Post Workout Nutrition – What to Eat after a Training Session
November 22, 2022
What should I eat after a training session?
Consuming the right nutrition after a workout is just as important as the workout itself. Nutrition is imperative to kickstart recovery, refuel, and ensure you are rehydrating.
To help you understand what foods should be consumed after a workout, it is important to understand the effects the session will have on the body.
During exercise, your muscles use up their glycogen stores, while protein is broken down and damaged. This means our post-workout meal should include foods to replenish our glycogen stores (carbs) and fuel our muscles (protein) to prevent protein breakdown.
Eating the right nutrients as soon as you can after exercise will help your body:
– decrease muscle protein breakdown
– increase muscle protein synthesis (growth)
– restore glycogen stores
– enhance recovery
How soon should you eat after a workout?
As mentioned above, aim to eat as soon as possible after your training session. This could be anywhere from 20:00 minutes to 2 hours. It was once advised that post-workout nutrition should be consumed within 30:00 minutes to be effective. The new research shows that up to two hours is allowable to gain the benefits from the meal.
What do you need to include in your post-workout meal?
As mentioned, a combination of proteins and carbs is critical to an effective post-workout meal. Aim to get 30-40 grams of protein and 50 grams of carbs in your chosen meal.
Something like a post-workout protein shake could be ideal; easy to consume and provides fast-acting amino acids to prevent muscle breakdown. Other protein sources could be Low Fat Greek Yoghurt, Chicken, or Extra Lean Mince. When selecting carbs, look for unprocessed or minimally processed carbs such as oats, sweet potato, or fruit (bananas/apples/berries). Foods that will help restore your muscle glycogen and assist with proper recovery.
You may be wondering if fats play a role in post-workout nutrition. I’d suggest that if you are aiming to lose body fat, then I wouldn’t be including fats in your post-workout meal. While fat is an important macronutrient for a healthy body, consuming fats after a workout may slow the digestion of proteins and carbs, which isn’t helpful for post-workout meals.
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Post Workout Nutrition – What to Eat after a Training Session
November 22, 2022
What should I eat after a training session?
Consuming the right nutrition after a workout is just as important as the workout itself. Nutrition is imperative to kickstart recovery, refuel, and ensure you are rehydrating.
To help you understand what foods should be consumed after a workout, it is important to understand the effects the session will have on the body.
During exercise, your muscles use up their glycogen stores, while protein is broken down and damaged. This means our post-workout meal should include foods to replenish our glycogen stores (carbs) and fuel our muscles (protein) to prevent protein breakdown.
Eating the right nutrients as soon as you can after exercise will help your body:
– decrease muscle protein breakdown
– increase muscle protein synthesis (growth)
– restore glycogen stores
– enhance recovery
How soon should you eat after a workout?
As mentioned above, aim to eat as soon as possible after your training session. This could be anywhere from 20:00 minutes to 2 hours. It was once advised that post-workout nutrition should be consumed within 30:00 minutes to be effective. The new research shows that up to two hours is allowable to gain the benefits from the meal.
What do you need to include in your post-workout meal?
As mentioned, a combination of proteins and carbs is critical to an effective post-workout meal. Aim to get 30-40 grams of protein and 50 grams of carbs in your chosen meal.
Something like a post-workout protein shake could be ideal; easy to consume and provides fast-acting amino acids to prevent muscle breakdown. Other protein sources could be Low Fat Greek Yoghurt, Chicken, or Extra Lean Mince. When selecting carbs, look for unprocessed or minimally processed carbs such as oats, sweet potato, or fruit (bananas/apples/berries). Foods that will help restore your muscle glycogen and assist with proper recovery.
You may be wondering if fats play a role in post-workout nutrition. I’d suggest that if you are aiming to lose body fat, then I wouldn’t be including fats in your post-workout meal. While fat is an important macronutrient for a healthy body, consuming fats after a workout may slow the digestion of proteins and carbs, which isn’t helpful for post-workout meals.
