[Breanna Rohde is an Athletic Development Intern at Athletic Lab]

As soon as you finish a workout of any intensity, your body has been depleted of energy. Scientifically speaking, energy is created to allow the body to perform work by the break down of specific chemical compounds in three macronutrients found in the body. Those macronutrients include carbohydrates (CHO), proteins (PRO) and, to a lesser extent, fats. These macronutrients are broken down into smaller chemical compounds in order to be used as energy. This process is called catabolism (1). This system of releasing and building energy is extensive and complicated, so I will keep things simple.

post-workoutYour body has now taken these three macronutrients, broken them down and used them to expend energy. Whether it is 30 minutes to an hour and a half later, your body is now lacking in CHO, PRO and fats. It is at this point that you may feel lethargic or tired. More importantly, your muscles have been broken down and in order to complete another workout the muscles require repair. This is an important part to your post workout routine. The body needs to be replenished with nutrients that it lost in order to aid in overall recovery as well as muscle repair.

What do you grab after a completed workout? The most common form of post exercise supplementation is in the form of a beverage. There are so many new products becoming available in order to supplement in your post workout recovery process it can be difficult to decide what you should or shouldn’t take. As stated earlier in this article, carbohydrates, proteins and fats are the three macronutrients broken down in order to release energy. So it would only make sense that these three things need to be replenished and stay as the main focus of recovery, right? Correct, but not all of these commercially advertised post exercise supplementations include the proper combination of nutrients.

According to a study done by Ferguson-Stegal and colleagues, they determined that supplementing chocolate milk (which includes CHO, PRO and fats) provides greater muscle repair and recovery, in comparison to a CHO only beverage (i.e. Gatorade) or a placebo (2). Even co-supplementing a CHO beverage with a protein is better than one standing alone. This simply emphasizes that whatever your post exercise recovery beverage is it is important to make sure there is a combination of both CHO and PRO (2).

With this in mind, here are three important takeaways when you go to grab your post exercise supplement/beverage:

  1. The best ratio of CHO to PRO that provides a positive aid in the recovery process is 3:1 to 4:1 (2).
  2. Chocolate milk is only one example of a beverage that includes the combination of all three macronutrients.
  3. When supplementing for post exercise recovery, you are not limited to liquid intake only. Feel free to mix things up!

Supplementation of any kind can become tricky and overwhelming. It is important to keep it simple and use what works best for your body’s recovery. As long as nutrients are being replenished at the right amount and in an adequate time after exercise, recovery can be easy and allows for a variety of combinations.

References:

  1. Baechle, T. (2008). Bioenergestics of Exercise and Training. In Essentials of strength training and conditioning (3rd ed., pp. 22-23). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
  2. Hot Topic: Post-Exercise Carbohydrate and Protein Supplementation. (n.d.). Strength and Conditioning Journal. Retrieved February 17, 2015, from https://www.nsca.com/Education/Articles/Hot-Topic-Post-Exercise-Carbohydrate-and-Protein-Supplementation/