Recovery Nutrition

Recovery nutrition is a hot topic in the sports nutrition world.  In a nutshell, it means what you eat/drink post workout, post game, or post event. 

Why is it so “hot?”  Because this meal can truly help take you to the next level …

… or, if not planned appropriately, will allow your competition to overpower you. 

Here’s the deal.

Picture your muscles as a soaking wet sponge that’s full of water.  When you’re well fueled, your muscles, like that wet sponge, are full of stored carbohydrates.  Stored carbohydrate is called glycogen.

Glycogen is used during your workout.  So now imagine yourself walking into the weight room to train.  Your muscles are full of glycogen and you’re ready to tear through that iron, packing on serious strength.  During the workout, your muscles become “drained” of their energy as you’re giving it your all.  The fuel tank is emptied.  The “sponge” is dry.

Likewise, when you wring out a wet sponge, you wring out all the water, it becomes dry, and it’s then ready to take up as much water as it can. 

Your muscles are the same, except instead of water in this example, they store glycogen.  When you use all the stored glycogen in your muscles, the “pump is primed” to take up as much as you can and store it for later use. 

The faster you can refuel, the better.  And after a workout, every minute that passes makes that “window of opportunity” smaller and smaller, making it more difficult to adequately refuel your hard working muscles. 

Therefore, here’s what you do.

As soon as you’re done with your workout, practice, or game … get food in your body.

My personal favorite “recovery nutrition” product is low fat chocolate milk.  It’s quick.  It’s easy.  It’s effective.  In a nutshell, you want a combination of carbohydrates and protein.  Chocolate milk gives you exactly that combination of carbohydrates and protein that you need.  Try 8-16 oz within 30 minutes after your workout.

Give it a try after every single workout and watch your performance improve.