What do you usually do after a workout?
Take a shower? Sleep? Or keep moving? These options are good but not enough to help your body muscles recover and rebuild optimally.
Below are our guides on how to replenish energy after a workout, recommended by many PTs, nutritionists, and some research.
Drink Water
The very first thing you need to do after a brutal workout is drinking water. Make sure that you stay hydrated before, during, and after exercising because your body tends to lose electrolytes and water while sweating.
Drinking water helps promote recovery and get the most benefit from exercising.
But that doesn’t mean drinking water bluffly is good. Pay attention to the amount of water you need to drink after a workout.
It should be no more than eight ounces of water within 30 minutes when you finish exercising, based on how thirsty you are, how much you sweat, the type of exercise, and other factors.
Have Some Herbal Tea
If you have time to prepare herbal tea, make some.
Tea contains high levels of antioxidants known for relieving muscle soreness and damage after a workout whilst recovering their strength faster. Ingredients found in herbal teas also help your body and mind relax, boost the body, process protein and carbohydrates effectively.
In comparison to drinking water, herbal teas shorten the process of muscle strength recovery in just 24 hours, according to a study in 2016.
The best teas for you after a workout are energy boost blends, green tea, and black tea.
The recommended amount of tea for each person is no more than 4 cups (equivalent to 950ml).
Post-Workout Snacks
Having some post-workout snacks within 30 minutes of finishing your exercises helps speed up your body’s energy recovery.
They should contain a proper amount of healthful fats, carbohydrates, and proteins:
Fat
While it is probably advised to control the fat intake after a workout, too-low levels of fat in your body will disturb recovery. The fact that there’s little-to-no information about the effects of fat calories adopted after exercising.
So, it is still essential to give your body some healthful types of fat in your post-workout meal.
Carbohydrates
During workouts, your muscles consume up-stored glycogen or called glucose. And, carbohydrates are one of the macronutrients that help your body to replenish glycogen levels quickly after that.
The required amount of carbohydrates depends on how frequently you do exercise per week.
The more times of workout a week, the higher the number of carbohydrates, following this guide: per pound of body weight, consume 0.5 to 0.7 grams of carbs (within 30 minutes after exercising).
Protein
Consume carbs and protein at the same time helps optimize your body’s recovery as they help enhance glycogen synthesis.
The right amount of protein you need to provide for your body during this time should be 0.14 to 0.23 grams per body weight.
Providing yours with enough protein will also help heal the muscles whilst avoiding lean mass loss. For those who don’t know, lean mass takes a huge role in recovering and toning muscles.
Here are some post-workout meals highly recommended for you:
Shakes
Drinking whey protein shake helps your body rapidly absorb/digest all of the micronutrients for faster recovery, according to Matt Pikosky, PH.D., RD, FACN.
If they have enough calories, shakes can be a high-protein snack or a meal replacement.
Smoothie
Just like protein shakes, smoothies help repair and rebuild your muscles after a workout. Depending on your physical health status and how fast your body recovers, drink a cup of smoothie after you’ve done exercising for 30 minutes.
Low-Fat Chocolate Pretzels Or Milk
Some new research points out that chocolate pretzels or milk is quite good as a post-workout snack or drink due to its 4-to-1 carbohydrate to protein ratio. It also provides sodium for hydration support.
Such that desirable nutrient content makes it perfect for recovering and rebuilding muscles.
Have A Post-Workout Meal
Peanut Butter Sandwich
You just need some peanut butter, banana slices, honey, and two slices of slightly toasted whole-wheat bread. No cooking required so the whole process only takes around 2-5 minutes before ready to serve.
Eggs With Whole-Grain Toast
You can have some eggs after exercising and this food is also one of the most popular post-workout snacks as it’s easy to prepare. Eggs help to maintain, build, and repair your muscles efficiently as they contain all of the 9 amino acids.
Meanwhile, whole-grain toast has a high content of carbohydrates that your body utilizes to recover and rebuild muscles.
It’s also a lean food to keep you feeling full longer.
If you don’t like whole-grain toasts, switch to fruits, brown rice, sweet potatoes, or oatmeal.
Others
To diversify your post-workout menu, here are some other recipes to try:
- Pasta in a light sauce
- A stir-fry with brown rice
- Salad with lean meat, veggies, and beans
- A lean meat sandwich
Conclusion
Above is everything you need to know about how to replenish energy after a workout. Aside from hydration and eating, you should also rest properly to help your body recover the best.
If you’ve just taken a harsh workout section, doing some stretching exercises will make your muscles less stiff and more relaxing, which decreases pain the next day.
Finally, thanks for reading and good luck!
