Getting the best results from your strength training or cardio regimen requires pushing yourself during your workouts and a diet optimised to meet your goals.
Here is an overview of post-workout nutrition that will help you refuel your body to optimize recovery and muscle development.
What are the goals of a post-workout meal or snack?
After an intense workout, your nutrition goals are to rehydrate your body, replenish muscle glycogen, repair muscle tissue and support muscle adaptation (a.k.a. growth).
Rehydrate: Long and intense workouts inevitably lead to intense sweating, and sweating causes loss of water and electrolytes. Improper hydration can limit your body’s recovery and performance in your next workout.
Be sure to pay special attention to thirst and hydration when exercising in heat, because of increased sweat rate when it is hot. To rehydrate, look to juicy fruits like grapes or watermelon or water. You may consider adding a hydration mix with some electrolytes if you were really sweating!
Replenish muscle glycogen: Muscle glycogen is a carbohydrate that is stored in the muscles. During a long or high intensity workout, your body uses this stored energy as fuel. By the end of a tough workout, these stores need to be refilled. You need carbohydrates for glycogen replenishment. Some great sources of carbohydrates are potatoes, sweet potatoes, brown rice, oatmeal, fruits and pasta.
Repair muscle tissue and support muscle adaptation: Tough workouts also cause damage to muscle tissue by 3 pathways. First, the actual physical stress of exercise and muscle contractions cause micro-tears in the tissue.
Second, hormonal changes that break down the muscle to provide fuel (in the form of amino acids, fat and carbohydrate) to fuel muscle contractions.
Third, in addition to the damage caused during the workout, exercise also causes an increase in acute inflammation and free radicals which can damage muscle tissue. You need protein to provide the substrate needed for muscle repair and growth.
Some great sources of protein include: Eggs, cottage cheese, tofu, fish, lean beef, protein bars, protein powders, or chicken: baked, grilled or roasted.
Post-workout snack and meal ideas
Now that you have your nutrition goals outlined, here are a few snack and meal ideas to inspire your next meal prep session. The best post workout meal for muscle gain combines high-quality protein and healthy carbohydrates. Choose whether you eat a full-on meal or a snack depending on the time of your workout and overall nutrient needs.
Here are some simple post workout snack ideas that provide nutrients needed for optimal recovery:
- A smoothie with a variety of your favorite fruits, some milk and a scoop of a high-quality protein powder
- Low fat Greek yogurt with fruit
- Hummus rolled in a whole grain tortilla
- A sushi roll, ideally made with brown rice and seafood like salmon or tuna
- 2 Hard-boiled eggs with a serving of whole grain crackers (hot sauce optional for those who love flavor)
- Protein bar
Here are a few post workout meal suggestions:
- Tuna salad sandwich on whole grain bread
- Grilled or roasted chicken breast or salmon fillet with roasted sweet potato and broccoli
- An egg scramble with veggies and a slice of whole grain toast
- A peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole grain bread
- Protein meal replacement bar
- Pancakes made with a whole grain, high-protein mix topped with fruit
- Protein overnight oats
When should I eat my post workout meal?
You might have heard of the post workout anabolic window, and the research does indeed show that muscles have increased anabolic potential in the 3-4 hours after a workout.
In their position statement on nutrient timing, The International Society for Sports Nutrition recommends a 20-40g dose of high quality protein immediately following and up to two hours post workout because it stimulates further increases in muscle protein synthesis.
This protein should also be combined with carbohydrates, because these two recovery nutrients appear to have synergistic effects in terms of muscle glycogen repletion and muscle protein synthesis, so it really is a win-win scenario.
Each athlete’s protein and carbohydrate needs are different and are impacted by their goals, type/frequency of training as well as gender, height and weight. You will need to tweak the size of your meals and snacks accordingly.
If you are a competitive athlete, don’t make changes to your nutrition regimen close to a competition. Stick to what has worked for you in the past and use training time for experimentation and fine-tuning.
You should note that a special post-workout meal is not necessary for a casual exerciser taking a 20–30 minute jog. In this case, you’ll want to make sure to eat a balanced meal containing some carbohydrate, protein and fat within a few of hours of your workout in an amount you would normally consume.
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