Learn what to eat after a grueling workout to prevent muscle breakdown and quickly restore muscle glycogen stores. Many athletes are trying to find some kind of dietary nutrition programs to increase the effectiveness of training while participating in tournaments. This approach to catering is erroneous. You need to use a nutritional program that will constantly help you progress. It should be the foundation on which your training process is built.
Thus, if you consider training and nutrition separately, then you are making a serious mistake that only slows down your progress. After exercise in the body, the metabolism in muscle fibers changes dramatically. During training, catabolic processes prevail in the muscles, which, after completing the session, are replaced by anabolic ones.
These changes are very strong, but only last for a few hours. It is for this reason that post-workout nutrition is essential to increase your body's anabolic response to exercise. Today we are going to take a look at nutritional advice after hard training based on current scientific knowledge.
During hard training, the muscles actively use different types of fuel: glucose, amines, fatty acids, etc. These processes are catabolic in nature. To activate the recovery responses, you need to shift the balance towards anabolism. For this, food is used.
How to eat right after a hard workout?
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are quite important during training, but they are even more valuable after training. In several experiments, scientists have found that muscle fibers have the ability to quickly absorb glucose immediately after exercise.
This is due to the insulin-independent consumption of glucose. As you know, each meal is accompanied by the release of insulin, which delivers nutrients to the cellular tissue structures. First, insulin must bind to receptors located on the surface of cells, thereby activating a whole series of reactions. As a result, transport protein structures are synthesized, which deliver glucose into the cells. Only after that the glycogen production processes start. The degree of penetration of glucose into cellular structures directly depends on the amount of synthesized transport proteins. If their number is equal to the number of glucose molecules, then it is no longer possible to change it. Scientists today know five transport proteins that differ in their properties. Now there is a very active debate about which type of carbohydrates is most effective for quickly replenishing glycogen stores. It is difficult to answer this question with certainty, although so far no scientific study has found significant differences in the use of different types of carbohydrates. Thus, we can rightfully assume that it is necessary only for the next 24 hours to eat food rich in any carbohydrates.
To enhance the anabolic background after training and accelerate the process of replenishing glycogen stores, you should immediately after training consume at least 1 gram of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight and repeat this action after another couple of hours.
Protein compounds
The second most important nutrient for post-workout nutrition is protein compounds. It is from protein that the body creates new fibers and repairs damaged ones, as well as synthesizes transport proteins and various enzymes. Without these substances, one cannot hope for a full recovery of the body.
Scientists have found that for about two weeks after training using the new program, the nitrogen balance is in the negative zone. All this time, the body's sensitivity to carbohydrates decreases, but remains high in relation to protein compounds.
All these facts suggest that taking protein at the right time is of the utmost importance. Since the lifespan of the RNA is no more than five hours, and during this period of time it is necessary to ensure the constant delivery of amines to the muscle tissue. Scientists believe that protein should be consumed every three or four hours.
Fats
Scientists today cannot say for sure how important it is to consume fat after exercise. Probably, the very fact of their presence in the body is important, and not the time of intake. You must remember that fats perform various functions in the body and it is absolutely impossible to refuse to take them.
For example, omega fats can have a positive effect on the cellular structures of tissues, which leads to accelerated transport of glucose to muscles and increases the rate of production of protein compounds. There is a theory that cholesterol plays an important role in post-workout nutrition. Scientists have noticed that after training, its concentration is low for several days. It may very well be that this substance is used by the body to restore the membranes of cellular structures damaged by exercise.
Liquid
When it comes to eating after class, it would be a crime not to think about liquids. It is very important to maintain the necessary water supply to the cellular tissue structures. Of course, bodybuilders don't get as severely dehydrated as, say, runners. However, it is important to drink enough liquid, and you can use the following formula to determine it: 1 milliliter of water for each kilocalorie of your diet. For example, the calorie content of your diet is 4 thousand calories, therefore, during the day you need to drink 4 liters of water. If you train in hot climates, then feel free to add 2 more glasses to this for every 0.5 kilograms of your weight.
How to eat right after a workout to recover, see this video:
