What to eat post exercise?

cisbrane

After I finish exercising, I find myself to be hungry.
So lately, I try my best to have a snack before I exercise, and then eat a meal afterwards.... not sure if this is the best.

Most of my exercise comes from mountain biking. What should I eat to get the most benefit post exercise?

Vaisaxena

After I finish exercising, I find myself to be hungry.
So lately, I try my best to have a snack before I exercise, and then eat a meal afterwards.... not sure if this is the best.

Most of my exercise comes from mountain biking. What should I eat to get the most benefit post exercise?

Ideally, protein + carbs - your post-workout meal should generally be your largest... a pre-workout snack will be fine, even a fasted workout has its benefits.

holothuroidea

It's a fairly universal recommendation to have carbohydrates and protein in a 4:1 ratio within 30 minutes of the end of a work out to aid in recovery, and it's been shown that it's best when in liquid form.

I generally have a glass of soy milk and some fruit and it has worked out really well for me. My work outs are of a fairly high intensity.

I like to eat and then wait an hour before working out, but a lot of people find that a small high-sugar snack right before a work out is beneficial, like a banana or a handful of raisins.

Vaisaxena

It's a fairly universal recommendation to have carbohydrates and protein in a 4:1 ratio within 30 minutes of the end of a work out to aid in recovery, and it's been shown that it's best when in liquid form.

I generally have a glass of soy milk and some fruit and it has worked out really well for me. My work outs are of a fairly high intensity.

I like to eat and then wait an hour before working out, but a lot of people find that a small high-sugar snack right before a work out is beneficial, like a banana or a handful of raisins.

^ This.

But I will disagree with the fact that it is best in liquid form - no evidence for this - in fact, for fat loss it's probably better if it's not in liquid form.

Also - nix the soy for men.

a high carb : fat ratio does NOT imply low protein - it implies very high carb and high protein.

good luck.

chymerra

i eat a protein/carb-rich snack before my workout and then have my breakfast (protein/carb-rich) after my workout (or within 60mins post workout if i have to leave for the office)

holothuroidea

It's a fairly universal recommendation to have carbohydrates and protein in a 4:1 ratio within 30 minutes of the end of a work out to aid in recovery, and it's been shown that it's best when in liquid form.

I generally have a glass of soy milk and some fruit and it has worked out really well for me. My work outs are of a fairly high intensity.

I like to eat and then wait an hour before working out, but a lot of people find that a small high-sugar snack right before a work out is beneficial, like a banana or a handful of raisins.

^ This.

But I will disagree with the fact that it is best in liquid form - no evidence for this - in fact, for fat loss it's probably better if it's not in liquid form.

Also - nix the soy for men.

a high carb : fat ratio does NOT imply low protein - it implies very high carb and high protein.

good luck.

I've read many places that in order for your body to best utilize the protein within 15 minutes of the workout that it should be liquid. The reasoning is that the blood usually used to facilitate digestion is redirected to the muscles and cardiovascular system during intense exercise (this is why your belly feels cold during and after). This means that in order to absorb the nutrients from a solid food, your body would need time to redirect the blood supply and digest it and you miss the 15 minute window for optimum muscle recovery. However, I can't cite any studies for this without searching the internet, so you may well be right.

I don't really understand why it would be "better for fat loss" to have solid food? The only difference is that your body has to do some mechanical/chemical digestion to it in order for it to be absorbed. Meaning, it would be absorbed later.

Nix the soy for men? I'm only talking about one glass of soy milk a day, definitely not enough to disrupt male hormone production.

Vaisaxena

The idea that you need liquid protein within 15 mins is completely false. More like 3-5 hours... protein synthesis peaks at 24hrs post exercise and declines to baseline at 36hrs post exercise. If you consume only liquid protein within 15 mins of exercise it will be converted entirely to sugar via gluconeogenesis (if your intensity is high enough).

Solid food is better - not because it is absorbed later, but it is absorbed SLOWER... meaning insulin response caused by protein and carbohydrates would be milder.

Soy was "healthy" for everyone a few years ago... now, it's "unhealthy" in large doses for men.... imagine what you'll learn tomorrow? Not to mention after corn, soy is the most genetically modified and mass produced food on the face of the earth - it's pretty much in everything you eat so you can't avoid it, but why not replace soy milk with regular dairy??

Also - soy as a protein source has been shown to be an inferior to whey and casein in the support of mTOR-modulated protein synthesis.

holothuroidea

Why not dairy? FFS, I'm vegan. You do not want to ask me that question. You could guarantee me 100 more years of disease free life and I still wouldn't eat it.

I'd really like to see some sources about the eating window post exercise. It's enough for me to at least question what I'd read before, but I'm not interested enough in it to invest any more time looking stuff up. I know what works for me. I won't give it as advice anymore, though.

But the "soy is bad" BS... I'm not buying it. Not any more than I bought that "soy is a superfood" BS. It's just a bean, and I'll eat it in moderation like anything else. Certified non-gmo soy products are pretty easy to find.

Vaisaxena

You're entitled to your opinion - I'm just stating the facts. You also couldn't pay me to not eat meat. But the sad reality is that for physique enhancement vegetarians/vegans rarely achieve the goals that omnivores are capable of.

References in the article itself:
http://suppversity.blogspot.ca/2011/10/intermittent-thoughts-on-intermittent_23.html

Sure - but think about who is certifying them...

Why not dairy? FFS, I'm vegan. You do not want to ask me that question. You could guarantee me 100 more years of disease free life and I still wouldn't eat it.

I'd really like to see some sources about the eating window post exercise. It's enough for me to at least question what I'd read before, but I'm not interested enough in it to invest any more time looking stuff up. I know what works for me. I won't give it as advice anymore, though.

But the "soy is bad" BS... I'm not buying it. Not any more than I bought that "soy is a superfood" BS. It's just a bean, and I'll eat it in moderation like anything else. Certified non-gmo soy products are pretty easy to find.

holothuroidea

You're entitled to your opinion - I'm just stating the facts. You also couldn't pay me to not eat meat. But the sad reality is that for physique enhancement vegetarians/vegans rarely achieve the goals that omnivores are capable of.

References in the article itself:
http://suppversity.blogspot.ca/2011/10/intermittent-thoughts-on-intermittent_23.html

Sure - but think about who is certifying them...

Thank you for the very interesting and informative article.

You've made two pretty grandiose claims without providing any reasoning or evidence. ".. vegetarians/vegans rarely achieve the goals that omnivores are capable of." and, "..who is certifying them [with the implication that somebody shady or with ulterior motives is doing the certifying]."

I'm not here for any specific physique, my fitness goals are things like 20 push ups, a handstand, a 5k. There are things I want to do, not a way I want to look. I wonder if anyone told Patrik Baboumian, Carl Lewis or Brendan Brazier about this "sad reality."

The Non-GMO Project does the certifying. Do you have any evidence that they are sketchy?

Anyway, I've only become interested in fitness in the past few months and I still have a lot of learning to do so I appreciate any info.

Vaisaxena

You're most welcome.

I personally do not know who does the certifying, nor do I particularly care... and you may well be right - I simply do my best to avoid heavily corn-based or soy-based products and I recommend this to my clients as well based on what I know.

You've decided to point out genetic outliers in the fitness world... I can point out Herschel Walker as a vegetarian, but his genetics support that. Also, I wouldn't consider Brendan Brazier to be someone I strive to "look like".

I did provide reasoning behind why a vegetarian diet is inferior to an omnivorous diet. Do not be confused - I love my vegetables, but for performance, power and strength - it is for this reason I do not take on vegetarian/vegan clients. They often get poor/sub-par results on my training outlines and refuse to believe that it's diet related.

Didn't mean to rustle your feathers - you have your opinion and I have mine; we'll likely never see eye-to-eye. Like discussing atheism with a catholic.
Cheers.

adopt321

The first thing I consume is a protein bar - it has some carbs, protein, fat, a little sugar.

I like NuGo and Zone bars (prefer NuGo).

cisbrane

Thanks for the tips! I'll have to give this a try next time.

ldrosophila

According to a few interesting studies out there good ol' Chocolate Milk.

Consuming chocolate milk (1.0-1.5•g•kg(-1) h(-1)) immediately after exercise and again at 2 h post-exercise appears to be optimal for exercise recovery and may attenuate indices of muscle damage. Future research should examine the optimal amount, timing, and frequency of ingestion of chocolate milk on post-exercise recovery measures including performance, indices of muscle damage, and muscle glycogen resynthesis.

Med Sport Sci. 2012;59:127-34. doi: 10.1159/000341954. Epub 2012 Oct 15.
Chocolate milk: a post-exercise recovery beverage for endurance sports.
Pritchett K, Pritchett R.