Move over breakfast, it turns out your post-workout meal is the most important part of your day. This vital step ensures a healthy and safe recovery from a sweat-inducing day at the gym. Here’s how to get the most out of your workout regime with this comprehensive guide to post-workout nutrition.

What Makes Post Workout Nutrition So Important?

As you work out, your body goes into overdrive. Throughout the process, you break down liver and muscle glycogen and break down glucose that’s stored in your muscles. Without a post-workout meal, your body can’t replenish what it lost during this process.

A well-balanced plan for post-workout nutrition ensures that your body has a balance of the healthy stuff to refuel and replenish. The result maximizes enables your body to recover quicker for your next workout.

When You Exercise, You Need Fuel

As you exercise, your body goes into overdrive using up reserves. First, it starts with muscle glycogen which your body depletes within 60 to 90 minutes of working out depending on your metabolism. Next your body turns to glucose and fats for fuels.

In order to refuel properly, you’ll want to focus on replenishing your glycogen. The rest follows. Keep in mind, the rate at which each of these fuels is used varies widely with activity intensity and other factors.

After You Exercise You Need to Replenish

Working out depletes your insulin, glycogen, hydration, protein availability, fats, and more. Not to mention, your body will break down muscle tissue for six to nine hours after your workout, since your cortisol and catabolic hormones are raging.

Lastly, your immune system is slightly suppressed and your inflammation is elevated, leaving you susceptible to illness and other unwanted side effects.

With low reserves, your body needs post-workout nutrition to get healthy again. This may seem obvious, but many people forego a good, balanced meal after a workout.

What is Post-Workout Nutrition?

The goal of post-workout nutrition is to rebalance your system. Essentially, you want to do the following:

Increase insulin, muscle and liver glycogen, and nutrient availability.
Decrease catabolic hormone and cortisol activity to stop muscle break down
Proper rehydration and electrolyte intake

Post-workout nutrition is all about timing. Ideally, you want to eat 30 to 45 minutes after your workout for maximum results. This enables your body to recover in four to 10 hours. Waiting makes you feel sorer and it takes longer to recover, typically 25 to 36 hours. Now that’s a huge difference!

How Much to Eat for Post Workout Nutrition

Alright so you’ve worked up an appetite and it’s time to chow down on that post-workout meal. How much should you eat?

The easiest way to calculate your post-workout nutritional balance is to use the general method. You’ll want to consume 20 grams of protein and 40 to 60 grams of carbs (a 1:2 or 1:3 ratio). This roughly adds up to anywhere between 240 and 320 calories. Think about the size of a large snack or small meal.

This method is suitable for men between 150 and 170 pounds or women between 120 and 140 pounds.

Muscle damage continues to accumulate for six to 9 hours after your workout. Thus, if you don’t eat within 45 minutes, you can’t reduce muscle damage. A healthy combo of carbs and protein will minimize the damage and recovery time.

Best Sources of Post Workout Carbs

Alright, so before you grab a bag of chips, let’s talk about carbs for a second. When it comes to post-workout nutrition, you want a variety of different snacks. Typically, the healthier and more natural (think fruits, veggies, and grains) the better. Avoid processed foods whenever possible to avoid pesky preservatives and other unwanted additives. A few awesome ideas for carbs include:

1 cup of fresh-squeezed juice with pulp or a large piece of fruit
1 to 2 slices of whole-grain bread
1 cup of whole-grain cereal
1 large baked potato (cooked and cooled. If you want it hot, reheat it from being cold.)
2 cups of milk
2 cups of cooked beans
1 cup of rice, oats, quinoa or corn cooked
1 cup of squash

Best Sources of Post Workout Proteins

Protein helps to build back muscle and gives your body the fuel it needs to recover after your workout. Proteins shouldn’t be too complex or complicated. You don’t need to eat half a chicken to get protein. It turns out that there are several different ways to get your post-workout protein fix. Here are a few of my favs:

Veggies high in protein such as peas and broccoli
Protein powders by a reputable company such as MusclePharm if a meal isn’t feasible
3 eggs or 6 egg whites
2 cups of milk
¾ cup of cottage cheese
1 cup of yogurt (regular or Greek)
3 oz of chicken, fish or other meat
3 oz of cheese, but not cream cheese
1 ½ to 1 ⅔ of a cup of cooked beans or lentils
2 Tablespoons Peanut Butter
9 tablespoons of miso
8oz of raw, firm tofu

Some of these are very large portions or very high in calories, feel free to mix and match to get your 20 grams of protein. My favorite combo is a cup of cottage cheese, some strawberries and pineapple, and a swig or two of Kefir.

Choosing the Right Post Workout Meal

When it comes to finding the right variety of post-workout meals, you’ll want to go for a variety. Try to avoid processed foods, and choose things from the earth instead. These food items are natural These quick tips help you chose the right meal for your post-workout nutrition plan:

Eat the rainbow. Go for 3 different colors to get a variety
Stick to plants. Plants are easier to digest, full of more nutrients, and more budget-friendly.
The fewer legs the better. This means plants are better than fish which is better than chicken, which is better than pork or beef.
Help yourself to healthy fats packed with omegas like nuts and seeds
Eat breakfast to promote a healthy metabolism
Stay hydrated. Aim for 64 oz of water a day.
Sleep well. Try to aim for 8 hours or whatever your body naturally needs.
Stick to a healthy diet at least 80% of the time. Live a little and eat what you want 20% of the time.

Tips for Aging Post Workout Nutrition

If you’re over 40, then you’ll definitely want to pay special attention to post-workout nutrition. Over the age of 40, you start to lose 5% of your muscle protein mass each decade and 10% over 60. Post-workout nutrition ensures that you don’t have the same loss of muscle mass. As it turns out, you can build muscles just as easily as your 20 and 30-year-old counterparts.

Additional Tips for Post Workout Nutrition

We all live in the real world and sometimes post-workout nutrition is hard. Maybe you’re squeezing in a workout before you pick up the kids from school or perhaps you’re working out in small bursts throughout the day.

The most important thing is to plan accordingly. Timing for post-workout nutrition is essential. Bring your recovery meal with you in your bag to have it ready to go. Even just a small snack after your workout goes a long way to help with recovery.

Don’t forget to stay hydrated. Food is just one aspect of post-workout nutrition. Staying hydrated helps your body recover, keeps your mood elevated, and makes you feel less bloated overall.

Post-workout nutrition enables you to maximize your workout efforts. Don’t forget to eat a healthy, balanced snack 30 to 45 minutes after your workout with these post-workout nutrition tips.

The Basics of Post Workout Nutrition