Friday 6.7.13
CROSSFIT GYM BAG ESSENTIALS, PART 3
Thing #3 you should have in your gym bag: your post workout nutrition. YOU HAVE TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR POST WORKOUT NUTRITION. "But I go home and have breakfast/lunch/dinner! Isn't that enough?" you might say. The answer is: it depends on what you're eating and when. There's this magical window right after you've finished sweating it out during a workout that most people agree is about 30 minutes long. During that window is when you need to consume the nutrients that will speed up recovery time as well as build and replenish your muscles.
What Does the Right Post Workout Nutrition do?
- speed recovery
- decrease muscle soreness
- increase your body's ability to build muscle
Why???
When you workout as intensely as we do, you're breaking down muscle protein, and new proteins need to be rebuilt. If you consume the right nutrients after you exercise, your body is better able to replace the old muscle protein that was broken down during exercise with shiny new stuff! Not to mention you have depleted stores of carbohydrates which need to be replaced.
You should have something in your gym bag that you can consume right after your WOD. If you come to the afternoon classes, you might've seen me eating my baked sweet potato/banana/egg white mixture (1 banana + 1 sweet potato + 3 egg whites and bake on 350 for about 20 minutes) literally right after I'm done with my WOD. Another idea would be some sort of lean meat (turkey, chicken) with berries/apple/banana/fruit. Some people prefer a protein shake, and whey or egg proteins are largely regarded as the best options.
Whatever you choose, your post-workout nutrition should include both protein and carbohydrates. If you already have a straight protein that you like, try mixing it with some coconut water to get the carbohydrates that you need. Choose something, whether its a protein shake, some sort of bar, or something you make and try it out for a few weeks, taking note of how you feel the day following each workout. There isn't a set in stone ratio of carbs to protein that works for everyone because it depends on your body type, your goals (lean out? or put on size?), your level of insulin sensitivity, etc. Not everything works the same for every person, so you'll have to play with types of recovery and quantities to figure out whats best for you.
Some popular post workout recovery shake options:
WOD
"Isabel"
30 snatches (135/95)
Cash out:
50 T2B
50 ab mat sit ups