What to eat after a run for recovery.

What to eat after a run for recovery

Eating a nutritious, healthy meal after training helps you recover and optimize the benefits your body receives from running. That is, you become even stronger, faster and more resilient.

Perrin Brown, a runner and graduate student at Tufts University whose specialty is nutrition, has compiled a list of foods that optimally help the body recover from running training.

What happens to the body during training?

During training, deformation and destruction of muscle fibers begins in our body. Damaged muscle cells release the enzyme creatine kinase (CK) into the blood. The level of this enzyme in your blood indicates how much your muscles and overall skeleton were used during exercise. If the level of SC in the blood is high, then you need to pay attention to your diet after training.

A necessary nutrient after a run is a large amount of carbohydrates. Heavy exercise causes your body's glycogen stores to begin to be used up. This, in turn, means that your body will not have enough energy for the process of muscle recovery and growth.

Therefore, the post-workout meal should contain a large amount of carbohydrates so that the body is provided with the necessary amount of energy and the muscles have time to recover and grow. Without this carbohydrate fuel, your body will pull protein and fat from your muscles. This means that it will now take longer for the body to recover. The ratio of carbohydrates to protein in your post-workout diet should be 3:1 or 4:1.

To repair damaged muscles, your body also needs protein, which is made up of amino acids - the building blocks of your muscles. Therefore, it is especially important after training such as running, during which you carry quite an impressive weight on your legs for a long time - yourself.

Many athletes try to avoid fat, but in fact, not having enough fat can hinder your ability to improve your athletic performance. If your workout lasts longer than an hour, your glucose stores are low and your body begins to burn fat to provide the energy it needs. It is very important to pay attention to what type of fat is contained in your products. While saturated and trans fats can be harmful to you, the fatty acids found in certain types of fish (mostly sea fish), for example, play a very important role in helping muscle recovery and oxygen regulation, the production of your body’s “restoration” hormones and immune function. systems as a whole.

In addition to food, adequate hydration of the body is also very important, since during training you lose a lot of fluid, and with it important minerals and vitamins. Therefore, many athletes and trainers recommend drinking water in small portions during training. If the workout lasts longer than an hour, your body will need not just water, but water rich in minerals, sodium is especially important.

You can buy special sports drinks for this, which contain all the necessary microelements, or simply release the gas from mineral water and drink it during training. Another one is a mixture of water and concentrated orange juice (100 ml of juice per 1 liter of water) or just slightly salted water.

List of products

  • Sandwich made with whole grain bread, peanut butter, honey and bananas.
  • Lean chicken with whole grain pasta.
  • Hummus and pita bread.
  • Dried fruits and nuts.
  • Tuna and wheat crackers.
  • Sandwich with egg and cheese.
  • Greek yogurt with berries.