Post Competition meals (aerobic training)

     In case you haven't noticed we have a little theme going on here at Dad Fitness. Nutrition before, during and now after training.

     The point of eating after training is to rehydrate, replenish glycogen (readily made energy in the body) levels, and repair muscle tissue. How much food should your body intake? Great question. Hopefully I can answer that in the next few paragraphs. 

    IT ALL DEPENDS

    Gee Tom way to answer the question. Really putting that master's degree at work. Hold on, let me explain. The aerobic training itself matters. A marathon is different than a 5K, a 500m swim is different than a 20-mile bike ride. Intensity also matters, a hard tempo run is different than longer, slower run. Weight, age and gender also play a factor. A 20-year-old male and 45-year-old female will have different metabolic needs. One common theme between all ages, genders, training style is Sodium. Sodium assists with water retention. Adding salting your next meal or consuming a sports drink is fine. If you consume a sports drink, afterwards check the ingredients and nutrition facts for Sodium, potassium and carbs. Ideally, you want a carb source that is less than 10% of carb concentration. Too much will cause GI issues. Nothing worse than attempting to refuel then having to do a class two download (little military humor. I you're not military.... use your imagination). 

    Post aerobic training your body goes through two stages of recovery (in terms of post-exercise food). The first 30-60 min is independent of insulin and glycogen syntheses occurs rapidly. This is why after you run you are starving, and it seems that whatever you eat is not enough. Ideally, you would want to eat 1-1.85 carbs per kilogram of body weight during that time frame while your body can rapidly process it. If you're a 190-pound (86kg) person then that would be 129g of carbs (1.5x86). 129g seems like a lot but a banana is 20g, Greek yogurt is 14g, protein power is 4g, 1 cup of milk is 12g. Together that is 50g plus a balanced diet that includes protein will get you to the 1.5g per kilogram goal. Choose foods that are higher on the Glycemic load scale to replenish glycogen faster. Consuming a meal immediately after training is imperative if you're going to train again later that day. Many folks in the military do two-a-days for training. Eating enough calories to sustain themselves is crucial for maximizing performance. After that hour glycogen synthesis slows down and carbs aren't as absorbed as quickly. This is not definite nutritional have to; They are simply recommendations. If I run in the morning, I may add more calories to my normal meals and over the course of the day my glycogen levels are restored. If I run during the day, then I will have a carb rich meal afterwards to replenish calories lost.