Post-workout meals: important for your health and fitness.

Post-workout meals: important for your health and fitness.

Post-workout meals are just as important as sports, so what should be included in these meals? And did the body desperately need it after exercise? Here is the answer.

Post-workout meals: important for your health and fitness

If the exercise program is not combined with a proper diet, your efforts during exercise may be in vain, and in this article we will specifically highlight post-workout meals, and some important information about them:

Examples of healthy post-workout meals

Here are examples of quick meals recommended after a workout:

Egg meals, such as: scrambled eggs with a slice of brown bread or a boiled egg with a slice of whole-grain bread.

Chicken meals, such as: chicken breast with a little vegetables and brown rice.

Meals of fish, such as: salmon slice with sweet potatoes, and tuna with rice.

Meals of milk and dairy products, such as: yoghurt with fruits, and a smoothie made of low-fat milk with cocoa.

Other meals, such as: a brown bread sandwich stuffed with turkey breast slices, and rice chips with peanut butter.

Post-workout essential nutrients

It is recommended that a post-workout meal include a mixture of these nutrients that the body desperately needs after a workout:

1. Carbohydrates: to replenish the body with energy

When it comes to boosting your energy levels, carbohydrates top the list of post-workout nutrients. It is recommended to consume plenty of carbohydrates if a person exercises more than 7 times a week, to avoid depleting muscle stores of glycogen.

Here are some healthy sources of carbohydrates: unpeeled fruits, legumes, nuts, and whole grains.

2. Proteins: to build and recover muscles

The body cannot build healthy muscle mass if not enough protein is consumed. If protein intake is neglected, this will not only affect the muscle recovery process, but may also lead to a loss of muscle mass that was originally in the body.

These are the main sources of protein: milk and dairy products, eggs, whey, and quinoa.

Post-workout meals: How might they differ by type of exercise?

Before you choose the meal you want to eat after a workout, we should note that the proportions of recommended nutritional ingredients may vary depending on the nature of the exercise you just finished, for example:

1. Cardio or endurance exercises

This type of exercise can leave your body desperate to replenish its carbohydrate stores. When you do cardio or endurance exercises, such as riding a bike for an hour, for example, your body uses its stores of carbohydrates to get its energy.

So, the first step that you need to do after doing this type of exercise is to replenish your muscles with carbohydrates, and here it is recommended to choose a meal with a ratio of carbohydrates to protein equivalent to: 4 grams of carbohydrates per 1 gram of protein.

2. Strength exercises

In this type of exercise, the main goal of the post-exercise meal is to try to stimulate the recovery of tired muscles, so it is recommended to choose a meal in which the ratio of carbohydrates to proteins is equal to: 2 grams of carbohydrates per 1 gram of proteins.

Important note

Be careful to drink adequate amounts of water after exercise, and to estimate your water needs, it is recommended to drink 2-3 cups of water for every half kilogram of weight lost during exercise.

Timing of meals after exercise

It is preferable to have a meal after exercise after completing exercise for a period of time ranging between 20 - 60 minutes, so that the body can recover and restore its energy.

It should be noted that there are different recommendations regarding the timing of meals after exercise, while some recommend eating the meal during the hour immediately following exercise, especially the third hour after exercise, others believe that it is okay to delay the meal a little if you want to, provided that It is delayed for more than two hours after exercise.

The importance of post-workout meals

During exercise, changes occur in the body that can be resisted and recover quickly if proper meals are eaten. Here is a summary of the main benefits of post-workout meals:

1. Raise glycogen levels

Glycogen is glucose that is stored in the muscles, and the body uses it during exercise to supply the body with energy, so its levels begin to decrease in proportions that vary depending on the nature of the exercises, for example, endurance exercises need a greater amount of glycogen than resistance exercises.

One of the benefits of meals after exercise is that it may help to compensate for the decrease in glycogen levels, so that the body can restore its energy

2. Stimulate muscle recovery

During exercise, small tears may develop in the muscle tissue, and these tears can stimulate their recovery by eating appropriate meals after exercise, especially those that are rich in the following: proteins, carbohydrates and healthy fats.

3. Other benefits

Post-workout meals may also help:

Reducing post-workout fatigue.

Building strong muscle tissue to enhance the body's endurance during future exercise.

Foods to avoid after exercise

It is best to avoid these foods and drinks after exercise:

Processed Energy Bars meals.

Salted foods.

Food rich in processed carbohydrates, such as: white bread and processed flour.

All kinds of energy drinks.