7 Foods for Your Post-Exercise Recovery
If you want to recover after your intense daily workout routine quickly, check out the best post-workout foods that SportDailyTimes has selected for you.
As you probably know, post-training recovery consists of three R-stages: refueling, rehydrating, and rebuilding. Refueling allows your body to replace muscle glycogen with the help of carbohydrates, the amino acids from high-protein foods help recover and rebuild muscular tissue and intensify muscle growth. Rehydrating replenishes electrolytes and fluids your body lost during exercising.
The specialists from the American College of Sports Medicine suggest you eat carbohydrate-containing products within half an hour after finishing your daily routine in order to restore glucose in your muscles. They also recommend eating 0.6 grams of carbohydrate and 20 grams of quality protein per pound of your weight right after your workout. Besides, you may get additional benefits from whole foods. Since whole foods are the best source of bioactive compounds, including antioxidants that will greatly enhance your recovery, try to prefer whole products over supplements.
1. Cottage Cheese with Fresh Fruit
Cottage Cheese is famous for the best protein-to-calorie ratio. If you opt for a cup of cottage cheese low in fat, it will include 25 grams of protein and just 200 calories. Besides, cottage cheese contains a high level of the amino acid leucine. Thus, in one cup of cottage cheese, you will find nearly three grams of leucine. This amino acid is one of the most important components for building muscle. Moreover, leucine can increase protein synthesis in your muscles only with the help of insulin, so you also need to eat some amount of carbohydrates to increase insulin levels. For this purpose, you can add one cup of fresh pineapple, strawberries, or other fruit to your cottage cheese and top it off with one-quarter cup of whole-wheat granola or cereal.
2. Egg Salad Sandwich
SportDailyTimes has also selected egg salad sandwiches as one of the best foods to eat after a workout. A salad sandwich with a medium egg provides your body with the most bioavailable egg protein and amino acids. Enjoy this gold standard of protein options along with chopped chives, vinegar, and Dijon mustard. If you are concerned about your health, you can substitute mayo with mashed avocado. Mashed avocado has the same creamy body as mayo but also includes avocado antioxidants. For a better health effect, serve it on a whole-grain slice of bread and add lettuce and tomato.
3. Carbs from Rice or Bean Burrito
You can hardly find something more helpful than Mexican food to rebuild your broken muscles. You can opt for chicken or black bean burrito—either way, the carbs from rice, with the combination of protein and tortilla, will refuel your achy muscles with useful components. Try to avoid sour cream and choose guacamole for the healthy fats in avocado or corn salsa for antioxidants. Black beans will be a great choice because they have both antioxidants and proteins in the quantities several times larger than fruit like cranberries, apples, or oranges.
4. Whole-Grain Bread with Nut Butter and Banana
As you know, bananas are one of the most popular foods among sportsmen. Bananas include easily digestible carbohydrates that stimulate the recovering of glycogen while increasing insulin levels, which help deliver amino acids to muscle tissue. For fast recovery, eat two slices of toasted bread, spreading one and one-half teaspoons of nut butter on each slice, and adding half of a banana on top. Combine it with a glass of milk to refuel your body with at least 20 grams of protein.
5. Sports Water, Drinks, and Smoothies
The first thing you need to do after your workout is to regain the proper fluid balance within your body. Even after a modest training, the fluid loss can decrease your performance and slow down your metabolic rate. Your body muscles consist of about 75 percent fluid by weight, so rehydrating your body should be your main goal. If you drink from 15 to 25 ounces of drinks for every pound lost during your routine, this will be enough for your post-exercise recovery.
It is more important how much fluid you drink than what kind of it you drink. Thus, you may choose any drink you like for your hydration purposes: water, coconut water, shakes, smoothies, or sports drinks.
6. Whole-Grain Crackers with Meat and Cheese
To refuel your body after intensive exercises, you can choose the whole-wheat crackers like Back to Nature, Crunchmaster gluten-free, or others. Add to them three ounces of sliced turkey breast combined with one ounce of non-fat cheese, and you will satisfy your body needs in proteins and carbohydrates. Moreover, the high amount of sodium these products contain will help yourbody hydration and electrolytes replacement. While enjoying a plate of salty snacks, be sure to drink enough water to shuttle the fluid to your bloodstream.
7. Greek Yogurt with Oats and Fruit
The beneficial feature of Greek yogurt is that it contains twice as much protein and half the sugar comparing to traditional yogurts. The American College of Sports Medicine suggests plain Greek yogurt to replenish insulin level in your blood and get the simple carbohydrates your muscles need after your workout.
If you opt for one cup of plain Greek yogurt, your body will get 25 grams of protein along with 130 calories. You can also make a parfait by adding to it one cup of berries, a half-cup of raw quick-cooking oats, and one or two teaspoons of maple syrup and honey. If you eat this parfait, your body will recover quickly, as the oats and fruit are full of antioxidants that allow to lessen the inflammation connected with exhaustive training.
0 comments:
Post a Comment