What to Eat After a Workout

Why eating after a workout matters

You put a lot of effort into your workouts, and you want to perform better and reach your goals. Chances are you have given more thought to your pre-workout meal than to what you eat afterward, but the nutrients you take in after exercise are just as important as the ones you take in before.

To see why, it helps to know what exercise does to your body. While you work out, your muscles burn their stored glycogen for fuel, which leaves those stores partly empty. Some of the proteins in your muscles are also broken down and damaged.

What the right foods do after exercise

Eating the right nutrients soon after a workout helps your body:

Slow the breakdown of muscle protein
Increase muscle protein synthesis, which is how muscle grows
Restore its glycogen stores
Improve recovery

Protein, carbs, and fats

Taken together, the right nutrients after exercise can help you rebuild muscle protein and glycogen stores, and they help stimulate the growth of new muscle. Each macronutrient (protein, carbohydrates, and fat) plays its own part in that recovery process.

Protein helps repair and build muscle

Exercise triggers the breakdown of muscle protein. How fast this happens depends on the type of exercise and your level of training, but even well-trained athletes experience some muscle protein breakdown.

Many experts recommend eating 0.14 to 0.23 grams of protein per pound of body weight (0.3 to 0.5 grams per kilogram) very soon after a workout. Research suggests that taking in 20 to 40 grams of protein seems to maximize the body’s ability to recover after exercise.

Carbs help with recovery

Your body uses its glycogen stores for fuel during exercise, and eating carbohydrates after your workout helps replenish them.

How quickly you use glycogen depends on the activity. Endurance sports such as running and swimming use more glycogen than resistance training, so if you take part in endurance sports you may need more carbs than a bodybuilder does.

Research suggests that eating 0.5 to 0.7 grams of carbs per pound of body weight (1.1 to 1.5 grams per kilogram) within 30 minutes after training leads to proper glycogen resynthesis, meaning your muscles rebuild the fuel they used.

Eating plenty of carbs to rebuild glycogen matters most for people who exercise often, for example twice in the same day. If you have 1 or 2 days of rest between workouts, it becomes less important.

Fat is not bad

Many people think that eating fat after a workout slows digestion and keeps the body from absorbing other nutrients.

Fat may slow how quickly your post-workout meal is absorbed, but it will not reduce the meal’s benefits. In one study, whole milk was more effective than skim milk at promoting muscle growth after a workout.

It may be a good idea to limit the amount of fat you eat after exercise, but having some fat in your post-workout meal will not affect your recovery.

Bottom line: A post-workout meal with both protein and carbs will enhance glycogen storage and muscle protein synthesis. A 3:1 ratio of carbs to protein is a practical way to get there.

Timing matters

Your body’s ability to rebuild glycogen and protein is heightened after you exercise. For this reason, many experts recommend eating a combination of carbs and protein as soon as possible after a workout.

The timing does not need to be exact, but many experts recommend eating your post-workout meal within 45 minutes. Research suggests that delaying carbs by as little as two hours after a workout may lead to as much as 50 percent lower rates of glycogen synthesis.

If you ate a meal before exercising, the benefits of that meal likely still apply after training.

Bottom line: Eat your post-workout meal within 45 minutes of exercising. You can stretch that window a little, depending on when you ate your pre-workout meal.

Foods to eat after your workout

The main goal of your post-workout meal is to give your body the right nutrients to recover well and to get the most out of your workout. Choosing foods that are easy to digest helps your body absorb those nutrients faster.

The lists below are examples of simple, easily digested foods.

Carbs

Sweet potatoes
Chocolate milk
Quinoa
Fruits (pineapple, berries, banana, kiwi)
Rice cakes
Rice
Oatmeal
Potatoes
Pasta
Dark, leafy green vegetables

Protein

Animal- or plant-based protein powder
Eggs
Greek yogurt
Cottage cheese
Salmon
Chicken
Protein bar
Tuna

Fats

Avocado
Nuts
Nut butters
Trail mix (dried fruits and nuts)

Sample post-workout meals

Combining foods from the lists above makes meals that give you all the nutrients you need after exercise. Here are a few quick and easy examples:

Grilled chicken with roasted vegetables
Egg omelet with avocado spread on toast
Salmon with sweet potato
Tuna salad sandwich on whole-grain bread
Tuna and crackers
Oatmeal, whey protein, banana, and almonds
Cottage cheese and fruits
Pita and hummus
Rice crackers and peanut butter
Whole grain toast and almond butter
Cereal and skim milk
Greek yogurt, berries, and granola
Protein shake and banana
Quinoa bowl with berries and pecans
Multi-grain bread and raw peanuts

Putting it all together

Eating the right amount of carbs and protein after exercise is essential. It stimulates muscle protein synthesis, improves recovery, and helps you perform better in your next workout.

If you are not able to eat within 45 minutes of working out, try not to go much longer than 2 hours before you have a meal.

Finally, replacing the water and electrolytes you lost during exercise can complete the picture and help you get the most out of your workout.

Nutrition designed with your goals in mind

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