With summer most definitely making its presence felt, we’re shedding the layers and getting stuck into fitness in all its many shapes and forms.

Whether you’re heading to a yoga or kickboxing class, the food you eat before, during, and after your workout can not only affect your performance but your recovery as well. Oh, and yes, you need your carbs – and with good reason. Nearly half of your total daily calories come from carbohydrates, but there’s a big difference between the simple ones and the complex variety. Complex carbs such as brown rice, whole grains, yams, sweet potatoes, and quinoa are longer chains of sugar molecules—hence they take longer to digest and absorb. The benefit is that you’ll have sustained energy throughout the day, and the lower insulin response means you’ll be less likely to store any excess calories as body fat.

To help you make every rep and down dog count, we rounded up some of the best pre-workout essentials to really get you moving.

Brown rice

Because glucose is the preferred energy source for most exercise, a pre-exercise meal should include foods that are high in carbs and easy to digest such as brown rice. Brown rice is chock full of complex carbs, which help fuel your workout with lasting energy, and the whole grain is also a great source of muscle-benefiting magnesium. Add an egg cooked to your liking on top for a simple, protein-packed meal.

Cold water

That’s cold – not just any old water! Drinking cold water before and during exercise can help improve your endurance, and may also be the most direct way to reduce core body temperature so it takes you longer to heat up and slow down. Add your favourite beauty-boosting supplement like IMBIBE’s Beauty Renewal or simply a slice of lemon or cucumber to keep things interesting.

Chickpeas

The key ingredient in one of our favourite dips, chickpeas also happens to be one of our go-to fitness foods. Like meat and certain fruits, chickpeas contain L-citrulline, which is known to alleviate muscle soreness. Throw them into a food processor with some tahini, lemon juice, minced garlic, and chopped parsley and you’ll get a solid dose of protein, carbs, and filling fibre. Consume with a side of veggie sticks and boom – even better!

Oats

A recent study found that consuming oats was consistent with a lower body mass index and better overall nutrient intake, and they are insanely inexpensive to boot. Oats are also easily customisable: add pumpkin seeds for a great source of iron or sesame for calcium, or throw a scoop of your favourite protein powder and nuts into your oatmeal for a pre-workout meal packed with all the carbohydrates, fat, and protein your body needs to work at its full potential.

Bananas

Bananas are the ultimate pre-workout snack, and famous for providing a potent energy boost. Key to this is the fact that the also extremely portable fruit is made up of three different types of sugar – fructose, glucose, and sucrose – which get absorbed into your blood at different speeds. What this means is that you will get a quick boost of energy and won’t suffer a slump, as the sucrose will keep your blood levels steady.