Get In Shape With The Right Post- Exercise Meal
You can get in shape with the right post-exercise meal. Eating after exercise is important. Why? Because your muscles need the raw materials to recuperate after your work out.
Failure to eat the right food after exercise — or worse — skipping the post-exercise meal altogether can harm your body.
“You never think that you can just continue to ride your car without ever going to the gas station. We can’t expect to be able to continue to exercise our bodies without refueling them,” said Cedric Bryant, chief exercise physiologist of the American Council on Exercise.
What you eat after exercise has different effects on your body’s metabolism. Many of the improvements that arise from exercise come largely from the most recent session, rather than from accumulated fitness from exercise you did months ago.
This study found that exercise enhances insulin sensitivity but especially if the meal you eat after the session is low in carbohydrate. Enhanced insulin sensitivity means that it is easier or your body to take up sugar from the blood into muscles where it can be stored or used as fuel. And,
Simply put, aside from water (which you should already know you need) your post workout meal needs to contain 2 things.
You should be eating protein and carbs. You should NOT be eating fat. Fat slows down digestion. In this case, it would be slowing down the digestion of protein and carbs.
There is the “window of time” that exists after your workout during which it would be the most beneficial for your body to receive it’s post workout nutrition.
Typically you’d want to try to get this meal into your body within 1 hour. If possible, within 30 minutes would be even better.
The ideal source of protein to get in shape after your workout is a whey protein powder mixed with some type of liquid thus creating a whey protein shake.
A whey protein shake will be digested by your body much quicker than a whole food because it will be a liquid. And, not to mention, whey protein is the fastest digesting protein there is.
This is what makes whey protein pretty much the official choice of most people as their post workout meal protein source.
Carbs are actually an extremely important part of your post workout nutrition. Carbs will be used by your body to restore muscle glycogen.
If your post workout meal doesn’t contain carbs, your body may actually instead break down muscle tissue for this same purpose. That would be a bad thing.
Research has shown that eating 100-200 grams of carbohydrate within two hours of endurance exercise is essential to building adequate glycogen stores for continued training.
Waiting longer than two hours to eat results in 50 percent less glycogen stored in the muscle. The reason for this is that carbohydrate consumption stimulates insulin production, which aids the production of muscle glycogen.
Carbs also create an insulin spike which helps to move nutrients into your muscle tissue quicker.
A food like a baked potato is an okay choice for a carb source after a workout. However, just like protein, whole foods in general aren’t really the most ideal choice at this time.
This is where a little something called dextrose comes in. Dextrose is not a supplement… it’s actually just a type of sugar.
I know, I’m basically saying you should eat sugar and get in shape. While that would be insane any other time of the day, your post workout meal is the one exception.
Want to know more about how to get in shape?
Then, post your question below.
Yours truly for great health, mind and body,
Michelle, natural health advocate
February 17 2010 10:36 am | Fitness and Green Living and Healthy Eating and Natural Beauty
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