A post-workout meal acts as the refuelling of your body after a workout.
A meal containing carbs and protein is best to eat after a workout. It helps your muscles to recover as well as grow after a workout.
Fitourney recommends eating shortly after your workout for effective results.
Why is a post-workout meal important?
To understand why a post-workout meal is important, you must understand how a workout affects your body.
When you are working out, your muscles face wear and tear and use glycogen as a source of fuel, especially during long or high-intensity workouts. This results in your muscles depleting their glycogen storage. Additionally, some proteins in your muscles can be damaged and broken.
Eating the right nutrition after a workout will help your body refuel glycogen storage and help muscles repair. It is important to eat carbohydrates and protein post-workout.
A post-workout meal helps:
- Decrease muscle protein breakdown.
- Increase muscle growth.
- Restores glycogen storage.
- Improves recovery.
What you should include in a post-workout meal?
All you need in your post-workout meal is macronutrients. Macronutrients like protein and carbohydrates play a vital role in post-workout recovery.
Protein: Protein helps repair and build muscle. Exercise causes muscle protein breakdown. A high-intensity or long-duration training causes even more protein breakdown. To recover from that breakdown, you must eat adequate protein throughout the day. It helps your body to get essential amino acids to recover and rebuild muscle proteins. It will also help in generating new muscle tissue. The amount of protein requirement depends on your body weight. It is recommended to divide the protein intake across the day into different meals. This will help your body get sufficient protein throughout the day.
Carbohydrates: Carbs help in recovery. Glycogen storage is the primary source of energy for the body during a workout and carbs help to refuel those glycogen storage. The intensity of the workout decides the rate at which the carbs storage burns. Endurance training like running, swimming, cycling etc. uses more glycogen compared to resistance training. This is why it is recommended to consume more carbs before participating in sports like marathons, swimming etc.
Does time matter in post-workout meals?
Many of us skip post-workout meals or delay them. But this is detrimental to muscle and body recovery. Your body needs nutrition to rebuild glycogen and muscle protein for better recovery. Thus, the timing of your post-workout meal matters.
It is recommended to consume a meal which includes carbs and protein as soon as possible after exercising. Delays in post-workout meals also delay glycogen storage and muscle recovery.
One thing to keep in mind is that recovery isn’t all about post-workout meals only. What you eat throughout the day matters equally. It is best to consume small and balanced meals with a 3-hour gap between each meal.
Foods to eat post-workout
The prime goal of your post-workout meal is to provide balanced macros in the meal. This will help in better recovery. Here are some macros that you can include in your post-workout meal:
- Carbs: Sweet potatoes, fruits, rice, oats, potatoes, pasta, whole grain bread, quinoa and other grains.
- Protein: whey protein, plant-based protein powder, eggs, cottage cheese, chicken, salmon, tuna, protein bar and Greek yogurt.
- Fats: Avocado, nuts, seeds, dry fruits.
Do not forget to keep yourself hydrated all day
Hydration is important throughout the day. Especially pre-workout, during workout and post-workout. During workouts, you lose water and electrolytes through sweat. Recovery and performance can be improved by replenishing these after a workout.
Drink plenty of water before and after working out. Staying hydrated will ensure that your body has the best internal environment to achieve maximum results.
