What to eat after a workout

What the post-workout meal is for

Training and eating protein each stimulate muscle protein synthesis: the process your body uses to repair and build muscle. Together they boost each other, and that happens whether the protein comes before or after the workout (Jäger et al., 2017).

The post-workout meal has two jobs: give you protein to repair muscle and carbs to restore glycogen, the energy store you used up. How much each one matters depends on when you train next and on what you eat the rest of the day.

How much protein and how many carbs

For protein, the ISSN recommends doses of 20 to 40 g, or 0.25 to 0.40 g per kilo of body weight, spread every 3 to 4 hours through the day (Kerksick et al., 2017). If you eat 4 times a day, aiming for 0.4 g per kilo at each meal gets you to the minimum of 1.6 g per kilo per day (Schoenfeld and Aragon, 2018), the amount above which a meta-analysis stopped finding extra muscle gain (Morton et al., 2018).

Fast glycogen refilling only matters if you have less than 4 hours until your next session. Otherwise, your meals for the day are enough to top it up (Kerksick et al., 2017).

How to build your meal in 3 steps

1. Work out your protein. Multiply your weight in kilos by 0.25 and by 0.40. For 70 kg that is about 18 to 28 g. At 90 kg (198 lb), it is 23 to 36 g. The protein calculator gives you your daily target.
2. Add carbs. If you train again soon, multiply your weight by 1.2 to get how many grams to eat per hour. If not, use the portion that fits your daily calories: the macro calculator splits it for you.
3. Pick foods you like. One protein source, one carb source and some vegetables or fruit. You do not need special products.

Example: if you weigh 70 kg and train in the afternoon, a dinner of chicken or fish, rice and vegetables that reaches about 25 g of protein does the job. You do not need anything else.

Do you need to eat within 30 minutes?

No. In a meta-analysis of more than 20 trials, eating protein close to the workout did not change strength or muscle gained once total daily protein was taken into account (Schoenfeld et al., 2013). In another trial, 21 trained men took 25 g of protein right before or right after training for 10 weeks, and the results were the same (Schoenfeld et al., 2017).

The effect of training on muscle lasts at least 24 hours, although it fades over time (Jäger et al., 2017). That is why the practical advice is to eat when you can in the following hours, and sooner if you trained fasted or have not eaten in a long time (Kerksick et al., 2017). For what to eat beforehand, see the guide on what to eat before a workout.

Which foods to choose

• Complete protein. Eggs, dairy, chicken, meat, fish or combined legumes. Essential amino acids are what stimulate muscle, and the ISSN suggests each dose contain 700 to 3,000 mg of leucine (Jäger et al., 2017).
• Carbs to refill. Rice, pasta, potatoes, bread, oats or fruit. If you train again within a few hours, high glycemic index carbs such as white rice or bread are recommended to refill faster (Kerksick et al., 2017).
• A shake if you cannot eat. A protein shake is handy, not required. You can cover your protein with food, and the ISSN suggests favoring foods that bring all the essential amino acids (Jäger et al., 2017).
• No fear of a big meal. In a trial, 100 g of protein after training gave a larger and longer response, lasting more than 12 hours, than 25 g (Trommelen et al., 2023). Nor did the amount of protein burned for energy go up, so what goes past 25 or 30 g is not wasted.

If you want to build muscle, pair this with the muscle building routines. If you are losing fat, protein stays the same and carbs are adjusted to your calorie deficit.

Replacing the water you lost

If you sweated a lot, weigh yourself before and after training: the difference is almost all water. A trial compared drinking 50%, 100%, 150% and 200% of the weight lost and concluded that to recover it you need to drink more than you lost, with sodium, because otherwise much of it ends up as urine (Shirreffs et al., 1996).

In practice: if you lost 1 kg (2.2 lb), drink more than 1 liter over the following hours, for example 1.5 liters (150%), along with a meal that has some salt.

Questions

Sources

1. Kerksick CM, Arent S, Schoenfeld BJ, et al. International society of sports nutrition position stand: nutrient timing. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:33. doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0189-4
2. Jäger R, Kerksick CM, Campbell BI, et al. International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: protein and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2017;14:20. doi:10.1186/s12970-017-0177-8
3. Schoenfeld BJ, Aragon AA, Krieger JW. The effect of protein timing on muscle strength and hypertrophy: a meta-analysis. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2013;10(1):53. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-10-53
4. Schoenfeld BJ, Aragon A, Wilborn C, Urbina SL, Hayward SE, Krieger J. Pre- versus post-exercise protein intake has similar effects on muscular adaptations. PeerJ. 2017;5:e2825. doi:10.7717/peerj.2825
5. Schoenfeld BJ, Aragon AA. How much protein can the body use in a single meal for muscle-building? Implications for daily protein distribution. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2018;15:10. doi:10.1186/s12970-018-0215-1
6. Trommelen J, van Lieshout GAA, Nyakayiru J, et al. The anabolic response to protein ingestion during recovery from exercise has no upper limit in magnitude and duration in vivo in humans. Cell Rep Med. 2023;4(12):101324. doi:10.1016/j.xcrm.2023.101324
7. Morton RW, Murphy KT, McKellar SR, et al. A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. Br J Sports Med. 2018;52(6):376-384. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2017-097608
8. Shirreffs SM, Taylor AJ, Leiper JB, Maughan RJ. Post-exercise rehydration in man: effects of volume consumed and drink sodium content. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1996;28(10):1260-1271. doi:10.1097/00005768-199610000-00009

This guide is for information only and does not replace advice from a health professional.