Post-Workout Foods: The Ultimate Guide

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Your Guide to Post-Workout Nutrition

Importance of Post-Workout Nutrition

You have just finished that vigorous workout. Your muscles are sore, and you are feeling tired.

If your main goal is to build or strengthen muscle or increase endurance and you don’t eat food having certain nutritional content within a certain time, all your hardwork at the gym is in vain. Yes, that’s true. In fact, you may even lose muscle if you only train your muscles without paying attention to post-workout nutrition.

If your goal is to lose weight, you should also have a nutritious meal after a workout to prevent muscle loss and optimize fat loss.

During an exercise, many muscles are actively involved depending on the type of exercise. This results in very small tears in the muscles.

If you eat just the right thing after a workout and get enough sleep at night, the muscles are recovered from those tears leading to stronger muscles, which enables you to perform better in the succeeding workout.

Better performance means better endurance and/or being able to lift heavier depending on the goal.

For example, for a runner, better performance means running for a longer distance than the last time with more stamina and less fatigue. For a powerlifter, it’s all about some increase in 1 rep max. For a bodybuilder, it’s the bulk and definition of muscles.

Basically, this is how our body physically and mentally adapts to gradual increase in the stress applied to the muscles as well as the cardiovascular system and the nervous system in a natural way. This is a slow process, but those minor gains eventually grow into noticeable changes with time.

Contrarily, if you don’t eat what your body needs to repair those damages or get quality sleep, you’ll not get any stronger, or, in the worst scenario, you might end up losing muscle, thus weakening yourself.

What causes this muscle loss? After a workout, your body’s glycogen reserve is almost empty. Glycogen is the primary fuel in our body. In fact, some organs completely rely on it for energy. If you don’t eat enough carbs post workout, your body can convert some muscle mass into glycogen to meet its required level. Muscle loss is more likely if your body fat percentage is also very low because after glycogen, our body’s top preference for energy is fat.

So, you can understand how important a proper post-workout meal and proper sleep are for fruitful muscle recovery.

This article is dedicated to post-workout nutrition. If you want to improve the quality of your sleep, I have two detailed articles on this topic:

Two most common queries that many fitness enthusiasts have are:

  1. What to eat after a workout?
  2. When to eat your post-workout meal?

I’ll provide a detailed answer to each of these two questions based on the most recent research. 

What to Eat After a Workout

Understand the constituents of food

Food contains two types of nutrients: macronutrients and micronutrients.

Macronutrients

Macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, fat) provide our body with thermal energy, which is necessary to sustain life.

First, let’s understand the role of each macronutrient in muscle recovery.

Protein and Post-Workout Recovery

Protein is the building block of muscle. It is protein which strengthens and increases the size of a muscle. Without protein, muscle can’t grow. Therefore, you must consume enough protein not just after a workout but in other meals as well.

The recommended protein intake is 0.6-1 g per kg of body weight depending on your goal. For example, a 75-kg adult should eat 45-75 g of protein per day. The lower end is for a person trying to lose weight, while those who want to increase their muscle mass should go for the higher end of this range for optimum results.

Note that excessive protein intake can lead to increased body fat and health complications like dehydration and damage to kidneys. Some protein sources, particularly processed meat, are carcinogenic for humans, so should be avoided. Red meat has also been linked with cancer in some studies. There are many types of allergies associated with different protein sources, like lactose intolerance, peanut allergy, and egg allergy, which can affect some people.

Food sources of protein are poultry, meat, seafood, eggs, dairy, legumes (beans, chickpeas, lentils), nuts, and seeds. Protein is also found in grains, like wheat and rice, and leafy greens like spinach in moderate amount.

Proteins are made of amino acids. Out of all 20 amino acids, 9 are essential, while remaining 11 are non-essential. Our body can produce the non-essential ones, but essential amino acids must be consumed to have complete protein in the body.

All animal-based protein sources, including fish and dairy, contain all essential amino acids. Among vegan protein sources, no food contains all 9 essential amino acids except soybean. But combining different sources can help with this issue, for example, ‘brown rice with beans’ or ‘whole-grain pita with hummus’ offers all nine amino acids essential for the body.

Many experts recommend consuming some protein right after the workout session ends, as the process of muscle repair begins immediately after a muscle is sufficiently worked. Therefore, even a delay of 30 minutes (for a quick shower and driving back to home) is not allowed.

But you don’t need to rush after protein if you have had a high-protein pre-workout meal or eaten at least two main meals. This advice of immediate protein consumption is primarily for those who work out on an empty stomach or those who haven’t eaten much protein prior to the session.

But you should have a good serving of quality protein in your post-workout meal to make sure that there is an adequate amount of protein in your body for the best possible recovery from the tough workout. That meal should also be rich in carbohydrate and contain some healthy fat.

When to eat that meal is discussed in the answer to the second query.

Carbohydrate and Post-Workout Recovery

Carbohydrate provides glucose to the body, which forms long chains of glycogen. Therefore, carbohydrate is very important after a workout.

Carbohydrate has two roles following a workout:

First, our body fills up the glycogen reserves which get almost empty after intense physical activities.

Second, our body needs glucose to build muscle, as the process of muscle recovery needs lots of energy just like all other processes occurring in the body. Glucose provides energy, and protein is the building block. Analogous to the construction of a building, protein is like the bricks, while carbs are like the workers and machinery. So, carbs are crucial for muscle building.

The recommended carbohydrate intake is 4-10 g per kg of body weight depending on your goal. For example, a 75-kg adult should consume 300-750 g of carbohydrate per day. The lower end is for a person trying to lose weight, while those who participate in high-intensity training, like powerlifting and interval training, should go for the higher end of this range for optimum results.

Note that excessive carb intake can lead to increased body fat and health complications like type 2 diabetes, gastrointestinal issues like diarrhea, and tooth decay and cavities.

It is suggested by some experts to consume simple carbohydrates just after your workout along with post-workout protein. The reason is because simple carbs are processed to yield glucose faster than complex carbs; hence, the glycogen store gets full quickly, which aids in post-workout recovery. Simple carbohydrate means sugar, e.g., table sugar and fruits are simple carbs.

Your post-workout meal should be rich in healthy complex carbs, like whole-wheat pasta and brown rice, as these carbs release glucose slowly and prevent blood sugar spikes.

Fat and Post-Workout Recovery

Fat is also a vital nutrient for a healthy life.

Although the word ‘fat’ might be terrifying for beginners, the dietary fat we get from foods is different than the body fat which we want to prevent.

Although both these fats are chemically fats, it’s wrong to assume that all fat that we consume ends up as body fat. The substance that leads to body fat is the overall number of calories the person consumes daily.

A calorie surplus, or eating more than the body’s needs, causes the formation of body fat. Therefore, even carbs and proteins can be converted into body fat if there is abundance of calories in the body.

Despite this, you should be more careful about your fat intake because a gram of fat produces more than double the number of calories produced by one gram of carbohydrate or protein.

Some fats are essential for our body, as our body can’t produce these fats and relies on food for them. These fats, also called essential fatty acids, are two: omega-3 and omega-6. Foods like fish, nuts and seeds, and many vegetable oils, like olive oil, canola oil, and sunflower oil, are high in essential fatty acids.

How are these healthy fats related to post-workout recovery? During the recovery phase, your body directs its glycogen reserve to the muscle repair process, and so fat is utilized to meet the energy needs of most other organs.

Additionally, essential omea-3 fatty acids can reduce muscle soreness owing to their anti-inflammatory property as shown by a study conducted by Jouris KB.

The recommended fat intake is 0.5-1 g per kg of body weight depending on your goal. For example, a 75-kg adult should ingest 38-75g of fat per day. The lower end is for a person who wants to lose body fat, while those who are following a calorie-surplus diet for bigger muscles should go for the higher end of this range for optimum results.

But limit your intake of saturated fat to no more than 20 g per day, and completely avoid trans fat. Trans fat causes high cholesterol, which can put you at a risk of developing a heart disease. Many studies have linked saturated fat, too, with heart diseases.

Micronutrients and Post-Workout Recovery

Micronutrients are often underestimated by mistake. Though not a source of energy, micronutrients serve many core functions in the post-exercise recovery phase.

Vitamin D promotes efficient muscle growth. Vitamin D reduces inflammation and makes you stronger.

Calcium and vitamin D both play a vital role in the healing and growth of bones.

Similarly, minerals like chromium and zinc are important in the process of protein synthesis and the metabolism of macronutrients.

Vitamin B-12 is involved in the repair of damaged muscle tissues after a workout.

Iron enhances the transport of oxygen through red blood cells, and glucose normally needs oxygen to generate energy. As energy demand is high after a workout, your body cells need more oxygen to produce enough heat. Iron makes the flow of oxygen to cells easier.

Fortunately, if your regular diet consists of items from each food group (grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, and both animal-based & plant-based proteins) and you prefer variety in each group, you don’t need to worry about the deficiency of micronutrients.

However, if you’re a vegan or suffering from a condition which requires you to restrict the intake of a food, you may be at a risk of the deficiency, for which supplements are prescribed by a qualified physician.

My Post-Workout Meal

The post-workout meal should be a well-balanced meal. I eat dinner right after my workout. My dinner routinely contains a cup of boiled brown rice or whole-wheat macaroni, stir-fried 1 cup leafy vegetable with ½ turkey breast in a tablespoon of canola oil and spices, and a fruit serving.

This meal provides me with complete protein, complex carbs, simple carbs, dietary fiber, healthy fat, antioxidants, and many minerals and vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B-6, vitamin K, folate, iron, and magnesium.

When to Eat Your Post-Workout Meal

Is anabolic window a myth

There is an ongoing debate in the world of fitness on the timing of your post-workout meal. Anabolic window is the most mentioned term in these discussions.

Anabolic window means that after a workout, a ‘protein window’ stays open in the body for some time. If you consume enough protein when the window is open, that protein will repair your muscles and you’ll grow.

But if you don’t eat protein within that duration, you’ll get nothing out of your workout in the form of gains no matter how heavy you lifted or how well you performed.

Current research suggests that the duration of anabolic window varies from person to person depending on overall diet.

According to a study, this window remains open for a longer time if you have a large protein-rich meal 3 hours before the workout. Therefore, no specific time limit following a workout is suggested by research for protein intake.

My Advice

But my advice is that you should eat your post-workout meal as early as possible to avoid glucose deficiency, which can cause poor recovery or even muscle loss. This is also important for those who are interested in weight loss to protect muscle mass from being used by the body as a fuel.

Post-Workout Meal Timing for Morning Workouts

If you work out earlier in the day when you haven’t eaten much and your goal is not weight loss, you should have a post-workout snack immediately after a workout, like a protein shake, which should provide you with quality protein and simple carbs. After this snack, you can have your post-workout main meal after at least 1 hour but no later than 4 hours.

Post-Workout Meal Timing for Evening Workouts

If that’s not the case and you have already eaten two main meals before your workout (e.g., you work out in the late afternoon), you can go without eating anything for about 2 hours without any negative effect on your gains.

Post-Workout Meal Timing for Weight Loss

Similarly, if your aim is fat loss, you should also have a moderate meal after a workout which should include lean protein, whole-grain staple, and a serving of colorful vegetables no later than 2 hours.

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