What to eat before and after training

Two to three hours out: a normal meal with carbohydrate and some protein. Rice and chicken, pasta, oats and eggs — whatever you actually eat.

Thirty to sixty minutes out, if you need anything at all: something small and mostly carbohydrate. A banana, toast and honey. Fat and heavy fibre this close to training sit in the stomach and make body shots miserable.

Training in the morning without eating is fine for most people if the session is under an hour. If you feel dizzy or the last round collapses, it is not fine for you.

The one-hour "anabolic window" was oversold. What matters is that you get a proper meal with protein at some point after training, and that your total intake across the day is right.

If you train twice a day, or the next session is within a few hours, then eat sooner rather than later — that is the case where timing genuinely counts.

Drink through the day, not all at once before training. Arriving already hydrated works; drinking half a litre in the changing room does not.