You may know that you need to eat something healthy after exercising. Eating after an exercise is equally essential for performance.
And when it comes to fueling your body after a tough workout, protein is a necessity.
How does protein repair and rebuild your muscle?
Protein is made using amino acids that build blocks for the body. When you eat protein after exercising, it provides your muscles with the amino acids needed to repair and rebuild.
But why is this a necessity?
Well, you need to know that repeated muscle contractions from running, jumping, and other exercises can break the muscle cells and cause damage to the muscles in the legs, arms, and the body.
Taking enough protein after an exercise can help build muscles, reverse those damages, and make you ready for the next workout.
How much protein do you need for muscle recovery?
Protein synthesis means repairing and growing muscles. Taking protein after your workout helps your muscles repair and grow faster and stronger.
For most people, it is about 0.2 – 0.5 grams of protein for every kilo of your body weight. So, if you are 70kg, you can consider 14-35 grams of protein.
The harder and longer you exercise, the more protein you may need to add to your diet. Throughout the day, active people need to get about 10-20 percent of the calories from protein.
It means in a 2,000-calorie diet, there should be around 50-100 grams of calories from protein. Athletes need it in more quantities, including 1.2 – 2 grams per kilogram of body weight every day.
Protein gets all the needed attention after exercise, but do not forget about carbs. Both of them are equally important to recover your body.
You need to know that mixing carbs and protein in a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio can help boost your recovery by refilling your energy.
So, after working out, you can refuel yourself with chocolate milk or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It provides both protein and carbs.
Why is it important to have protein right after a workout?
When you do tough and long exercises, your muscles break down a bit. But after that, they work to rebuild and get stronger for the next 24 hours.
So, it is essential to think about how much protein you need and when you need to eat it.
You need to have protein within 30 minutes of finishing your workout routine. When you pair it with some carbs like sugar, it can help refill your energy and fix your muscles.
But if you miss about 30 minutes of time, it is still essential to eat something after exercising, even if it is not very effective.
What type of protein is needed after a workout?
After working out, you need to think about the type of protein needed for your muscles ranging from food to supplements, and even from animal-based to plant-based proteins.
It can get a bit confusing. The best proteins for building and fixing muscles are the ones our bodies can easily digest. It provides the body with the needed amino acids.
These are also known as high-quality proteins. They are found in foods, which include meat, eggs, fish, dairy, and soy.
However, there are some protein powders as well. For instance, a plant-based protein powder, pea-protein works great for post-workout recovery, even for vegans.
It does not include all the necessary amino acids, so you need to eat a bit more as compared to any protein to get the benefits.
For most people, as long as they eat enough food throughout the day, and have a lot of plant-based foods, they get the needed protein and amino acids.
You don’t need to eat animal products to help your muscles recover after working out.
