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How Pre-Workout Smoothies Fuel Your Workout
Slurping down a smoothie before a workout is a quick way to give your body essential macronutrients to feel strong while also hydrating you. Yet not all smoothies are equal when it comes to helping your body perform. A pre-workout smoothie should contain a good mix of carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber.
I love to run far distances— I’ve done 6 marathons, 2 x 50ks, 100k and lots more. I’m one of those strange people that actually likes to run…for hours at a time. I’ve learned that having a smoothie before, during and after a long run improves my performance and recovery.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This pre-workout smoothie is my-go because it’s packed with quick energy to help my body perform. The combination of greens and fruit blended together in this smoothie delivers the workout nutrition you need to keep you fueled for a long run, deep yoga session or a HIIT workout.
- Spinach: Leafy greens are powerhouse plants that provide nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and protein to any smoothie, to help you build muscle.
- Coconut water + water: Coconut water acts like natural Gatorade, providing hydrating electrolytes your body needs to replenish the energy lost during workouts.
- Pineapple: Naturally fights inflammation, helping your muscles recover faster after a workout.
- Peaches: Frozen peaches are picked at the height of freshness and flash-frozen to preserve as many nutrients as possible, making them irresistibly sweet and healthy.
- Banana: Adds natural sweetness to your smoothie and is rich in vitamin C and potassium, which supports muscle function and helps prevent cramps, making it an ideal pre-workout ingredient. A frozen banana chills down your creamy smoothie.
- Coconut oil: If you are looking to shed a few pounds then healthy fat is actually your friend, not your enemy. It helps break down the natural sugars from fruit to aid in your digestion and actually keeps you full longer. Feel free to swap it for chia seeds or hemp hearts if you want healthy fats with a protein boost.
This is one of my favorite smoothie combinations. It’s lightly sweet, I don’t even notice the spinach, and I can definitely feel the energy boost that helps me run faster and lift better during a workout.
Plant-Based Protein Powder
Protein can assist with muscle growth, muscle recovery and boost energy levels. I like to boost my post-workout smoothie with protein and leave my pre-workout smoothie lighter. If you want to add more protein to this recipe, try my homemade protein powder. It’s a blend of hemp protein, chia seeds, and flax.
How to Make a Pre-Workout Smoothie
I can’t stand a chunky smoothie. If I’m going to put the work into buying good ingredients to make something at home then I want it to be smoothie and creamy. Here’s how I blend my green smoothies for the best result, every time:
- Puree the spinach, coconut water and water until smooth. If you aren’t using a high-powered blender then stop and scrape down the sides as needed to get rid of all those leafy chunks.
- Add the remaining ingredients and blend again until smooth. If you’re using frozen ingredients, let them sit out for about 15 minutes before blending to help soften them a bit.
Using this two-blend method you’ll actually save time and get a better pre-workout smoothie as a result. I’ve been blending smoothies for 13 years now and this method hasn’t let me down yet! When it comes to blenders, I recommend getting a high-speed Vitamix blender.
Common Questions
Yes! Smoothies are a great pre-workout fuel to give you quick and lasting energy for activities such as a long run or high-intensity workout.
It’s best to consume a pre-workout smoothie 1-2 hours before exercising, giving your body time to digest it and absorb the nutrients.
My go-to smoothie before workout contains coconut water, fruit, spinach, and coconut oil for a super fast snack that gives me the energy to maximize my workout without weighing me down.
Coconut water is loaded with natural electrolytes, fruit provides a great energy boost, spinach and coconut oil provide protein and healthy fat and fiber to help your body break down the natural sugar into usable energy.
More Healthy Pre-Workout Smoothie Recipes
Looking for a high-protein pre-workout recipe? I’ve got a few that’ll enhance your workout. Blending smoothies is easy and affordable— and make the perfect pre-workout smoothies at home.
- Vanilla Protein Shake: More delicious than any powered version you can find, this easy smoothie is tasty and fueling without artificial vanilla protein powder.
- Chocolate Protein Shake: This will give you great natural energy as well as keep you full while exercising with this almond butter and chocolate banana smoothie.
- Flaxseed Smoothie: A great energy and fiber boost with unsweetened almond milk and flaxseeds.
- Caramel Protein Shake: A dessert wrapped up in a smoothie, protein powered and delicious.
- Almond Smoothie: Almonds and strawberries combine for a delightfully smooth snack.
After you sweat it out, I recommend having a protein-rich Post Workout Smoothie to help build and repair skeletal muscle.
Please rate and review this recipe once you’ve blended it. I can’t wait to read how it turned out!
Healthy Pre-Workout Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup spinach
- ½ cup coconut water
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup pineapple frozen
- ½ cup peach frozen
- ½ banana
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
- Blend the spinach, coconut water and water until smooth.
- Add the pineapple, peaches, banana and coconut oil and blend again.
Equipment
Notes
- Use frozen fruit to make a refreshingly cool smoothie.
- Boost with your favorite plant-based protein powder for extra protein and healthy fats.
- Swap spinach with the leafy green of your choice.
- For a smoothie with less natural sugar, swap out 1/2 banana for 1/4 avocado.
Excellent , fruity , refreshing. Did really add to my workout!
Excellent! Somehow I missed using the coconut oil. I added a scoop of protein & 3 T hemp seeds. Had this before my morning workout. This one’s a keeper!
Delicious! Loved this one! Will definitely make again!
I used a ninja blender instead of my vitamix and the difference was UNBELIEVABLE! I could do ads for vitamix… a complete game changer!
Healthy Pre Workout: I can’t do coconut, so did some substitutions on this one. Used cashew milk in place of the coconut water end left out the coconut oil altogether. Liked the fruit combo — I put in a whole banana instead of half. My version of this smoothie was really good. I like spinach for a green … again, used frozen from my garden.
Non ce and light, didn’t use the protein booster so it was just perfect before my morning session
This was a great shake to start my day and fuel me for my morning workout. Satisfying, healthy, and a great energy boost. Love this one!
Hi
My son is 6years 2month what kind of nutrition shake for his what time he can take this and what kind of dite plz help he is very thin and always cry
Hi there! You’re such an awesome parent to want to help your son! Any of our smoothies would be safe for him to consume (as long as he doesn’t have any food allergies or intolerances), yet you’ll want to make sure you’re adding clean protein (flax + chia seeds) and healthy fat (avocado) to each smoothie to help with nutrition. And totally check out our Best Dole Whip Weight Gain Smoothie recipe. That one might be a winner for him! As with any of our recipes and recommendations, we always recommend our community check with their doctor to ensure it’s the right plan and/or recipe for your son. Really hoping your little guy feels better soon!
This was delish! Nice preworkout smoothie!
Hey, this recipe sounds amazing but I’m not a fan of peaches. Can you tell me about any substitutes for that.
Absolutely, Megha! You can swap out the peaches for nectarines, mangos or apricots.
I tried this and it was GREAT!!!!!!!! It was so delicious and it gave me lots of energy and added a couple more things like chia seeds and some protein powder. I would for sure make this in the future!!!!
Awesome, Meera! 😀
I’m so confused with serving. The above mentioned ingredients ((1 cup fresh spinach
1 cup almond milk (unsweetened),1/2 apple,1/2 banana,1/4 cup rolled oats,1/2 tbsp coconut oil,1/2 tsp ground cinnamon)) actually make 16oz as i can see after preparing that which we have to consume entire 16oz before workout. But u said in other comments that it will create 2servings.How?please explain in detail.
Garry, the original recipe has since been changed to yield 1 serving instead of 2. One serving of this smoothie is 16 ounces.
I’m confused because I see where you can scale the recipe but I also see for Scale 1x that it yields 2? Is that two servings? What is the measure for each serving. Getting ready to try this before I workout but I wonder if I’m consuming too many calories. I will also add it to My FitnessPal to get the caloric content. Thanks and I will be checking out your website!!
Hi Mariscia! Sorry about the confusion, let me clear it up for you. 🙂 If you want to just make one 16-ounce serving, you would use 1 cup spinach, 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 apple, 1/2 banana, 2 1/2 Tbsp rolled oats, 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil, and 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon.
We usually like to make two servings of smoothies at the same time to have one to save for later or to share so that’s why our recipes often say “Yield: 2.” Happy blending!
Do we have to add coconut oil? I dont have any lol!!!
If you don’t have coconut oil, that’s alright! But you do want a healthy fat in this smoothie so in place of the coconut oil, add 1/4 to 1/2 an avocado OR 1-2 tbsp. almond butter OR 1-2 tbsp. chia seeds. Happy blending!
Can you use chia seeds in this?
Yes, you definitely can!
I find myself low on energy during workouts and that cuts it shorter. Will try this out
Hey Tabita,
I know you will love this recipe! Hopefully it gives you the energy you need to get through your workouts!!
I am doing a Whole30 program, what can I replace with the oats? Or can I have it without it?
Thanks!
That’s awesome you’d doing the whole30! How many days are you in? Oh, and you could remove the oats or swap them with hemp hearts or a spoonful of almond butter.