post workout meal

Post Workout Meal Nutrition – What To Eat After A Workout

The post workout meal (the meal you eat after a workout) is probably the most important meal of the day for anyone who cares about nutrition or wants to build muscle, lose fat or improve their body.
Well, the truth is that once you understand what your body needs (and doesn’t need) after your workout, how much is needed, and what the best sources are to get this nutrition from, the post workout meal will probably become the simplest meal of your day.

What You Should & Should NOT Eat After a Workout

Simply put, aside from water (which you should already know you need), your post workout meal needs to contain 2 things, and it needs to not contain 1.
You should be eating protein and simple carbs. You should NOT be eating fat, (slows down digestion).

How Long After My Workout Should I Eat My Post Workout Meal?

Typically you’d want to try to get this meal into your body within 30 minutes after finishing your workout.
I personally have my post workout meal immediately after my workout.

Post Workout Protein

What Protein Source Is Best?

Ideal source of protein to eat after your workout is isolate whey protein powder. Just mix it with some type of liquid (most often water) and you got yourself a drinkable source of protein.
A whey protein shake will be digested by your body much quicker than a solid food for two reasons:

1. Liquid meals digest faster than solid food meals.
2. Whey protein is the fastest digesting form of protein there is.

This is what makes whey protein pretty much the official choice of most people as their post workout meal protein source.

How Much Protein Should I Eat After A Workout?

As for how much, try to consume between 0.15-0.25 grams of protein per pound of your body weight (so a 175lb person would shoot for between 26-43 grams at this time). People who are VERY overweight should use their target body weight instead of their current body weight when doing this calculation.

Post Workout Carbs

After protein, the next equally important part of your post workout meal is carbs, and they are an extremely essential part of your after-workout nutrition and play a key role in your post workout recovery.
Carbs will be used by your body to restore muscle glycogen that was depleted while you worked out. If your post workout meal doesn’t contain carbs, your body may actually instead break down muscle tissue for this same purpose (which would suck). Carbs also create an insulin spike which helps to move nutrients into your muscle tissue quicker.
simple/high glycemic carbs digest faster than complex/lower glycemic carbs. Which means foods like white potatoes or white rice are all good choices for a carb source after a workout. However, just like protein, solid foods in general may not really be the absolute BEST choice at this time. And that’s where a little something called dextrose (or fruit juice) comes in. Dextrose is not a supplement… it’s actually just a type of sugar often used in sports drinks.

How Many Carbs Should I Eat After A Workout?

Most people should look to consume somewhere between 0.25-0.4 grams of carbs per pound of their body weight from dextrose (a 175lb person would shoot for between 40-70 grams). And once again, people who are VERY overweight should use their target body weight instead of their current body weight when doing this calculation.

Post Workout Meal

Put whey protein powder and dextrose (or fruit juice) and you can add supplements such as 
L-Glutamine, BCAA and Creatine in a bottle of water and shake it up.

If that is too complicated, compared to plain milk, water, or most sports drinks, I recommend many clients to drink chocolate milk as a recovery drink; it has double the carbohydrate and protein content, perfect for replenishing tired muscles.

Its high water content replaces fluids lost as sweat, preventing dehydration. Plus it packs a nutritional bonus of calcium, and includes just a little sodium and sugar -- additives that help recovering athletes retain water and regain energy.