One of the things that a lot of people who want to get fit are completely oblivious of is the fact that the recovery is as important as the workout itself. First of all, your body needs to rebuild itself in order to become stronger and better-looking. Second, it needs to rebuild its energy levels in order to be able to work the next day. Most importantly, pushing yourself too hard, regardless of how passionate you are about the journey or the results, will make you completely exhausted both physically and mentally. This means that without knowing how to rest properly, you won’t be able to withstand this kind of lifestyle in the long run.
Rebuilding using protein
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The first thing you need to understand about the post-training recovery is the way in which muscle-building works, to begin with. You see, when training, you’re hurting and ripping your muscles and in the recovery process, you’re helping them patch-up and rebuild themselves. The benefit of this process is the fact that these muscles regrow to be bigger, stronger and firmer than before. Nonetheless, as the law of conservation of mass clearly states, something can’t become out of something and your muscles can’t just magically increase in size out of thin air. In order to be rebuilt, they need protein.
In order to get the results that you want, it’s important that you consume protein of A) decent quality and B) in great enough quantity. As for the quality, you should turn towards natural sources like egg whites, lean meat (chicken, beef and pork), lean fish (tuna) and similar other protein-dense foods.
Moreover, you also need to think about the bio-availability of the protein in question. Just because 100 g of chicken breast has 31 g of protein, it doesn’t mean that your body can use all of it. This is why a lot of professional athletes and even people who regularly exercise prefer to consume high-quality protein powders from reliable manufacturers like True Protein. This is due to the fact that whey isolate and whey concentrate have the highest bio-availability, followed by egg whites.
As for the quantity of protein necessary, it’s suggested that one should consume at least 0.8 g per every 1 kg of their body weight. Naturally, bodybuilders and people looking to accumulate mass quickly need to increase their protein consumption by quite a bit. This again is where supplements come in as quite handy.
Refuel with carbohydrates
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One of the greatest myths about nutrition and training is the idea that you should, for some unknown reason, avoid foods containing nutrients. Most commonly, people have an issue with carbohydrates, which, makes those the least informed about nutrition to avoid them altogether. Needless to say, this is a horrible idea, seeing as how your body needs every single nutrient, including carbs and fats in order to function. You see, carbs are our main source of energy, which is why avoiding them might cause you to under-perform in training. For people who are looking to trim some fat before the summer, cutting down carbs is definitely a good idea, however, avoiding them altogether is a horrible one.
Instead of avoiding carbs, why not just become smarter about their consumption. First of all, you need to start avoiding refined grain products and stick to whole grain bread and similar carbohydrate sources. Aside from this, you should avoid mixing carbohydrates in the same meal in order not to confuse your metabolism. For instance, stick to bread, potatoes and rice per a single meal but avoid mixing them up.
Rehydrate
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Lastly, you are certainly aware that during the training, your body is losing a lot of fluids, however, you might not be aware of how many electrolytes you’re losing along the way. What this means is that when rehydrating, you need to replenish them, as well. Naturally, you may be directed towards electrolyte-containing sports drinks, however, you should look for those that come with as little calories as possible. Aside from this, clean, fresh water and green tea are your safest choice. Coffee can be good immediately before the training, yet, after the training, it’s best left avoided. Post training, it’s good if you can get at least a bit of sleep, which is something that caffeine can prevent you from doing effectively.
In conclusion
In order to get in the shape of your dreams, you need to either intensely work out every day of the week, or work out casually 3 to 4 days of the week and improve your nutrition. Still, even if you’re an exercise-addict, you can achieve much greater results by making an outstanding pre- and post-workout nutrition plan. With just these three tips listed above, you will now have a basic idea how. Naturally, reading a bit more on this topic is always a great idea and something that you should definitely not avoid.
