Recommended Food Choices for Post-Workout

Gaining proper nutrition helps fuel your body prior to your workout. With exercises, particularly an intense one, makes it all the more important to know the right meal to take after.

After exercising, glycogen (which is the body’s energy) stores start to deplete. Muscle tissue also gets damaged and you lose body fluids through sweating.

Establishing a post-workout meal routine provides you the nutrients needed for replenishing what body nutrients have been depleted. Your consumption after exercise also stimulates protein synthesis which repairs and builds tissues as well as restores fluid balance.

The Importance of Post-Workout Meals

Successful athletes make use of different dietary strategies to improve their performance. Usually, this includes eating carbohydrates and protein after the workout program.

Proper hydration is also important, both during and after physical activity and training.

A study shows that performance can be flawed without restoration of the needed nutrients particularly carbohydrates, protein, and fluids after the workout.

Hard workout programs will often cause your muscles to starve for fuel. By skipping a post-workout meal, your body undergoes protein imbalance and fails to build muscle tissues that have been damaged.

A proper post-workout meal enables your body to restore the needed nutrients and maintain a positive protein balance.

Food and Meal Choices to Take After Exercise

A post-workout meal or snack doesn’t need to be anything too complicated. In fact, it can be the simplest food choices available to you.

There are lots of recovery food available. These can be protein powders, whole foods, and the like. With the right choices, you can think up a recovery meal that suits you the best.

Here are a few choices you can incorporate into your meal plan:

Water or sports drinks.

During a workout, your body tends to lose both water and electrolytes whenever you sweat. Replenishing them is very important to prevent you from getting dehydrated.

Water is good before, during, and after a workout. Sports drinks work best to replenish sodium and electrolytes.

Eggs.

Eggs contain branched-chain amino acids which helps for faster recovery. It’s known to be a complete source of protein despite weighing a few calories a piece.

While some people find it better to throw away the yolk, it contains half of the egg’s protein as well as vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids.

Sweet potato.

Carbohydrates are important for restoring your body’s energy reserves. Sweet potatoes are rich in carbohydrates, consist of vitamin A and offers a healthy dose of fiber.

Because of the nutrients, it comes with, a single sweet potato would be enough to help your body recover from the workout.

Avocado.

Avocado contains monounsaturated fat, which repairs the muscles and provides vitamin B to help boost your metabolism.

Healthy fats work to heal the muscles and joints, as well as metabolize healthy carbohydrates and proteins that you consume.

Other available choices include:

Green tea.

Brown rice.

Lean protein.

Yogurt.

Whole grain wraps.

Power greens.

Fruit.

You can have them alone or together such as brown rice and chicken breast, eggs and sweet potato, whole-grain toast and avocado, and other combinations of your liking.