Benefits of a Post Workout Meal

Joel Younkins

Two weeks ago we discussed the benefits of a Pre Workout Meal and how this meal can help give you immediate energy to help fuel your workouts and to make sure that you're getting the most out of each session!
Last week we discussed how a Workout Shake can be beneficial to help you put back in what you're losing during training and to help jump start your recover process!

This week, we're going to discuss the Benefits of a Post Workout Meal!

The Post Workout Meal should happen anywhere between 1-3 hours after your training session. Too soon, and your body may not be ready to handle eating a full meal (again why a shake is usually more beneficial during times near training). Too late, and you will be delaying the recovery process from the workout you just completed.

Your Post Workout Meal should consist of Protein, preferably lean protein with a lower fat content. It doesn't have to be as low as your Pre Workout Meal, but we should NOT be shooting for a High Fat Meal even if it's "healthy fats." Fat will slow down digestion fats of protein, so it's important during this time frame to allow for faster digestion rates of the protein that you're consuming. You should at least have 20 grams or more protein for this meal. Bigger the person, the more protein you can have. Ideally you want to consume the same amounts of protein at every meal to reach daily protein requirements (0.8-1g/LB of BW)

Your Post Workout Meal should also consist of Starchy Carbohydrates like Rice, Potatoes, and Pastas. Having carbs will not only help your recovery by filling up your glycogen stores (this tells your brain that you're in a state of recovery) but it will also help increase the rate of protein synthesis (this is a good thing!). You can have fruit in this meal too which will help replenish your liver with fructose (the good fructose), but do not rely on them specifically to help you increase protein synthesis rates. You should have at least a 1:1 ratio of Carb to Protein during this meal. 2:1 is probably better for most people, and higher level athletes can extend this ratio to 4:1.

Your Post Workout Meal can have Vegetables in it as well. The main benefits of these vegetables is simply to place in an additional serving for the day. They won't necessarily have any direct impacts on your Workout for that day, but for health reasons, you do not want skip out on your vegetables. Keep in mind, that this meal should NOT consist mainly of vegetables, but some is just fine.

For now, this just about wraps it up. There's a done of more depth that we can get into when designing Pre Workout Meals, Workout Shakes, and Post Workout Meals, but I wanted to give you the key essentials of what is important and why they are important!

Talk soon!
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P.S. This was a direct insert from my latest weekly VIP Newsletter. If you liked what you read here on this page, and would like to read more information like this in regards to your training progress, be sure to subscribe by clicking the button below! ​

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