Eat Your Way Right Habit 6: Start Your Recovery

Here is the bottom line.

Good post-training nutrition improves your body composition, performance and total recovery. Ignore it and those three will suffer. If we want to maximize our time in the gym, a proper focus on nutrition after training is key.

Nutrition Coach Ryan Andrews highlights the 3 primary reasons for having a solid post-training nutrition strategy:

Athletes/Exercisers want to:

• Replenish their energy stores
• increase muscle size and/or quality
• repair any damage caused by the workout

And why do we want to do those three things?

“In doing so they want to increase performance, improve their appearance, and enable their bodies to remain injury free.”

and lastly from Dr. Andrews

“Proposed benefits of good post-workout nutrition include:

• Improved recovery
• Less muscle soreness
• Increased ability to build muscle
• Improved immune function
• Improved bone mass
• Improved ability to utilize body fat”

(You can read Dr. Andrews entire article on the Precision Nutrition site by clicking here)

Guys these are all good things, in case there is any doubt. Ignoring post-training nutrition as part of our overall nutrition strategy is not a good decision. You don’t want to be sore all the time, with suppressed immune function and your body holding onto fat like a 2 year old holds onto his favorite blanket, do you?

So what does good post-training nutrition look like?

There are really 2 parts to that answer.

1. Consume a drink consisting of a protein/carb blend during and/or immediately after training
2. Eat a whole food meal within 2 hours after training

I am going to go with the premise that most people reading this are looking to lose body fat. That being said a protein/carbohydrate ratio of about 1:1 seems to work pretty well, although going as high as 1:2 usually is just fine. You don’t have to go crazy with the amount of protein, ~15-25 grams is fine, with the corresponding ratio of carbohydrate.

Some good choices for Step #1:

• Very Blueberry Smoothie (recipe here) has 27 grams of protein and 35 grams carbohydrates
• Myoplex Nutrition Shake has 25 grams of protein and 23 grams of carbohydrate
• If you want to go with something more solid, a Dale’s bar has 22 grams of protein and ~33 grams of carbohydrates depending on the flavor.

Step #2 corresponds with our previous habits. You want to have a meal that includes protein, vegetables, and this is also when you want to eat your “other” carbs, for all the reasons we outlined in previous weeks.

Many of our clients (the 8:30am ladies in Concord are very good at this) have their protein shake pre-mixed and waiting in the car for the ride home. This is ideal. As soon as you shout “Make It Happen” you should start sipping that drink or chewing that Dale’s bar. If you do that, you have Habit 6 covered!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why does Habit 6 specify protein and not carbohydrate?

A: To remind us that a “sports performance drink” such as Gatorade(r) or Powerade(r) is not adequate, because it does not have enough protein to start the protein synthesis recovery process. We want carbs, but we need the protein first and foremost

Q: Why just after resistance exercise? What about after cardio?

A: When we specify resistance exercise we are talking about weight and/or interval training such as here as Get Fit NH, as opposed to endurance exercise. Resistance and metabolic resistance training is designed to break down the muscle in order to build it back up and make it stronger, which is why protein is needed for repair, and the carbohydrate assists recovery in that process. Endurance training generally does not elicit the same physiological requirements, unless it is continuous work for 45+ minutes.

Q: Do I have to eat the solid meal within 2 hours afterward, or can I just skip it so I can lose weight faster?

A: Skipping this meal is a real good way to get “skinny fat”. In other words you may drop total net pounds for a little while, but what is going to be left behind is less muscle and more saggy. Not cool. You want a foundation of lean muscle, yes, even you ladies. The appropriate amount of body fat on this foundation of lean is what gives you the “toned” look with curves in the right places. Guys, just stick to the muscle part, ok?

Eat Your Way Right Habit 6: Eat/Drink your recovery nutrition including lean protein within 1 hour after resistance training.