Nutrition and exercise go hand in hand and any athlete knows that diet is essential to achieve maximum performance. You surely control what you eat before a hard workout, but what about after? Take note of what a sports recovery diet should look like below.
After a long session of aerobic or strength work, the body needs a recovery period. After exercising, you should not only stabilize your breathing and heart rate, but also follow a sports recovery diet with which you achieve two fundamental objectives:
Rehydration, that is, the replacement of fluids and electrolytes that you have eliminated through sweat.
The contribution of nutrients that feed your muscles and help your glycogen stores return to their optimal levels.
How to follow a recover diet after exercise
Establishing the ideal food plan for each athlete depends on different variables, especially physical characteristics (weight, body mass, age, sex) and the type of training performed. When establishing it, you also have to take into account the training-rest times, to always choose the one that meets your needs but adapting at your own pace.
Starting from all the possible variables, the optimal diet to recover after exercising must be based on three premises:
Carbohydrates to recover energy
Playing sports involves increasing energy expenditure. Running, swimming, pedaling are activities with which we burn a large number of calories and, after exertion, it is essential to level this consumption to prevent our muscles from pulling their reserves and entering the catabolic phase (destruction of muscle mass).
The foods rich in carbohydrates are the main source from which we get that energy, so that their intake to a greater or lesser extent, is necessary in 2 to 3 hours after training or testing.
In a sports recovery diet, the ideal is to include foods with a low or moderate glycemic index so that the caloric intake is not excessive. It’s about replenishing energy and not giving yourself a “feast.” Only in the case of returning to training in a short period of time can you resort to higher glycemic index hydrates.
Protein to rebuild your muscles
Proteins are macronutrients made up of amino acids, many of them essential. They are basic because they help rebuild muscle fibers, perhaps damaged by exertion. They are also essential for the development of the muscles and, after hours of exercise, they cannot be absent from a recovery diet.
Include in this diet foods that provide protein of high biological value such as eggs, meat or fish. To give you an idea, after sports activity, your body will need to recover approximately 1 gram of protein for every 3-4 grams of carbohydrates that you eat in the hours following the effort.
Water and electrolytes
As we have said, one of the main objectives of the sports recovery diet is to achieve optimal hydration by making the body regain its water balance.
Drinking enough water, at least half a liter in the hours after training, and perhaps an isotonic drink, which provides you with the nutrients that are most lacking at that time (electrolytes such as sodium and potassium), is essential to recover from properly.
Post workout recovery diet example
Even if you are not feeling hungry or thirsty, it is important to ingest fluids and some food once you have finished exercising and after a reasonable time (15 – 20 minutes). You can always resort to specific sports drinks and the classic bars but you can also have an energetic natural snack such as: a juice, a piece of fruit, for example watermelon, apple, banana, a dairy (yogurt or skimmed milk), some cookies (cereals = hydrates)
Remember that drinking at least half a liter of fluids in the hour after training is basic. Have a main meal / dinner after 3 – 4 hours of the effort, in your menu do not forget to include: vegetables and / or salads, meat or fish and slow-absorbing cereals such as those provided by pasta or rice.
After exercising, always eat and drink in moderate amounts and gradually increase them as the hours go by.
