3 Foods You Should Eat After a Workout
You may have had some problems where you are working out like crazy and not seeing the best results even though you keep trying different variations with your exercises and even your diet. This article is aimed at providing you with 3 foods you should eat after a workout so you get the most out of your workouts.
The science behind this article is based on re-supplying your muscles with the nutrients and energy they need to recover and grow. With many of you who don’t eat for sometimes an hour after your workout this is a pretty big mistake which you may not have really paid attention to in the past.
A lot of the times the problem is timing and being in a hurry to get somewhere after your workout or simply needing to shower and attend do chores, etc. With this in mind I’m going to include easy to prepare or raw foods to take as minimal time as possible.
After a Workout Food 1: Protein Smoothie
Like you probably have noticed in so many other articles on this site I stand strong behind having a whey protein smoothie after your workout. The reason behind this is because whey protein provides your muscles with essential amino acids which they need in order to recover.
During a workout we often go into a catabolic state which means that our muscles are broken down and even incur micro tears. Although this may sound like a bad thing, it actually isn’t. This is a necessary process which needs to occur in order for our muscles to get stronger and grow. There have been many many supplements which promise to take you out of a catabolic state or minimize that from happening, but in my perspective nothing comes close to whey protein powder.
Regardless of whether you want to increase muscle size or lean out and increase definition the essential amino acids whey protein provides is a fantastic resource for both men and women.
Lucky for us as consumers there are many different brands and many of them have some pretty fantastic flavours.
If you haven’t tried Gaspari Nutrition Myofusion yet I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything as good as their milk chocolate flavour. It’s like my favorite chocolate desert, I just can’t get over it. Here is a link for you on all the flavours they provide – Gaspari Nutrition Myofusion.
Another one that is highly rated and is getting a lot of buzz for the high quality ingredients it contains is – Optimum Platinum Hydrowhey.
After a Workout Food 2: Any Fruit
Since we use sugar as our primary source of fuel for all our muscles, after a workout we are quite deficient in the amount of sugar we have in our systems. While it may seem like a good idea for this to be the case so that maybe we can get some weight loss happening a pretty strong argument can be made against this.
Much research on athletes has shown that although weight loss can occur with some starvation of sugar after an intense workout the problem that occurs is that your muscles are not able to regain and store that sugar for energy next time you workout. In other words, your muscles are starving for sugar especially within 30 to 60 minutes post workout. If you don’t supply this sugar then they are not able to completely fill up and have you completely energetic for your next workout.
I’ve taken this principal and applied it to both my workouts and many of my clients and we have been shocked at the results. You have to try it for yourself to see how much this can affect your next workout.
Brilliant idea and bonus points is that you mix in some fruit with your whey protein. I like berries especially blueberries and bananas, they make a very tropical flavour!
After a Workout Food 3: Salmon or Omega 3 Supplement
Hopefully you saw my recent article on the health benefits of Omega 3’s. If you have time to make a meal with salmon or another one of your favorite fish then even better, but the Omega 3 fatty acids that fish contains is excellent because Omega 3’s are linked with reducing inflammation.
This is fantastic news for sore muscles because with reduced inflammation we can have less pain and faster recovery times.
If you don’t have time for a fish meal then you can find a high quality Omega 3 supplement which is known for not having any toxic metals like mercury which most fish are found to have these days.
Without a doubt the most renown and consumer reviewed Omega 3 supplement is Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega.
Have any questions or comments about the 3 Foods You Should Eat After a Workout? Please leave a comment below…
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Thank you for visiting! Weight Loss and Training is a health blog which features all the best weight loss tips that I have learned over my 20 years of training. My background includes a degree in Kinesiology from the world renown Simon Fraser University, certification in nutritional sciences from UBC, and Personal Trainer Specialist certification from Can Fit Pro.
I have Softcap Fishoil, and the instructions say take 1-2 tablets 3 times a day, is that correct or jsut after working out?
Try having one of those right after a workout to reduce inflammation, I’m finding it to work wonders.
can after driniking whey protein can the protien itself be bad for your liver because i was tol from a dr. that protein isnt good for your liver because it can’t be broken down and it will leave fatty deposits in your liver like gall stones would to a gall bladder..any info would be of great help..thank you ..i am currently using the body fortress brand of whey protien..
Hi Chris, I think this doctor was out to lunch when he said that. While I’ve heard of this, we’re taking about pretty large amounts of protein in order for your body not to be able to break it down. Keep below 3 protein shakes a day and you’ll be fine unless you have some strange medical disorder.
Hi Sam,
Everyday I am doing workout for 60 mins and I am not getting results as I am expecting so as per your suggestion, I am changing my post workout diat as below.
I will intake below diat within 15 mins after post workout. Can you confirm if that will be good.
1.Whey Protein supplement.
2.1 Fruit.
3.Omega 3 supplement.
This sounds like a great post workout eating plan…now the other addition I would take inot consideration is also implementing interval training into your workouts rather than just 60 minutes of cardio or weight training.
Totally agree! We often forget the importance of the post-workout. Our bodies are in a rebuilding state and need to be replenished with the proper nutrients to make us stronger!