Everyone knows how important it is to work out. There is no question about that, however, some people never realize the importance of a post workout. The food you eat immediately after you work your muscles is vital to how well your body will recover. In fact recovery is the perfect word for this because when you stress a muscle you are damaging it and if done correctly, this paves the way for more muscle. (I’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty biology of it but that is essentially what it boils down to.) After a hard day’s work out it is vital to get your nutrition right, in fact if you get it wrong it can be a severe detriment to yourself.
First and foremost you want to get some sort of protein into you in the first half hour post-exercise. Don’t go crazy by chugging a whole protein shake, though. Realistically very few people actually need that much protein. Most people (including most athletes) can’t even process the excessive mounts of protein in most protein shakes on the market. It won’t do you any harm but realistically it is just a waste. What works flawlessly for me is good ole’ chocolate milk. It has just the right amount of protein, sugars and fats for me. The most exciting part of my day is when I roll up to the dorms anticipating the cool and refreshing chocolate milk at my lips.
Here is the thing though: chocolate milk works great for me but that doesn’t mean it will work as well for you. Just like on the outside, everyone is different on the inside. Not everyone processes the important macro-molecules involved in muscle recovery the same way. In fact Osmo Nutrition’s Stacy Sims recently published a study in which they discussed how women actually need more protein than most men. Unfortunately this means that many women should not be greeted with a frothy chocolate milk after they work out. Instead they should go for something with a bit more protein. I encourage everyone to experiment. It took me ages of trying and tweaking to come to something so simple. Obviously don’t go changing your routine right before a race (that would be breaking the golden rule!) but during the off season give everything a try and be open minded!
Cheers ladies and gents!
Go ride your bike!!!
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