Intake After Exercise

Due to all the benefits of exercise, health professionals have been advocating for their clients and patients to include some type of workout in their daily lives. While exercise is incredibly important one of the ways to really maximize all the benefits is how to refuel our bodies after an intense workout.

 

It is incredibly important that athletes who do intense and repeated bursts of exercise, refuel rather quickly after their exercise. After a hard and intense workout the muscles in the body get broken down. This means the glycogen, or carbohydrate, stores are low, cortisol and other hormones that break down muscle are high, muscles are inflamed, and the amino acid glutamate, which fuels immune cells is down (Clark, 2006, pg. 44).

 

Your muscles are most receptive to nourishment and repair within the first hour after an intense workout (Clark, 2011, pg. 41). 

It’s not just when you refuel your body, but what you refuel your body with is just as important. Consuming carbohydrates immediately after an intense exercise session can be extremely beneficial on a cellular level, digestive level, and improve bodily function as a whole (Morencos, 2017, pg. 76).

 

The breakdown of muscle can be interrupted by a meal containing a combination of carbohydrates and protein. This is because carbohydrates trigger an insulin response. Insulin is a hormone that promotes muscle growth. Combining the carbohydrates with protein lowers cortisol levels which promotes even more muscle growth (Clark, 2006, pg. 44).