The fitness industry has a vested interest in making nutrition complicated. There are pre-workout stacks, intra-workout BCAAs, post-workout windows, casein timing protocols — none of which matter if you're doing a 20-minute bodyweight session at home.
Here's the honest answer: for home workouts of 15–35 minutes, nutrition is simple. You don't need supplements. You don't need to time anything precisely. You need to not be starving or stuffed, and you need enough protein in your overall daily diet to recover.
For sessions under 45 minutes, you don't need a specific pre-workout meal. If you're training in the morning, working out fasted (just water, no food) is completely fine and may even be preferable — you'll feel lighter and more alert.
If you're training in the afternoon or evening and haven't eaten in 3+ hours, have something small 45–90 minutes before. The goal is steady blood sugar — not energy spikes from sugar or protein bars.
For decades, gym culture insisted you had to consume protein within 30 minutes of training or you'd "lose your gains". This was largely based on research on elite athletes doing multiple heavy sessions per day. For normal people doing one session, the research doesn't support it.
What your body actually needs after a workout is protein (to repair muscle tissue) and carbohydrates (to replenish glycogen). A normal meal achieves both. Grilled chicken and rice. Eggs and toast. Lentil soup. A protein smoothie if you prefer something quick.
Current research suggests 1.6–2.2g of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day for people doing regular resistance training. For a 70kg person, that's 112–154g daily. For context, a chicken breast has about 35g, two eggs have 12g, a cup of Greek yoghurt has 17g.
Most people who eat normal meals and include protein at each one hit this without counting. You don't need to track macros. Just make sure every meal has a clear protein source.
Drink water before and after training. For 20–35 minute sessions, you don't need to hydrate during — just make sure you're not starting dehydrated. A simple check: pale yellow urine means you're hydrated, dark yellow means drink more water.
Sports drinks and electrolyte tablets are unnecessary for sessions under an hour. They're sugar water with marketing.
Eat real food, get enough protein, don't train on an empty stomach if you feel better with something in your system. Everything else is marketing. The workout matters far more than the meal around it — especially at this stage.
Simplexfit handles the programming. You handle showing up.
Open Simplexfit →