Best post-workout food

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Unfortunately, many novice athletes do not pay due attention to proper nutrition. They mistakenly believe that for the growth of muscle mass, you just need to exhaustively train, and nutrition is a secondary matter. If you are one of these people, then we have to disappoint you: food before training and food after training plays a huge role in the process of bodybuilding! Here you can draw an analogy with the construction of a house: if workers during construction use cheap and low-quality materials, then they are unlikely to ever finish this house. The same is with bodybuilding: if a person eats everything, then he can forget about a beautiful and slender physique forever! The purpose of today's article is to tell you what to eat after a workout to gain mass or lose weight, as well as to bust a few myths associated with nutrition. Interested? Then we wish you a pleasant reading!

Why should I eat right after training?

We have already briefly said that a good diet is necessary to build a beautiful physique, but now we will reveal this issue in more detail. correctpost-workout food is the key to good recovery and muscle growth. Intense physical activity depletes the reserves of water and energy in the human body. In addition, while working with iron, the athlete's muscle fibers are destroyed, and high-quality products are needed to restore them. Some people who want to get rid of extra pounds at all costs mistakenly believe that if they do not eat at all after a workout, then this will benefit their body. In fact, such a serious restriction in food, on the contrary, can seriously harm your he alth! In order to have good he alth throughout the day and strength for the next workouts, you need to replenish your energy reserves.

Protein-carbohydrate window

Almost every athlete who is actively involved in strength training in the gym sooner or later comes across such a concept as the "protein-carbohydrate window". According to supporters of this theory, within an hour after a workout, it is imperative to give your body those vitamins and minerals that it "lost" during intense physical exertion. They believe that at the end of this time, catabolic processes are launched in the body that destroy our muscles, and do not contribute to their increase. It so happens that not all people have the opportunity to take food after training during this time. In such a situation, many athletes strongly recommend using some kind of sports nutrition (proteins, gainers, etc.)e). Many fitness portals and publications write about this theory, but is everything really as they claim? From here we smoothly move on to the next section, which has the answer to this question.

Eating after workout for muscle growth. When to use?

To answer this question, a group of athletes decided to conduct an experiment. They refused to consume the gainer immediately after exercise and instead began to eat regular protein food an hour after the workout. At the end of the experiment, its participants did not show any deterioration in the results, but, on the contrary, noted that such a meal after training had a positive effect on muscle growth. On top of that, the subjects noted that during the experiment they improved the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. We can easily find an explanation for this in medicine. The fact is that after intensive work with iron, in the next hour there is an outflow of blood from the muscles to the internal organs (including the gastrointestinal tract), which favorably affects the process of digestion.

Post workout food for weight loss

If your goal is to lose a few pounds of excess fat, then the first 40 minutes you are strongly advised to refrain from eating. And the point here is not only in the better work of the gastrointestinal tract (as we wrote earlier), but in the fat-burning processes that take place during this period of time. For the first half an hour, an exhausted body takes energy reserves from the fat layer, thereby reducing it insizes. If, however, at this time to eat tightly, then the body will burn the calories received from the food eaten, and not the extra fat, which the training was aimed at combating.

The main principle of proper nutrition for weight loss sounds like this: you need to eat fewer calories than you spend, but not less than you need for the full functioning of the body. For people who are shedding excess body fat, post-workouts should focus on foods that contain a lot of protein (for example, eggs, cottage cheese, or other low-fat dairy products). You can also add protein shakes to your diet.

Don't forget about carbohydrates (we are talking about slow carbohydrates, not fast ones, which are found in excess in sugar and sweets). In this case, fresh fruits, vegetables, berries and whole grain flour products are perfect. Do not forget about fruit and vegetable fresh juices, dried fruits and uns alted nuts.

When it comes to eating after workouts for weight loss in the evening, you can't help but put in a word about fat. Many experts argue that fatty foods after exercise have a negative effect on your figure. In addition, fat and dietary fiber slow down the digestion process. And you know what? They are absolutely right! But despite this, you should not completely exclude this element from your diet. After exercising in the gym, it is recommended to consume fats in an amount of no more than 10 grams.

A set of muscle mass: what to eat

Post workout food for muscle gain- this is the topic that interests many athletes no less than food for weight loss. In fact, the difference between these diets is that when gaining muscle mass, a person should not limit himself in calories, but, on the contrary, consume them in sufficient quantities.

Post-workout meals should contain enough protein, slow carbohydrates, not be too high in calories and, most importantly, make you feel full. This is especially true for people who play sports in the evening and eat before bed. Here is a list of the best post-workout foods to build muscle:

1. Fig.
2. Eggs (in the morning).
3. Sea products.
4. Cheese.
5. Yogurt.
6. Cottage cheese.
7. Boiled chicken.
8. Herbal teas.

You shouldn't feel hungry after a meal, but that doesn't mean you should overeat and stuff food into yourself.

What should not be eaten at night?

As mentioned earlier, most people tend to train in the evening, after the end of the working day. The list of foods that we mentioned earlier can be consumed 1-2 hours before going to bed, but there are some foods that are best avoided if you eat after a workout at a late time. Their use may not have a very positive effect not only on the figure, but also on the quality of sleep. These include:

1. Meat high in calories.
2. Food withhigh in saturated fat.
3. Sweets.
4. Mushrooms.
5. Coffee and products containing cocoa.

Do I need sports nutrition?

This topic causes a lot of controversy among both beginners and professional athletes. Some argue that it is impossible to do without sports nutrition in bodybuilding and fitness, while others talk about its uselessness and absolute uselessness. Still, do you need to use sports nutrition? In fact, the answer to this question is as simple as 5 cents. Protein, gainer, creatine, etc. are all sports supplements (the key word here is "supplements"). If you are able to provide yourself with good food containing a lot of proteins and high-quality carbohydrates, then there is not much point in buying a sports nutrition. But if, for example, you live very far from the gym and get home for a long time, or you have a busy work schedule in which you can’t even make time for yourself to eat a full meal, then sports nutrition can really help you.

Protein: myths and reality

The importance of protein in the process of bodybuilding, we think no one will dispute. Many beginners are ready to absorb tons of it so that their biceps increase by at least a centimeter. Some athletes believe that after a workout you need to take a loading dose of protein, because only at this time it is well absorbed. In fact, both proteins and carbohydrates are normally synthesized by our body throughout the day, and therefore there is not much difference when exactly you take yourprotein product. This can be done both an hour after work in the gym, and during the next day.

Best product for the night

Earlier, we mentioned how important cottage cheese is after a workout. This product consists of a complete casein protein, which is ideal for a night's sleep. Casein fills muscle fibers with amino acids for 8 hours, promotes their growth and significantly slows down catabolic processes. As an alternative to cottage cheese, you can use a special casein mixture.

The importance of water

During exercise, the body loses a lot of water through sweat. In addition, the greater the mass of a person, the more fluid he will release during training. With the departure of water from the body, the athlete gets tired faster, which is why productivity gradually decreases. Therefore, it is very important to drink enough liquid both during and after the gym.

Tips

We have already discussed with you the topic of post-workout food, muscle gain and weight loss. Now it's time to give you some very important advice:

1. Make a diet based on your physical data, and not the data of other people. Do not forget that each person is individual and everyone needs a different approach in terms of nutrition and training.
2. Don't drink alcohol after your workout. Studies show that alcohol drunk after working with iron accelerates the catabolic processes of the body by 40%.
3. If you feel that from the changeyour diet is getting worse every day, then be sure to consult a doctor! It is very important to consult with a specialist on the topic of dietary changes from the very beginning in order to avoid problems in the future.

Your attention was presented an article on the topic: "Food for muscles after training." We hope that in this publication you have found a lot of interesting information that answered your questions.