Post Training Nutrition
July 9, 2006 by erin.
Being a trainer, I get tons of questions about fitness and nutrition. One question I have heard a lot lately concerns post training nutrition. It seems that many people don’t understand how to eat before and after their workouts and how important it is to have proper nutrition in that window of time. I’ll try to clear things up.
Ideally you should have a small meal consisting of carbs, protein and a little fat about 90 minutes prior to your workout. This gives your body time to start breaking down the nutrients to fuel the workout. This is especially important for those working out first thing in the morning. Please don’t workout on an empty stomach. Your body has not been fed in 8 hours (in theory) and it thinks that it’s starving. So, instead of burning fat (body’s stored energy), your body will hold on to it thinking that it needs it for survival. You will, instead, burn muscle; the very thing you want to preserve and build. Muscle mass is where you get your metabolism from. one pound of muscle takes up less than 1/2 the space as one pound of fat and it burns up to 50 more calories per day. It would make since, then, to have the proper nutrition to support a healthy body composition. So, eat before you work out!
It is just as important to eat right after your workout. The 30 minute window after a workout is critical for proper recovery. After your workout, your body is at an elevated temperature, your heart rate is elevated, and your muscles are going through what is called protein degradation (process of breaking down muscle fibers due to exercise); because of this state, your body can easily absorb nutrients to repair muscle tissue and restore glycogen. You must stop the protein degradation by eating, or your muscles will continue to tear down and you will have a slower rate of recovery and an increased level of soreness. Proper post-training nutrition is insurance that you will be able to perform at your peak the next day. If you don’t re-fuel your body properly you greatly increase your risk for overtraining syndrome. Symptoms of overtraining include elevated resting heart rate, irritability, loss of appetite, interrupted sleep patterns, fatigue, etc… So, be kind to your body and feed it properly.
What you eat is also important. Within 30 minutes of completing your workout you should consume a snack containing 0.8g of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight that has some protein and a little fat. An example would be an energy bar with reasonable calories, less than 3g of saturated fat and less than 10g of sugar. Other good choices are a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a glass of milk and a banana.