After performing a fabulous leg workout shoving yourself to an incredible 10 reps you have vomited and created a huge mess on the floor. Yet your friends are cheering you for your awesome calisthenics. The very last thing that you want to do on earth is thrust a post-workout meal down your throat and you are probably thinking of abandoning it. But do you know that the post-workout meal is the most crucial one of your daily dietary schedule.
Recognizing what to eat and when to eat it is essential if you want to maximize your evolution in muscle building, mass growth and fat loss. Just like pre-workout meal, a post-workout brunch is very imperative for many reasons. Amongst these the primary reason is that your body is capable of replenishing the lost nutrients, assisting in shoring up the energy in the muscles for the subsequent day and supplying nourishment for muscle sustenance.
With so many pieces of advice out there regarding supplements and the ratio of macronutrients that should compose a diet, it can get extremely confusing as to what to accept and what proposal to dispense with. Water is the foremost thirst-quencher and energy fuel that you should drink immediately after testing your strength and challenging your muscle power in a tough training session. But how to know which macronutrients group is indispensible after a training session? Is protein vital or are carbohydrates really a fundamental source of energy that will help your body store enough energy that will last you till your next workout tomorrow? Read and find out what should structure your post-workout meal.
Proteins:
After a challenging session, the body’s amino acid sources are depleted which can only be claimed back by ingesting food. Amongst the 20 amino acids, the branched chain amino acids are the most important for the development of muscle mass, supporting health and fitness, maintaining the normal levels of hormones, creating neurotransmitters and fortifying the bones. Incorporating leucine, isoleucine and valine in your post-workout meal is recommended to restore and foster muscles speedily.
Carbohydrates:
Calories available through the consumption of food are processed in the liver and accumulated in the muscles to be utilized during the exercise and this process takes quite a long time. Exercise extracts and exhausts the body’s store of energy sources. So what you consume today is actually going to be obtainable tomorrow. It is best to include slow digesting carbohydrates like oatmeal, brown rice, quinoa, fruits and vegetables in your post-workout meal so that you can access the energy when you need it later.
Verily, your body needs carbs and protein after a workout but you should avoid the fats like they are your greatest foes. Why? Read below.
Fats:
Fats have the tendency to decelerate everything. They are the fundamental elements that should structure your daily diet but good or bad both types of fat should be eluded in the post-workout meal. Deleting the fats out of the post-workout meal equation denotes that the carbs and proteins can get to the muscles faster to be utilized for energy and rebuilding.
The bottom line is that the frame of your post workout diet should be composed of protein, low-glycemic carbs in conjunction with a medium chained triglyceride.
What your post-workout meal should integrate?
A meal which consists of simple and easily digestible carbs is best after working out so that the body can refuel its energy sources, sustain muscles and shore up the glycogen reserves for the next day.
It is advisable that you eat your post-workout meal within 45 minutes after exercising. This signifies that you take along your meal in the form of shake or a diet with you to the gym. Some meal ideas that have been compiled taking the suggestions of bodybuilders are:
- A bowl of salad escorted along with eggs, vegetables, chicken and low-fat dressing
- A low-fat chocolate milkshake is ideal to give you a surge of energy till you reach home to an energized home cooked meal
- A bowl of fruit salad with fruits like melons, apples, oranges and grapes adorning it
- Whey protein shakes that have a higher concentration of carbohydrates and lower concentration of fat
- Sport drinks encompassing electrolytes, minerals and minimal sugar are also great that will deluge your body with vitality till you reach home
- Fruits that have a high sugar concentration like bananas, dried apricots, raisins and watermelon
- Boiled eggs on wheat toast
- Vegetables and chicken or shrimp pitched with pasta
- Oatmeal or whole grain cereals combined with milk and sliced fruits like strawberries or bananas
- Steak tortilla wrapped with low fat cheese, tomatoes, onions and lettuce