Nutrition For Recovery

Athletes are always seeking ways to enhance performance

and delay fatigue. Muscle glycogen is the major fuel

source during prolonged, moderate to high-intensity exercise,

and there is a direct relationship between depleted

muscle glycogen and fatigue. Therefore, muscle glycogen

repletion is vital to recovery time and maintaining top

performance for athletes at all levels (1).

Glycogen repletion is important to ensure an athlete’s

quick muscle recovery for subsequent practices, especially

those who train, or must compete, multiple times in a

single day (1). Timing, composition and the quantity of a

post-exercise meal or snack is dependent upon the length

and intensity of exercises, timing of the next exercise session,

as well as an individual’s needs (1).

 

Carbohydrates For Recovery—

How Much?

The current recommendation for daily carbohydrates

(CHO) consumption is 5 – 7g CHO/kg/day for the general

athlete and 7 – 10g/kg/day for the endurance athlete (1).

Consuming CHO immediately after exercise accelerates

glycogen repletion (10) because there is increased blood

flow to the muscles, which results in heightened sensitivity

to insulin (9). Sufficient CHO ingestion over the next

24 hours is also important. Current recommendations are

to consume 1 – 1.5g of CHO/kg of body weight within 30

minutes after exercise and then again at 2-hour intervals

for the next six hours (1). See Table 1 for some ideas on

what to consume within 30 minutes post-exercise.

 

Carbohydrates For Recovery—

What Type?

The type of carbohydrate (CHO) an athlete consumes after

exercise can affect how much and how quickly he or she

resynthesizes glycogen. Foods and/or beverages containing

glucose/ sucrose, and those having a high glycemic

index are preferred. Glucose and sucrose are preferred

over fructose (1), as fructose promotes a lower level of glycogen

resynthesis as compared to glucose (3) and larger

amounts of fructose may promote gastrointestinal distress

due to its slower absorption rate(3). High glycemic

index foods induce higher muscle glycogen levels as compared

to low glycemic index foods (1).

Readily available foods, such as whole grain cereal and

skim milk, have been found to be an effective post-exercise

fuel (2). In fact, one study found that the carbohydrate

to protein combination found in a bowl of whole grain cereal

and skim milk had a similar effect on muscle glycogen

repletion as did sports drinks (2). The combination was

also found to positively affect protein synthesis. From this

research, it seems that whole foods can be a good alternative

to commercial sports drinks, if preferred by the athlete.

 

Endurance exercise

Endurance athletes may benefit from consuming protein

along with carbohydrates after exercise as this combination

has been shown to reduce markers of muscle damage

and improve post-exercise recovery. This could also have a

positive effect on subsequent performances (8).

Some studies have demonstrated a benefit of Branched

Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) on muscle recovery (6). BCAA’s

appear to affect muscle protein metabolism during and

after exercise and prevent muscle damage induced by exercise

(6). The release of amino acids from muscles is decreased

when BCAA’s are ingested (6).

 

Resistance Exercise

The goal for athletes in resistance-type exercise is to increase

muscle mass and strength. The nutrition intervention

for this type of activity involves stimulating net

muscle protein gains during recovery. PRO ingestion increases

the rate of muscle protein synthesis and inhibits

protein breakdown after training (10). One study found

that during prolonged resistance training, post-exercise

consumption of CHO and PRO, 1 – 3 hours after resistance

training stimulated improvements in strength and body

composition better than a placebo (3).

Essential amino acids in a dose of 40g have regularly

shown to have an effect in promoting muscle protein synthesis

and CHO may enhance this effect (3). The findings

suggest ingesting 50 – 75g CHO with 20 – 75g PRO after

heavy resistance training (3). Furthermore, adding 10g of

creatine has shown to produce a significant increase in

body mass as compared to just CHO and PRO (3). See Table

2 for possible CHO and PRO combinations.

 

Bottom Line

Nutrition post-exercise has been proven to promote recovery for athletes.

Post-exercise nutrition has been shown to increase strength and muscle

mass in athletes who participate in resistance-type exercises. Timing, composition

and amount of post-exercise food is dependent upon the individual,

timing of the next exercise session and the activity performed. ?

 

Article from nsca’s performance training journal • www.nsca-lift.org • volume 9 issue 2, Debra Wein, MS, RD, LDN, CSSD, NSCA-CPT,*D and Marcia Nelson

 

References: http://www.nsca-lift.org/Perform/articles/090205.pdf