
2Ī properly timed post-workout meal with the right nutrients can help decrease soreness in your muscles for a given amount of training. After a workout, however, insulin is your friend and a proper post-workout meal can improve muscle building and increase fat loss. Insulin is a storage hormone that has a bad reputation because it is integrally involved in fat storage. Your muscles are highly insulin sensitive, which means those carbs you eat can help shuttle protein into your muscles, instead of getting converted into fat. If adequate nutrients are not supplied before and/or after the workout, these muscle tears can lead to further muscle breakdown, which means your muscle is broken down to form protein that your body uses as energy to repair itself.Īfter a strenuous workout, your body is biochemically primed to suck in nutrients. Numerous studies 1 highlight the benefits of post-workout nutrition as the following:Ī tough strength training workout will create microscopic tears in your muscle fibers. Being consistent with the basics, and focusing on lifestyle habits, will have a far more positive impact on your health than worrying about post-workout nutrition strategies. Mastering the basics is often enough to get you most, if not all of the way to achieving your fitness goals. If you answered no to any of those questions, the first step is to nail down all of these habits before you get too focused on post-workout nutrition.Ī lot of people who want to transform their body seek out advanced nutrition strategies or quick fixes to get lean, but here’s the reality – most people don’t need, or aren’t ready for, these advanced strategies. Do you have at least 5 servings of vegetables per day?.Are you drinking half of your bodyweight (lbs) in ounces of water daily?.



For decades, experts agreed a post-workout meal can improve results versus no meal at all.
