5 Tips to Recovery Nutrition for Beginners

Eating before exercise is important to ensure your body has energy to train well, but what about after your exercise? Eating the right foods after your workout is important for repletion of muscle and liver glycogen, muscle growth and repair, and for hydration. The lines can be a more blurred when it comes to the recreational or novice sportsperson. Here are some tips to make optimise your recovery when you’re starting out.

1)     You don’t need a protein shake

Although they may seem indispensable, protein shakes are not the only way to get protein post training. The benefit of protein shakes is that they are convenient for people who train often or have limited time. Other great sources of protein include milk, yoghurt, cheese, eggs, baked beans and meat. My ‘go-to’ recovery options are flavoured milk, Up & Go, fruit smoothie, cereal with milk or eggs on toast. Athletes should aim to eat 15-25g of protein post workout.

2)     Don’t forget the carbs

Carbs are your friend, especially when it comes to exercise. Eating carbohydrate containing foods such as bread, cereal or fruit will help to replace the muscle glycogen (fuel) that you have used up. If you are using a protein shake, make sure that it contains carbs, or have some fruit on the side. Ideally, we need 1g/kg body weight of carbohydrate after our training or competition.  

3)     Timing is everything

It is optimal to eat within the first hour after your workout. Most athletes will eat after their cool down period. This is when it is handy to have an ‘on the go’ recovery option like a flavoured milk or premade smoothie. If you require a large amount of protein or carbohydrates, I recommend having something small (e.g. Up & Go) and then getting a decent meal in as soon as possible after. If you use your mealtime as your recovery nutrition, try to have something ready before you go.

4)     Add some colour

Including some fruit or vegetables after your training or competition can ensure your body is getting some vitamins, minerals and most importantly antioxidants. Antioxidants help to manage inflammation induced by exercise, and this can assist in a swift recovery. Try adding fruit to your cereal, berries to your smoothie or avocado and tomato to your eggs on toast.

5)     Drink it down

It’s a no brainer that hydration is important! We need to replace the sweat lost during training and ensure there is plenty of blood flow to throughout our body for recovery.  Many people wonder if they require electrolyte replacement after training. The AIS recommends the use of sports drinks for any high intensity exercise lasting greater than 60 minutes. In most cases however, a post workout snack in addition to water would also do the trick as there is electrolytes and carbs in the food consumed.