Refuelling for Recovery
You have just completed your workout and you are tired and rapidly breathing. After you slow your breath and stretch out the muscles you have just fatigued, it is time to set yourself up for success. How? Refuel your body with nutrients it needs to begin the recovery process immediately. We have all heard a lot or read about nutrition at this point in the training season. However, it may have been a blur and maybe a lot of unfamiliar information at one time. For this discussion we will focus on the recovery process. Keep in mind this same philosophy would also be applied for post race recovery as well.
What rebuilds damaged muscle tissue? Amino acids are the foundation or “building blocks” of protein. This same protein is the foundation of muscle tissue repair. When we walk, run, bike, or swim we create microscopic tears in the muscle tissue we are using when we train. Simply put, do not ignore the protein element of your recovery process. Think, “Intensity Equals Protein”. The more demanding or intense the workout is the more muscle tissue damage you have created, thus equaling a greater demand for muscle tissue repair.
The other major deficiency you create when training is the depletion of glycogen stores. Though this source of energy can come from protein as well, the majority comes from carbohydrates. With the combination of carbohydrates and protein the body has an increase in insulin production, thus stimulating the increase in glycogen stores being increased from glycolysis. If you are training anaerobically (above your lactate threshold) carbohydrates are the major source of energy you are using. Just think in terms of the higher the heart rate, the higher the carbohydrate demand.
Other vitamins and minerals are also important in the recovery process. We all know that electrolytes are depleted as well as others. What does all this mean? After you are finished training there is a “window” of time that you body is most likely to receive the depleted sources of energy and allow for maximum recovery. This “window” is within the first 30 minutes after completing your training. At this point in time you want to consume a ratio of 4 to1 in terms of carbohydrates to protein. This means that you want 4 grams of carbohydrates to every gram of protein on the label. After this “window” of opportunity passes you want to consume another meal within 90 minutes to 2 hours post exercise.
Now that we have completed our math lesson let us now discuss practicality. After training you may not want to consume a solid food source. A recommendation here is to consume a liquid source of energy such as “GO”, “Power Dream”, and “Endurox”. There are many more on the market but these lead the way in the endurance community with selected sources of recovery. Other minerals you want to make sure that your recovery source contains are electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, and magnesium. If you have any questions feel free to email me.
For More Information Please contact Boris!
Train Well! Boris G. Robinson Triathlete / T3 Coach
