Fitness
Here's what to eat after a workout
Nail your post-exercise dietary habits and you'll see even bigger gains.
How long should you leave mealtimes after a gym session? What's a sweet snack which won't undo all your hard work? Do you now have to gulp down protein shakes with the same feverish regularity of that slightly crazy guy in accounts?
When training to get fit there can seem no end to the nutritional quandaries, but that's not a bad thing. The right diet can help your body to adapt to the stress imposed by exercise, so you can recover faster and get bigger gains in strength and endurance. Failure to replenish fluid and fuel after training will result in sore muscles, fatigue and under-performance in your next workout. If you recover better, then you’ll be able to train harder...
With Red Bull AWOL encouraging employees to use their lunch hour to get active this May, here's everything you need to know about post-workout nutrition...
Your best post workout nutrition can depend heavily on what exercise you do
© Alora Griffiths; Unsplash
Why is recovery nutrition important?
Exercise depletes your stores of glycogen and breaks down muscle tissue and these need to be replaced to recover properly. Providing the body with the right nutrients in the post-workout period promotes faster refuelling, muscle repair and muscle building, and helps you perform better in your next workout.
How should you recover?
A good rule of thumb is to follow the ‘3 Rs of recovery’ after every workout.
- Rehydrate
- Refuel
- Rebuild
1. Rehydrate
Replace each 1kg of your weight (sweat) loss with 1.2 - 1.5 litres of fluid
© RICOWde / Moment / Getty Images
The exact amount you need to drink depends on how much fluid you have lost during your workout. Weigh yourself before and after training. For optimal rehydration, aim to replace each 1kg of your weight (sweat) loss with 1.2 - 1.5 litres of fluid. If your fluid losses have been relatively small then water will do a perfectly good job replacing lost fluid. But if fluid losses have been high, then opt for a drink containing electrolytes, such as a sports drink. Alternatively, water with salty food (e.g. cheese sandwich) will work equally well, and promote more effective fluid retention than water alone
2. Refuel
Refuel with carbs to replenish glycogen stores. The harder and longer you train the more carbohydrates you will need to replace. High-intensity endurance exercise, such as running, cycling and swimming, will deplete your glycogen more than low intensity activities, such as walking, jogging or yoga or strength and intermittent activities that include rest periods such as weight training or tennis. In other words, you’ll need more carbohydrates after an endurance workout than a strength workout.
3. Rebuild with protein
One large egg equates to around 6g of protein
© Unsplash / Erol Ahmed
Protein repairs damaged muscle fibres and supports the formation of new muscle tissue. This doesn’t necessarily need to be a protein shake – several studies have shown that food sources, such as dairy or soya milk, are just as effective for muscle recovery as protein supplements. Ideally, you want a ‘high quality’ or complete protein – one that contains all eight essential amino acids – and one that’s rich in the amino acid leucine. Milk, eggs, yogurt and soya are all suitable and will help your muscles recover faster before your next workout.
Your post-workout meal or snack should, ideally, include 0.25–0.4g protein per kilogram of body weight, depending on the type and intensity of exercise you’ve done. Studies have shown this to be the optimal amount to trigger muscle protein synthesis muscle building. But tailor this to suit your workout and your bodyweight as most studies were done with 85kg males! You’ll need more following a strength or whole-body workout than following an endurance workout, but generally, an intake between 20–40g will be suitable for most workouts. Get 20g protein from three eggs; 500ml milk; 250g strained Greek yogurt or 25g whey powder.
When should you eat?
If you have 24 hours or longer between workouts then there’s no urgency to consume food straight after training. Protein is not essential in the immediate post-exercise period but plays an important role in long-term recovery and muscle building.
Be guided by your hunger and eat your post-exercise snack or meal when you feel hungry for it. Provided you consume enough calories, carbohydrate and protein over a 24-hour period, your muscles will recover before your next workout. But if you train twice a day, or the time interval between training sessions is less than eight hours, then you need to take advantage of the two-hour recovery window. Caffeine also promotes glycogen storage during the immediate post-exercise period so having a caffeinated drink, though not essential, may be a good idea.
For rapid recovery after endurance training, aim to consume 1.0–1.2g of carbohydrate per kg body weight (60–72g for a 60kg runner) each hour for four hours after exercise to maximise glycogen synthesis. This is equivalent to 300ml flavoured milk and a banana, and will ensure your glycogen stores are restored as fully as possible before your next workout.
What should you consume?
Cow’s milk and soya milk are near-perfect recovery drinks as they contain fluid along with protein and carbohydrate (as well as other nutrients) to promote rehydration, glycogen replenishment and muscle building.
Suitable recovery meals include...
Soak oats, milk and yogurt overnight, then add banana slices and berries
© Federica Diliberto
• Breakfast: Overnight oats – soak oats, milk and yogurt overnight, then stir in banana slices, fresh berries and a few toasted almonds. Alternatively, poached eggs and avocado on toast would fulfil your recovery needs following a strength workout.
• Lunch: Pitta bread with hummus, falafels or tuna; avocado, rocket and beetroot.
• Dinner: Thai green chicken curry or black bean and sweet potato curry.
Recovery snack options include...
• Milk with a banana – Any type of milk will provide the protein needed to maximise muscle adaptation after exercise.
• Fruit and yogurt smoothie – Blend together 3 tbsp plain Greek yogurt, 1 banana, a handful of berries and 150ml milk in a blender.
• A ‘yogurt bowl’: Greek yogurt topped with berries, nuts or seeds.
Red Bull is encouraging employees to use their lunch hour to get active this May. For more information and to sign up for inspiration and workout ideas, visit Redbull.co.uk/AWOL.
