Post workout meal is as important as workout. After burning the required calories your body needs the right kind of nutrition to recover. We have discussed briefly about pre & post workout meal in our previous blog. This blog covers in details ideas & tips that will help you consume proper post workout meal
Your meal should have requisite quantity of each macronutrient:
- Carbohydrate: When you workout, you burn a lot of glycogen stored in your body. Glycogen is the main storage form of glucose which is stored in liver & muscles. Our body has approximately 500 grams of glycogen stores which translates into 2000 calories. Therefore it is important to replenish carbohydrate post workout.
- Protein: When you workout, you break your muscle tissues & your body needs to re-grow & repair those muscle tissues. Consumption of protein helps you repair & rebuild muscles.
- Fats: Your body uses fat as a fuel when you are doing prolonged aerobic activity( cardio). So if have done cardio for more than 30 minutes it is beneficial to consume fats. However, if you are someone who does more of anaerobic workout, it is not necessary to consume fat. However consume some amount of fat shall not impact your recovery.
Most of the clients enquire how much carbs should we consume post workout?
As shared above, carbohydrates are necessary to consume post workout to rebuild glycogen stores so that your body does not use protein & breakdown of muscles to rebuild the stores
You need 0.4 to 0.7 gram of carbs per pound of weight(1-1.4 gram per kg) for every hour of exercise. So if you weigh 160 lbs, you should consume 64 grams to 102 gram of carb. It is recommended that you should consume this much quantity of carb within 45 minutes of workout. If you wait beyond 90 minutes, your glycogen synthesis can reduce by 50%.
For protein, it is suggested that ratio of carbs to protein should be 3:1. So if you are consuming 60 to 100 grams of carbs, your protein intake should be around 20 to 33 grams after your workout.
Ideally, your post workout meal should have both protein & carbohydrates. Easily digested food tend to help in recovery & muscles repair faster. So prefer consuming simple carbs &/or consuming in liquid state since it helps in quick absorption. This is the reason why most fitness freaks consume protein shake immediately after a workout. Besides, you should prefer reducing intake of fat & fiber post workout since it slows down your digestion process.
Hydration
75% of our body is made up of water. So it is important to stay hydrated before, during & after workout. We sweat a lot during workout specially when we do high intense workout. We lose fluid during any activity. Rate of loss of fluid or sweat rate varies from person to person. An average human being loses around 0.8 to 1.4 litres of fluid for every one hour of workout. During this process, you not only lose water but also electrolytes which are essential for the body to function properly. For example, you can lose between 220 to 1100 mg of sodium of each litre of fluid. It is important to replenish these lost electrolytes through sports drinks or consuming salty & micro nutrient dense food since your body needs 1500 mg of sodium on a daily basis.
We are detailing some post workout food ideas:
- Protein
- Lean meat( Chicken, Turkey).
- Eggs
- Lean fish
- Yogurt
- Protein Shake
Carbohydrates
- White Rice
- Pasta
- Potato
- Fruits(Banana, Pineapple)
