Your food can help your exercise
What you eat affects more about your workout than how many centimetres you want to shave off your waistline. Eating well before and after a workout can dramatically improve both your exercise performance and your recovery time.
Healthy fruit smoothies are a light and easy way to pack your body with everything you need to hit your fitness targets, as well as recharge and replenish your spent reserves after a big workout. They make it easier, so you can go harder.
Here are six of our favourite healthy smoothie recipes to help with your next workout. Oh, and they taste amazing!
6 healthy smoothies to supercharge you
Citrus Energy-Boosting Smoothie
What do you get when you combine the protein of almond milk, the folate in citrus and the iron in spinach? One potent workout cocktail, that’s what! This one has a little bit of everything, ensuring that no matter whether you lift, run, cycle or squat, you’ll have what you need to make it through.
Blend together:
- 1 orange, peeled and chopped, seeds removed
- 1 lemon, peeled and chopped, seeds removed
- 4 spinach leaves
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped (or grated)
- 1 1/2 cup (375 mL) almond milk
- 1 peach, peeled and chopped
Banana-Walnut Bliss
There’s no need for sports drinks when you can have a banana smoothie instead! As well as all the awesome nutrients in bananas like potassium and antioxidants, you’ve also got honey and walnuts for a sustained energy kick to keep you moving.
Blend together:
- 2 cups (500 mL) skim milk
- 1 large banana
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) honey
- 1/4 tsp (1 mL) vanilla extract
- Handful of walnut pieces (or 7 halves)
Green Mango Booster
This healthy smoothie really does have it all: almond milk and protein powder for muscle, banana for focus, spinach for endurance, mango for a delicious energy kick, and superfoods bee pollen and spirulina for everything else your body could possibly want!
Blend together:
- 11/4 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 2 cups baby spinach
- 1 cup frozen mango
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 teaspoon bee pollen
- 2 teaspoons spirulina
- 4 tablespoons (1 scoop) protein powder
Superwoman Smoothie
What better way to start your workout than with a sweet, delicious smoothie that not only energises you, but also increases muscle performance? The inorganic nitrates in spinach help your muscles use less oxygen, so you can go hard at the gym and finish feeling as pumped as ever.
Blend together:
- 2 cups (500 mL) frozen spinach broken into pieces (using frozen makes it frothier than fresh spinach does)
- 2 bananas
- 1 cup (250 mL) apple juice
Beetroot and Strawberry Smoothie
Smash your personal best with this nitrate-packed smoothie! Like spinach, beetroot improves your body’s use of oxygen, helping you stay at peak performance for longer. Beetroot also eases post-workout inflammation and is great for your mood, in case you need a pick-me-up to get moving.
Blend together:
- 4 beetroot, cooked and peeled
- 2 cups (500 mL) unsweetened coconut water
- 2 cups (500 mL) frozen strawberries
- 1 lime, juiced
Blueberry-Avocado Layered Smoothie
Load up on good fats to burn off the bad! Avocado is brilliant for lowering cholesterol and maintaining a healthy heart, exactly what you need for a great workout. Blueberries are packed with vitamins C and E, and have antioxidants to keep your mind focused.
For the bottom layer, blend together:
- 1 ripe avocado, peeled and pit removed
- 1 cup (250 mL) low-fat plain yogurt
- Juice from 1/2 lime
- 3 Tbsp (45 mL) honey
Pour into glasses, then for the top layer, blend together:
- 1 1/3 cup (325 mL) wild blueberries, frozen
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) almond butter (or smooth peanut butter)
- 1 cup (250 mL) low-fat plain yogurt
- 1/3 cup (75 mL) 1% milk
Pour onto the bottom layer, and enjoy!