Refuel Immediately AFTER a Workout

With Soccer season just about ready to get cranked up, I thought I'd go ahead and include this in the Blog rather than save it for our first newsletter of the season (just for you soccer players on the team). In any physical sport, "refueling" is extremely important, especially in a tournament or in back-to-back game situations.

You can gain an advantage over your opponents, according to research by Dr. John Ivy at the University of Texas, “Drinking or eating carbohydrates immediately after a strenuous workout, at a level of at least one gram per kilogram of body weight, is therefore essential to restoring the glycogen you’ve burned.

Wait even a few hours and your ability to replenish that fuel drops by half.” Exercise makes your body more responsive to insulin which primes the body to absorb more fuel or glycogen, but the window lasts only 30 to 45 minutes.

Of course, protein is also important to help the body recover. “Protein co-ingestion can accelerate muscle glycogen repletion by stimulating endogenous insulin release,” says Luc van Loon, an associate professor of human movement sciences at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and the author of several important studies about recovery.

The need for immediate carbohydrate and protein intake is one of the reasons why the chocolate milk story has made news lately. A glass of chocolate milk supplies simple sugars and protein and recent studies have confirmed that it is just as good, or better, than sports drinks for recovery after a workout. Of course, smoothies with yogurt and fruit combine the same principles, if they are easily accessible immediately following a game or workout.

Next, “have a real meal within two hours. ‘You can maintain increased insulin levels and accelerated rates of recovery for about four to six hours if you continue eating,’ Ivy says. Of course, you can also get by without such diet timing. ‘But you won’t recover as well,’ Ivy continues. ‘You probably won’t be able to work out as hard on a daily basis.’ The old guy who chugs his milk and Hershey’s syrup will not only pass you — he’ll lap you.”

During tournaments, players struggle to eat real meals and often wait until after 9:00PM to have a solid meal. But, as the researchers suggest, this leads to players wearing down. Smart teams do not rely on the tournament snack bar or fast food. They pack their food and eat between games to assist with recovery. If eating before a game, stay away from fats because they take longer to digest, which is another reason why fast food eating in the middle of tournaments negatively affects performance.

The latest issue of the NSCA Performance Training Journal (Volume 7, Issue 3) has an article by Debra Wein titled, “Post-Exercise Nutrition: Recommendations for Resistance and Endurance Training.” The article echoes much of the science contained in Reynolds’ article, but also has some meal suggestions:
 Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich on whole wheat bread: 12g of protein, 11g of fat and 36g of carbohydrates.
 Tuna sandwich on wheat: 25g protein, 23g fat and 24g carbohydrates.
 Chicken Sandwich on white w/low fat cheese: 22g protein, 7g fat and 72g carbohydrates.
 Large Vanilla Milkshake: 12g protein, 13g fat and 86g carbohydrate.
 8oz. yogurt smoothie: 6g protein, 3g fat and 43g carbohydrate.
 12oz low fat chocolate milk: 10g protein, 3g fat and 33g carbohydrate.