The Golden Post-Workout Nutrition Rules

There’s no getting around it – post-workout nutrition matters. Even for someone just doing light cardio, pilates or an aerobics class, it’s pretty important to eat right after a training session, so for building muscle and losing fat, it’s absolutely paramount that you pay attention here.

The key is protein

Protein is the building block for muscle tissue, so you need to get some into your system within 30 minutes of finishing your workout. You don’t need to slam down a protein shake as soon as your workout’s done as your body will still be digesting food from earlier in the day, but generally the quicker you can get some fast release protein in to you the better.

A shake is your best option if you want something fast and reliable, but you don’t need anything fancy – a basic whey, casein, egg or even a vegan protein such as hemp or pea will suffice. Alternatively, branch chain amino acids (BCAAs) have been shown to increase protein uptake by the muscles even faster, so go for 20g of protein powder or 10g of a BCAA product either in powder or capsule form.

With this protein you need carbs

The amount of carbs you need in your diet depends on your goal, as carbs are the double edged sword of the nutrition industry. On the one hand they’re awesome – carbs help shuttle nutrients and protein to muscle cells, kicking off the rebuilding process. However too many carbs cause chronically high levels or the hormone insulin, which leads to a rise in blood sugar levels and corresponding body fat increases.

So a 200 pound person would go with 20 to 30 grams of protein and 100 grams of carbs when building muscle and 20 grams of protein with 50 grams of carbs on a fat loss plan.

The type of carb you eat doesn’t matter too much. While conventional advice always used to be to choose so-called fast acting carbs such as sports drinks, rice cakes with jelly, high sugar fruits like raisins, bananas and pineapple or white carbs – white rice, bread, bagels, etc, it’s now generally accepted that after training, your body is craving nutrients and any carb source will be digested relatively quickly. So you can go for these fast acting carbs or choose higher fiber ones like sweet potatoes, oats, whole-grain bread or brown rice – the choice is yours.

Two hours after your workout you should eat again

Another 20 to 30 grams of protein either from a shake or from a whole-food source such as chicken, beef, turkey, salmon, eggs, beans or dairy products is ideal, along with a further portion of carbs. When bulking, go with 0.25 grams of carbs per pound of body-weight in this meal, from the higher fiber sources listed above and when losing fat, ditch the starches and load up on low-carb green veggies instead.

Mental cooldown? Check

Stretching? Check

Post-Workout Nutrition? Check

You’re good to go. Enjoy your next-level workouts, and the results you get from them.