post workout snacksIt’s post workout time, I’ve finished my last set and all I’m thinking about is what I can go home to EAT! Anyone else feel this struggle?

Whether you’re an early riser or prefer to sweat it out at the end of a long day, many of us struggle with what to do when the post exercise hunger pains strike. How can we provide our body the nutrients it needs to recover and avoid raiding the biscuit tin as soon as we get home?

Protein to rebuild and repair

Exercise is all about stress and damage… wait, what?

That’s right. When we exercise, whether it be going for a long walk, high intensity run or lifting heavy weights, we are pushing our body outside its comfort zone. We are stressing our lungs, our heart and damaging our muscles so that they can adapt and improve. So, when we finish an exercise session we want to support the rebuilding and repair of these tissues. Protein is the hero of this task because that’s what we are made of. Eating protein rich foods after a workout can help to stimulate ‘protein synthesis’, which is the building of new body tissues in our lungs, heart and muscles.

Protein rich foods include

  • Meat
  • Chicken
  • Fish
  • Milk (dairy and soy)
  • Yoghurt
  • Eggs

Fibre to manage appetite

When you’re ravenously hungry after moving your body, it’s easy to overdo the post workout snack. I easily find myself getting through 3-4 sandwich slices of cheese or demolishing several handfuls of lollies before I’ve registered what I’m doing. The problem with this is that we are often exercising to create an energy deficit (and lose body fat). But if the hunger caused by exercising results in overeating, we have somewhat undone our energy deficit efforts.

Fibre rich foods can really help to boost up the volume of your post workout snack, without adding too much energy. These foods include:

  • Fruit
  • Vegetables
  • Wholegrain cracker/rice cakes

Carbohydrate for recovery (optional)

When you delve into the world of sports nutrition you can find a lot of information on the best ways to recover from training and carbohydrates are a common topic of discussion. There is good research to suggest that including carbohydrate with protein in a post exercise meal or snack can improve the muscles uptake of glucose and help to replenish our glycogen stores. This can help boost recovery and help to prepare the body for another bout of exercise.

But whether we need to rapidly recover depends on how intense and frequent your training is. If you are ramping up your training for an event, this strategy can be very valuable. If this is you, I would highly recommend touching base with Gavin, our resident sports nutrition specialist. He can help you determine the right timing and load to optimise performance and recovery.

If you’re including moderate exercise up to 5-6 times a week (like me), your body is well equipped to recover with a normal pattern of eating. For most of us, choosing the protein rich and high fibre snack will meet our post exercise needs, without overdoing it.

Here are some great post workout snacks:

These are some great pre-packaged options for when you’re on the go

  • High fibre muesli bar
  • High protein muesli bar
  • Up and Go
  • Yoghurt pouch and piece of fruit
  • Chobani flip
  • Danone Yopro

If you’re interested in finding out how much protein you body needs while exercising, our dietitians have you covered. 

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