g per kg of bodyweight will promote muscle gain.
• The Level 3 Meal Builder suggests protein portion sizes that will help you meet your requirements at meals and snacks.

Eat protein-rich foods regularly throughout the day:

• Including high protein foods at each meal means there is an even distribution of amino acids for uptake by your muscles.
• The aim is to have between 25-40g protein per meal (or 0.4g per kg x 3 meals).
• Snacks, ideally, should offer around 10g protein per serving.

You don’t have to count macros when using The Meal builder or Level 3 recipes as a guide for your meals.

Post-workout protein intake is important:

• Aim for 30-40g protein within the 3 hours that follow your workout – part of this could be in a snack and the remainder in a meal.
• If you exercise in a fasted state, eat your protein-rich meal/snack within 1 hour of
• training.

How to avoid feeling sluggish and bloated during a workout:

• Keep your pre-workout meal or snack lower in fat. Fat in a meal takes longer to digest which means food won’t be cleared from your stomach as quickly. This means you can feel full and bloated when training.
• Alcohol intake, even from the previous day, can make you feel sluggish.
• Level 3 recommends avoiding alcohol throughout the challenge.