Post-workout nutrition basics
Post-workout nutrition - AKA recovery nutrition - what to eat after your workout to recover well.
Post-workout nutrition is your secret weapon for optimizing recovery, reducing muscle soreness, and preparing your body for the next session. The right blend of protein, carbohydrates, and nutrients accelerates muscle repair, replenishes glycogen, and supports your fitness goals.
Sounds a little confusing, right?
An easy way for you to remember what you need after your workout is to remember the four R’s of recovery - refuel, repair, reinforce, and rehydrate.
The Four R’s of Recovery:
Refuel
Refuel with carbohydrates. Carbs are our primary energy source and the fuel our bodies use most during a workout. Replenishing carbohydrates is important for our energy balance and is also required for essential bodily systems like immune system function and tissue repair.
Some examples would be oats with fruit, vegetable fried rice, pasta, chicken and potatoes, or a turkey and salad sandwich.Repair
Repair muscle damage with protein. Protein is our primary building block for muscle, tissue and ligaments. If your goal is to build muscle, gain strength or lose fat, then your protein intake is extremely important.
Some examples of protein sources are red meat, fish, chicken, eggs, dairy products, protein powder, legumes, beans and nuts.Reinforce
Reinforce your immune system with a variety of colourful fruits and vegetables. We often focus a lot on MACROnutrients and forget about the importance of MICROnutrients. Exercise IS a stressor, a good stressor, IF you are replenishing and reinforcing your immune system after your workout. Eating a variety of colours ensures you are getting a variety of vitamins and minerals in your diet, which allows your body to recover from any stress you throw at it.
Rehydrate
Rehydrate to replenish fluids and electrolytes lost as sweat. This doesn’t mean you have to drink water constantly while you are exercising. This means making sure you are drinking plenty of water after a hot and sweaty workout. The more you sweat generally, the more water you need.
