PWhy is it necessary to eat post workout? And above all, what to eat? These are some of the Hamletic dilemmas of those who start practicing a sport. The basic data to start from is that ad Once the training is over, you need to eat and you must do so within approximately three quarters of an hour afterwards, so as to fully exploit the Anatolian window of the organism. As the expert explains.
Post workout, why eat after doing sport?
There is a tendency to mistakenly think that one should not eat after training, convinced that the efforts made during physical activity will be wasted and that one will not be able to lose weight. In reality this is not the case. On the contrary, eating post workout is essential, for four specific reasons. First of all food allows muscle recovery: physical exercise depletes stored energy and, if not restored, can cause damage to muscles. Eating helps fuel your muscles energy, also needed by the body, after burning several calories during the session; Furthermore wards off hunger it’s at maintain lean massthat is, the muscular one, so as to have a more toned physique and an increase in metabolism.
To all this, post-workout food helps the body fill up with water as well as all the nutritional molecules non-energy such as fibre, vitamins, mineral salts and phenolic antioxidants.
When to consume your post-workout snack
Having therefore established the importance of food in post-workout, a necessary clarification must be made. For many experts it is essential that the snack is consumed within the anabolic windowso as to make the most of the training done: «The anabolic window is a post-workout time frame, usually 15 to 40 minutes, in which the skeletal muscle is more predisposed to incorporate and use nutrients for the synthesis of new contractile tissue and for the repair of damaged tissue during physical activity. In other words, eating during this time means ensuring that food is used to “fill up on energy”, so as to contribute to muscle recovery and that it is not transformed into fat” explains the Dr. Federica Almondo, nutritionist and co-founder of Cerva 16- Nutrition and Anti-aging Center.
A clarification needs to be made: when we talk about post-workout means a high intensity and high muscular effort workoutsuch as body building.
If instead they take place low intensity activity, for example attending a pilates class twice a week or we go out for a walk sometimes, you don’t need to change your diet. In fact, these activities do not have such a significant impact on energy and nor do the muscles subsequently need repair.
What to eat as a snack?
But what to eat in this case? «Proteins are certainly the most suitable. However, be careful with carbohydrates, because if you also add the desire to lose weight to your training, then they are not suitable. For example, in this case Not all energy bars that contain carbohydrates and sugars are indicated in general” explains the expert who continues “In general it is therefore better to focus on a snack based for example on Greek yogurt or on a small piece of parmesan. The famous bars are fine but pay attention to their components. Furthermore, it is essential not to eat in excess, otherwise they form reserve fat and do not promote muscle growth.”
But why are proteins so important? «Because they are the building blocks that rebuild the muscle after training. This is why their hiring is essential, especially those who are high biological value that essential amino acids provide precisely due to their synthesis. So, in addition to Greek yogurt, milk is also perfect as are all derivatives, eggs, cold cuts, fish and meat” explains Dr. Almondo. Do not underestimate the importance of carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates as a source of energy post-workout
Can carbohydrates be eaten after an intense workout? Yes, especially if they are the simple ones because they help the production of insulin, an anabolic hormone that transports amino acids inside cells so they can be used for protein synthesis.
Not only that, but carbohydrates also have the function of synthesize glycogen, the fuel for those who do sports. In this case, those with a medium-high glycemic index such as white bread, cornflakes, rice cakes, jams and honey are therefore fundamental.
iO Donna © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED