Post-Workout Nutrition
Brian February 11th, 2009
This is your most important meal of the day (breakfast being a close second) and most people blow it. After a hard training session your body is primed to use the nutrients you consume to replenish what was lost during the session, and help start the recovery process. Your breakfast and post-workout meals should contain the bulk of your carbs for the day and have a higher amount of protein than your other meals. I will list what you should include in your post-training nutrition regimen below.
Carbohydrates:
- Take in 100 grams of simple carbs (waxy maize, glucose, glucose polymers) if you are lean and looking to gain mass.
- Take in 1 gram/kg. of body weight (divide body weight in pounds by 2.2) if you are trying to stay lean and don’t want to gain a lot of mass. Ex) A 180lb. person would consume 81 grams of carbs.
- Stay at 50 grams or less if you are holding extra weight that you want to lose
Protein:
- For males aim for 40 grams of high quality protein (whey protein isolate, hydrolyzed whey protein) post workout and 30 grams for females. This should be consumed along with the carbohydrates.
Other:Â
- 5 gram of glutamine can be used post workout to help with recovery and strengthen the immune system. Some proteins have glutamine added so check to make sure you are not taking more than you need.
- Vitamin-C can help attenuate cellular damage following hard training. A few hundred milligrams should do the trick.
Don’t make the mistake of eliminating carbs from your post workout nutrition because this is what drives the amino acids (via an insulin response) into the muscles to help start recovery and growth. After 1-1.5 hours consume a post-workout meal with another 30-40 grams of protein and some complex carbs (the amount will vary based on your goals).
Athletes doing endurance type activities (1 hr or longer) would benefit from supplementing with BCAA during and after the activity. These amino acids are preferentially used for energy during strenuous endurance training.Â
In Health,
Brian