2 Easy Ways to Boost Your Pre-Workout Smoothie

2 Easy Ways to Boost Your Pre-Workout Smoothie

It can be tricky to eat just the right thing before your workout. Your snack has got to have enough calories to give you the fuel you need but not so much that it weighs you down. Your performance provisions should have a good ratio of protein to healthy carbs to help you operate at your best. Enter smoothies. These liquid dynamos may be the ideal pre-workout food: they’re quick, light, and yummy. Plus, smoothie recipes are flexible, so it’s super easy to boost your smoothie with whole food nutrition. Just think “red and green.“

Beet Your Personal Best

Why are so many athletes crazy about beet juice these days? It’s pretty simple. Beets are high in nitrates. These phytonutrients dilate your blood vessels, so more blood can reach your tissues while you’re working out.* More blood means more oxygen and nutrients, which translates to better stamina.* How much more stamina? One study found that beet juice can help folks exercise at top intensity for 15-percent longer!*,

Beets also contain glutamine, an amino acid that helps your body repair the small tears in muscles that can lead to feeling sore after a hard workout.* They’re also a complex carb, which means they provide a steady supply of energy without spikes and drops.

Salus Red Beet Crystals are the most convenient way to add the goodness of freshly harvested organic beets to your smoothies. Every jar contains 5.5 pounds of organic, freshly pressed, vacuum-dried beets. The beet crystals mix into water and dissolve completely, creating a sweet-tasting juice with all the active constituents of fresh beet juice. Sayonara, messy juicing!

Choose Green Energy

Greens aren’t called superfoods for nothing. The blue-green algae spirulina, for example, is chock full of carotenoids, essential fats, vitamins, trace minerals, and the protein your body needs to build and repair muscle tissue.* (Gram for gram, spirulina has more protein than either meat or soybeans!) Dark green veggies like broccoli and kale contain detoxifying compounds and antioxidant vitamins.*

You’ll find all three in Flora’s Certified Organic Green Blend / Beyond Greens. Every serving provides a whopping two servings of vegetables, so it’s great for those days when you’re too busy to get the recommended 5-9 servings per day (Yes, you really are supposed to eat that many). It also contains cereal grasses—including alfalfa, barley, oats, and rye—which are fermented for easy digestion and absorption. Since the grasses are young plants that haven’t yet produced grain, they’re naturally gluten-free.

Do Try This at Home

If you haven’t found your favorite pre-workout smoothie yet, here’s one of our favorites.

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Need more smoothie inspiration?

Here’s a collection of a dozen smoothies for any taste. You could add Red Beet Crystals and/or Green Blend to any that strike your fancy. We’re especially intrigued by the blueberry-avocado layered one. With red beet crystals in the top layer and greens in the bottom, this smoothie will be the gem of the gym.


Wylie LJ, et al. J Appl Physiol. 2013 Aug 1; 115(3):325-36.

Fitzgerald M. Running Competitor. 2014 Jun 17. http://running.competitor.com/2014/06/nutrition/got-beetroot-juice_17653

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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