Nutritional recovery remains underutilized among athletes, and while many focus on energy before and during competition, too many still ignore post-game nutrition.
Most of us understand the importance of consuming protein after exercise, but for optimal recovery, more macro and micronutrients are needed. Consuming the right types of macronutrients in the right amounts at the right time is crucial to building muscle and helping you recover from exercise. Your diet must contain the right balance of nutrients and minerals and include enough carbohydrates, protein and fat before, during and after exercise.
carbohydrate availability
When it comes to recovery, it's important that you eat both carbs and protein to replenish and repair your muscles.
Carbohydrate availability is particularly important for those participating in endurance sports, especially those training for more than 60 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise. Carbohydrates are the body's main source of energy and a major contributor to central and muscular fatigue.
Carbohydrates are stored primarily as glycogen in the liver (about 100 grams) and muscles (about 400 grams), and about 5 grams circulate in the blood as glucose. The body can absorb approximately 90 grams of carbohydrates per hour. A carbohydrate-rich diet improves endurance and intermittent high-intensity exercise performance.
Replenishing glycogen stores quickly after exercise will prepare athletes for training and help them fuel for their next workout. You should roughly aim for 1.2 grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight.
protein function
Post-exercise protein intake is essential to support metabolic adaptation, muscle repair and rebuilding. The physical stress of exercise can cause microscopic damage to muscle fibers that need to be repaired. Protein intake actively triggers muscle protein synthesis and promotes the creation of new muscle proteins, which is critical during optimal recovery.
Studies have shown that after resistance training, there is an upregulation of muscle protein synthesis (the process of producing new muscle protein from amino acids) and increased sensitivity to dietary protein intake for at least the next 24 hours. This reaction also occurs after performing aerobic exercise or other types of exercise, such as sprinting and interval sprinting.
Many research investigations promote a good reason to consume protein well above the recommended daily allowance to maximize metabolic adaptations to training.
About REGO Quick Recovery Powder and REGO CLEAR Powder
Muscle recovery supplements are a simple, convenient and effective way to speed up post-exercise recovery, like our REGO Rapid Recovery Powder and REGO CLEAR Powder.
REGO Rapid Recovery Powder and REGO CLEAR Powder both contain high amounts of protein and carbohydrates to help replenish your glycogen stores and support muscle function and protein synthesis. Both products contain 22 grams of carbohydrates per serving, as well as 21 grams of high-quality, amino acid-rich protein, making this a well-rounded choice for your recovery.
To provide recovery support, it should be consumed immediately after exercise (within 30 minutes) and not mixed with milk as this may slow the rate of absorption.
