After training, a brutal appetite wakes up. This is normal: the body demands to replace what it has just spent – energy. To restore it, you need calories, that is, food. In order not to negate the results of intensive training, it is necessary to organize proper nutrition: specifically determine what you can eat after training.
Can i eat right after exercise?
Why you should eat after exercise
The best time to eat after exercise is in the first 20-40 minutes, so it’s a good idea to prepare your meals early so you don’t miss this period. Immediately after training, the so-called anabolic window (or carbohydrate-protein) for the most beneficial use of proteins and carbohydrates (not fats!). The assimilation of these nutrients occurs during these minutes 3-4 times faster than usual. This is due to the powerful expenditure of energy during physical activity. This ability is maintained during those 20-40 minutes, which are commonly called the anabolic window.
It is important to understand: everything that you eat in this period of time will purposefully go to muscle recovery, and not a single calorie from the eaten will go to fat.
Another reason for the advisability of eating food immediately after training is that intense physical activity provokes a kind of stress in the body and increased secretion of hormones (the most famous of which are adrenaline and cortisol).
Hormones rebuild the metabolism so that loads do not cause excessive damage to the structure of the body and energy, they translate the biochemistry of the body in a different way, in which a person gets a special mood, feels sports excitement and a surge of strength.
If you don’t eat after exercise, i.e. do not send a signal to hormones that everything is over, everything is in order, then their effect will persist for a long time after exercise. And this is fraught with the fact that the body will continue to retain everything possible and spend accumulations very reluctantly, including fats.
Insulin, a biochemical antagonist, can neutralize the effect of stress hormones. He is able to transfer the metabolism from anxiety to a state of calm recovery. With the help of insulin, the process of replenishing the body’s energy resources spent during training begins and the restoration of muscle proteins. A well-known and completely natural way to increase insulin levels in the body is by eating carbohydrate foods.
Nutritionists advise consuming carbohydrates after exercise in liquid form, from elemental sources with a high glycemic index. In this case, there will be a sharp jump in insulin levels, which are characterized by anabolic and anti-catabolic qualities. Simply put, drink grape and cranberry juice after exercisebecause they are known for their high glucose to fructose ratio.
Calculate the amount of juice you need for yourself according to the following scheme: 1 g of carbohydrates per 1 kg of ideal weight. For reference: a glass of grape juice contains 38 g of carbohydrates, cranberry juice – 31 grams.
It is also shown to eat fruits and any carbohydrate foods that do not contain fats:
- Boiled potatoes
- boiled rice
- boiled or steamed vegetables
- pasta
- sugar
- jam
- marmalade, etc.
It is clear that portions should be reasonable. The use of these products will lead to an additional release of insulin, which in this case normalizes the metabolism and replenishes the energy spent on training.
For bodybuilders and bodybuilders, post-workout protein shakes made from ready-made protein powders (available from drug stores and sports nutrition stores) are considered the best option. Owners and builders of beautiful sculpted bodies are convinced that thanks to the drunk cocktail after an intense workout, protein synthesis in the muscles increases by 3 times (in comparison with fasting). So you can take a bottle of powder and juice with you if you are not at home and have a drink immediately after your workout.
The amount of protein powder per 1 kg of ideal weight is 0,55 grams. If for some reason you cannot drink protein shakes, use egg whites.
If you do not want to take powdered shakes, eat any protein food, after calculating the amount you need. The simplest scheme is this: the portion should go into your palm. Since post-workout nutrition has one important goal – to restore muscles as efficiently and quickly as possible and to provide an increase in lean muscle mass (instead of flabby), then protein foods should be free of fat. Not a single gram. Fat will delay the flow of proteins and carbohydrates from the stomach into the bloodstream.
What you can eat after exercise
If you decide to eat chicken after training, then let it be the breast or wings, but not the legs. If you want to replenish energy with eggs, then let it be a protein, and not the whole egg. Don’t rely on pork or even beef as they have a lot of fat, opt for veal. Also, be careful with cheeses, yoghurts, milk and cottage cheese. The fact is that most often they contain at least 5% fat. Buy and consume only low-fat foods. But you can eat fatty fish without fear and often, but not fried.
Protein foods also include:
pulse
cereals (pearl barley, rice)
Nuts
sturgeon and chum salmon caviar
mushrooms, etc.
How to calculate your ideal weight. In many diagrams, nutritionists indicate a certain amount of carbohydrates and proteins per 1 kg of ideal weight. Ideal weight is calculated using the well-known BMI (Body Mass Index) formula: divide your actual weight in kg by your height in meters squared. Example: BMI = 64 kg: (1,70 x 1,70) = 22.
This formula is convenient because it suits both “kids” and “giants” equally well.
Next look:
less than 15 – acute weight deficit
from 15 to 18,5 – underweight
from 18,5 to 24 – normal (ideal) weight
from 25 to 29 – overweight
from 30 to 40 – obesity
more than 40 – severe obesity
Expert Tips
Eating Disorder Specialist, Nutrition Consultant, Psychodietology
– Before moving on to nutritional issues during sports, I will say a few words about the importance of physical activity, which increases energy consumption, which leads to weight loss at any weight, improves the quality of sleep, stimulates the digestive tract, reduces anxiety, increases stress resistance, immunity, has an antidepressant effect, improves memory, attention, and finally prolongs life. Do not forget that it is also a pill not only for acute respiratory infections and obesity, but also for Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, hypertension, cancer and many others.
As in any business, when playing sports, measure is also important, a comprehensive approach, and most importantly – pleasure. To draw up an activity plan, it is important to take into account your health status, rhythm of life, preferences, available place / time and other details that harmoniously integrate into everyday life.
The balance of the diet on training days is not much different from normal days.
Carbohydrates 55-70% (vegetables, fruits, cereals, potatoes, cereals).
Proteins – 10-15% of the total daily calories, of which (40-50% – vegetable protein (nuts, legumes, soy products), 50-60% – animal protein (meat, fish, cottage cheese, liquid dairy products).
Fat – 25-35% of the total daily calories.
Fats are:
– vegetable, or liquid, which are found mainly in vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, avocados and so on;
– saturated, or hard, these are meat, dairy products, cheese, milk and ice cream, chicken skin and egg yolk, the consumption of which should be limited to no more than 10% of the total calorie content;
– a minimum of trans fats (convenience foods, mayonnaise, chocolate, microwave popcorn, crackers, and so on).
General Tips
Eat regularly every 3-4 hours, add fruit snacks, and reduce the amount of salt and added sugar you eat.
Before a workout, a meal is recommended 1,5-2 hours before the start, or at least 30-60 minutes – a small portion of proteins and carbohydrates.
Monitor your health, appetite, and emotions during your workout. Measure your pulse. Fix on the pleasant sensations after.
After exercise, be guided by hunger or satiety.… If you are hungry after 30 minutes, feel free to eat, you can!
During exercise, we actively lose water through the skin with sweat, active breathing. However you need to drink out of thirst, let the water available, near you. If you want to understand if you are drinking enough, watch the color of urine: a saturated color indicates a lack of fluid in the body.
Also interesting to read: exercises for all muscle groups, which will take you no more than 5 minutes a day.
Elena Ivanova, Daria Vertinskaya