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Ask Shannon: Fitness and Nutrition Q & A

Posted May 6, 2008 at 03:00 PM by Shannon Clark

Section: Her Nutrition, Workout Fuel

With years of training under her belt, resident fitness and nutrition expert Shannon Clark is ready to help you on your way to a healthy, informed lifestyle. Got a question? her your inquiries, and be sure to check back every week for the latest Q&A.

Q: How important is it to eat right after I workout? Is it okay if I go home and shower first, or do I need to eat this meal immediately after I finish up my workout?  I’m not looking to lose weight right now, just improve my fitness level if I can.

A: Great question! It’s good you are paying attention to the post-workout meal as this is essential for proper recovery.  Immediately after a hard workout session your body is going to be primed to uptake the nutrients you feed it, namely carbohydrates and protein.

Take note that you do not want to consume much fat during this time as that will only slow the digestion of the food in your body, decreasing the speed at which the muscles are replenished.  This is actually the one time in the day when you do want a strong insulin spike, as that is what will get that muscle glycogen refilled and help you recover optimally.

Now, in terms of how soon after the workout you should follow up with a meal will depend slightly on the nature of the workout.

If you are just doing a basic cardio session, it’s not going to be nearly as glycogen depleting as if you would have done a heavy weight lifting session.  As such, you should be fine going home first, taking a shower if you wish, and then having a solid meal.  Sprinting is slightly different – you’ll want to eat a little sooner since it is definitely more intense in nature.

When it comes to weight-lifting workouts though, for these you really must try and eat as soon as you can.  A fifteen minute lag period in between your workout and your meal shouldn’t be something to overly concern yourself with, but anything longer than an hour and you will be sacrificing how well you recover.

Remember that what you do after today’s workout is going to affect tomorrow’s workout, so don’t ever think that when you step out of the gym, you’re done for the day. 

The more attention you pay to optimal recovery, the better you will perform during your next workout, since this will better prepare your muscles for exercise later on.

If you delay the post-workout meal too long, it will take that glycogen longer to get into the muscle cells, which then means you won’t replenish them to the same extent. 

To further improve the post-workout meal, make sure as well that the carbohydrates you eat are fast reacting and will cause that insulin spike.  Normally these are the types of foods you want to avoid, but right now, they are fair game!

Good options would be white rice, sugary cereals, rice cakes, and even candy, provided it is made by glucose and not fructose.

So, be sure to consider the type of workout you are doing when evaluating your post-workout needs, and then go from there.  Shoot for between 100-400 calories of carbohydrates (depending on your workout intensity and current body weight), and between 25-50 grams of protein.

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Tags: clark, post-workout meal, post-workout nutrition

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