Post Workout Carbs/Protein

mstaser

A pretty common concept is that everyone needs to take in protein after a workout. There have been many studies stating this true. But its all coming out that all these studies are done with people that burned a ton of calories after a long fast. Example. Person wakes up and goes for a 15 mile. They went out on a completely empty stomach and system. So obviously they need to refuel their body after the workout to help with muscle recovery and such. But for the average person going out for a 3 mile run in the evening after eating healthy all day or even eating to prepare for a 3 mile run, they will have plenty of nutrients already in their body for a good muscle recovery. The person running that afternoon/evening 3 mile or a half hour in the gym after work which is eating that carb/protein packed shake or bar is actually taking in too much and it could interfere with weight loss.

This is all a run down of information I have been reading online and brings up a question I have been asking myself for a while. How big of a burn really should be followed up by a refuel? I am a believer in not eating back your burn unless your really hungry, thats just me. But there have been times where after a evening 400 cal burn I "think" I need to hurry up and have that shake. The more I read (which isn't always a good thing), the more I think that its not necessary for a burn of that size. Now if I go out for a evening and burn 1500 cals, I probably should refuel.

I know that 400 or 1500 cal burns for me will be a lot different than someone else. I weigh 225 pounds so someone else that is 150 pounds will have to do a heck of a lot more to get those numbers. I am just using them as an example.

What are your thoughts. Refuel after all workouts or just the big ones?

mstaser

Any thoughts???