Last week we revealed our saucy secrets to a successful pre-workout diet. This week we are here to tell you that what you eat after your workout is just as important.
Benefits of Post-Workout Meals
Pre-workout nutrition is necessary for performance and post-workout nutrition is vital for recovery and progress. Remember, you have to train like an athlete, eat like a nutritionist, sleep like a baby and win like a champion.
Good nutrition and exercise improve the function of the whole body in every way. Exercise depletes the muscle’s fuel resource and creates minor damage to the muscles. As a result, your body will feel sore, damaged and your appetite will be hunting for food. After your workout, your body will start to become hungry for nutrients and energy sources. What you feed your body is key in having a successful workout.
By and large, post-workout nutrition has three specific purposes that are vital to recognize:
- Replenish glycogen (carbohydrates ensure this)
- Reduce protein breakdown
- Increase protein synthesis
In simpler words, post-workout nutrition aims to:
- Refill your energy stores
- Increase muscle size
- Repair any damage produced by your workout
What Should I Eat After Working Out?
As evident above, you can see why post-workout is so vital for anyone partaking in exercise. Having an optimised, well-balanced healthy post-workout nutrition plan will increase your performance while enabling your body to remain injury-free.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that you should gorge yourself in a buffet. Your post-workout meal should consist of a balanced meal that’s rich in protein and carbohydrates. The protein in your intake will help in the repair and build-up of new muscle mass. The carbohydrates will aim to refill those depleted stores from your intense workout.
Post-workout nutrition requires a bit more planning and finesse. You could certainly eat meals and whole food that provides a good source of protein and carbohydrates, however whole food meals aren’t always practical.
- Some people aren’t hungry instantaneously post exercise.
- Whole food digests slowly and can be heavy on the stomach.
- Complex meals that require refrigeration or heating might be less practical straight after exercise.
Post Workout Shake Recipe
Here at Ifeelgood 24/7, we have provided you with one of our favourite post-workout shake recipes that will help you maximise the potential gains from your workout.
ALMOND COCONUT
Ingredients
- 1 scoop Chocolate Protein Powder
- 1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- Handful of Raw or Roasted Unsalted Almonds
- 1 Tbsp Grated Unsweetened Coconut
- 1/2 tsp Natural Almond Extract
- 1 cup Ice
Nutritional Information
- Calories: 250
- Protein: 30 grams
- Carbohydrates: 11 grams
- Fat: 9 grams
Clearly, it is evident that diet is as important to your mass-gaining goals as the training itself. While the workout provides the do…when and what you feed your body is fundamental to your overall development. You can increase and maximise your muscular gains by paying devoting time and attention to what you consume, especially pre and post workout. It will be difficult and it will take time. It will require dedication and you will need to make healthy decisions while pushing your body to its max. There will be the occasional temptation for a cheat meal. But we promise you. When you reach your goal, it will be worth it.
