Post-workout nutrition and recovery
Post-workout nutrition largely determines whether a workout turns into progress or simply into tomorrow’s fatigue. If your muscles are empty, protein is breaking down and your meal comes too late, recovery drags on. Here we put the post-workout nutrition puzzle together clearly.
Translated by Janar Rückenberg
Why does post-workout nutrition matter?
Over the past few years I have thought a lot about the post-workout situation. The conclusion is simple: after a training load, you need to deal with three things, not just “eat something”. Training depletes glycogen stores, increases muscle protein breakdown and pushes protein balance negative.
- Reduced, depleted glycogen stores
- Increased muscle protein breakdown
- Protein balance turning negative, with degradation processes outweighing synthesis processes
This applies to mass-building training, strength training and endurance training. No one is completely immune to these phenomena. Glycogen is an important energy source for your muscles. When stores are low, both recovery and your next workout suffer.
Protein degradation means that after training, more muscle protein starts to be broken down. If this goes on for too long, the result is slower progress and feeling worse. Reaching a positive nitrogen balance as quickly as possible is key: synthesis processes have to outpace degradation processes.
POSITIVE NITROGEN BALANCE = PROTEIN SYNTHESIS – PROTEIN DEGRADATION
After strength training, protein synthesis stays fairly unchanged in the immediate aftermath, but protein breakdown increases. After endurance training the picture is harsher: protein synthesis activity falls and degradation increases. Even 8 hours or more after prolonged endurance work, nitrogen balance can still be deeply negative.
What happens after a workout?
As early as 1995, it was shown that right after strength training the body is in negative nitrogen balance. The reason was simple: protein degradation had increased, while synthesis processes rose only modestly. This state lasted several hours.
Only later did synthesis processes begin to rise more strongly. Degradation stayed elevated for a while, but gradually started to fall. Synthesis and degradation did not come into balance until 24 hours had passed. Only then did nitrogen balance begin to turn positive.
Does this mean you have to lose muscle at first in order to build muscle? Not necessarily. Proper post-workout nutrition helps shorten this window. The point is not to chase down a shake in a panic, but to give your body the right building blocks at the right time.
If you don’t eat and drink sensibly after your workout, the consequences may look quite familiar.
- Prolonged muscle fatigue and emptiness, i.e. soreness
- Disrupted subsequent workouts and performances
- Signs and symptoms of overtraining
- Slower muscle mass gains, because you go into your next workout under-recovered
- Muscle mass loss
Honestly, for many recreational lifters this is a familiar cycle. You may not train 2 times a day like an elite athlete, but fatigue, stagnation and poor performance show up all the same. Often the cause is not just the program, but recovery.
Post-workout nutrition: 3 goals
In October 2000, at the Canmore conference center in Alberta, I listened to a talk on recovery and post-workout nutrition. Until then I thought the picture was already complete. In fact, one important piece was still missing: recovery has to be kicked off from several directions at once.
- Quickly restore low muscle glycogen stores
- Quickly reduce the protein degradation that comes with muscle work
- Raise the post-workout protein synthesis rate as quickly as possible; after endurance training, restore it to its previous level
Restoring glycogen stores matters for two reasons. First, it helps maintain performance, whether your goal is strength, muscle mass or endurance. Second, low glycogen can increase catabolic processes, because the body looks for energy elsewhere.
The third reason is also important from the muscle cell’s point of view: glycogen stored in the muscles binds water along with it. This is not just a “pump”, but part of an environment in which recovery and growth can happen more effectively.
If you increase the rate of protein synthesis and suppress breakdown, a positive protein balance can be reached after as little as 1 hour. The same idea was later put another way: with skillful post-workout nutrition, things can already look much better after 60 min. than if you simply sit and wait.
The post-workout shake and amounts
Glycogen resynthesis can be sped up in two ways: carbohydrates must be quickly available, and insulin levels must rise. Traditionally, endurance athletes have been advised to take 1.2 g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight immediately after training or competition.
This amount of carbohydrates was recommended to be repeated for at least 6 hours: immediately after the workout, then 2, 4 and 6 hours later. The newer recommendation is to add protein to the drink as well. In that case the carbohydrate portion drops to 0.8 g per kg of body weight, and 0.4 g of protein per kg of body weight is added.
For example, an approx. 70 kg endurance athlete would get 56 g of carbohydrates and 28 g of protein each time. The same logic can be used in strength sports, although a bodybuilder or weightlifter does not usually deplete glycogen to the same extent as a long endurance session does.
So a strength athlete could also take 0.8 g of carbohydrates per kg and 0.4 g of protein per kg of body weight after a workout. A 69-70 kg bodybuilder/weightlifter therefore needs about 56 g of carbohydrates and 28-30 g of protein. For a 100 kg bodybuilder/weightlifter, the example is 80 g of carbohydrates and 40 g of protein.
During a mass-gaining phase the scheme is a bit stronger: one shake immediately after training, a second identical shake approx. 30-60 minutes later, and a regular meal 2-3 hours after that. This meal should provide protein and carbohydrates in a similar ratio, but from more slowly absorbed food.
Timing matters. In one study, the rate of glycogen resynthesis was three times faster when the shake was drunk immediately after the workout than when the drink was taken 2 hours after the end of the workout. The simple truth: the sooner you drink your shake after training, the better.
Liquid has an advantage here. Carbohydrates and proteins are absorbed faster in liquid form and reach tired muscle cells sooner. On the carbohydrate side, glucose and glucose polymers such as maltodextrin are often mentioned. On the protein side, fast-absorbing protein is preferred, especially whey hydrolysate.
How does post-workout insulin help?
Post-workout nutrition science is quite clear on one point: insulin is very important for recovery. In the past there was more debate over whether insulin mainly affects synthesis or breakdown. A study published in 1999 showed that at rest, a high insulin level increased protein synthesis by 67% but did not affect protein breakdown.
The other half of the same study was interesting: a post-workout insulin injection reduced protein breakdown by 30%, but protein synthesis activity remained unchanged. The conclusion was blunt: at rest insulin acts more as an anabolic, while after training it is anti-catabolic.
Translator’s note: This sentence seemed unbelievable to me too, but that is how it was worded in the article!
For an athlete, this is practical knowledge. Insulin secretion can be influenced through food. Protein together with carbohydrates works better than carbohydrate alone. In the example given in the text, a shake containing 0.8 g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight and 0.4 g of protein per kg of body weight caused 103% greater insulin secretion than 1.2 g of carbohydrates alone per kg of body weight.
This means a post-workout protein shake is not just for restoring glycogen. It also helps to curb breakdown processes. In addition, insulin widens blood vessels, in other words it promotes vasodilation. Greater blood flow means better movement of nutrients into muscle cells.
A practical post-workout choice
To put it all in simple terms, you shouldn’t leave things to chance after a workout. You need carbohydrates to restore glycogen, fast-absorbing protein to supply amino acids, and a strong enough insulin response to curb breakdown.
Endurance athletes, bodybuilders and powerlifters may differ slightly in amounts, but the principle is the same. The first meal or drink after a workout should come quickly. If your goal is muscle mass, don’t let the day drift away so that the next proper meal doesn’t come until the evening.
So what actually happens? When you support recovery, you get back sooner to a state where the body isn’t mainly busy controlling damage. Then your next workout can be productive again, rather than an extension of old fatigue.
FAQ: post-workout nutrition
Is a post-workout shake always necessary?
If you can eat a proper meal right away, a shake doesn’t have to be the only solution. But immediately after a hard workout, liquid food is often more practical and faster.
Should you be afraid of carbohydrates after a workout?
No, you shouldn’t. After training, carbohydrates have a clear role in restoring glycogen and supporting the insulin response. The amount depends on body weight, goal and training volume.
Is protein alone enough for recovery?
After hard training it may not be. Protein supports amino acid availability, but carbohydrate together with protein does a better job of covering the needs related to glycogen and insulin.
Author: Janar Rückenberg
Source: WHO – physical activity.
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