As a Sports Dietitian one of the common problem areas I see in an athlete’s diet is inadequate recovery nutrition practices. “Effective recovery from intense training is the difference between success and failure in sport”
Nutrition Recovery is particularly important for both elite and amateur athletes training ‘back-to-back’ sessions, i.e. training twice a day, when time between training is 12hours or less. “Nutrition is a key component in enhancing adaptions to training and optimising performance”.
For recreational athletes, poor nutrition recovery immediately after exercise can also lead to ‘carb cravings’ which seem to occur in the evening when people report coming unstuck with their nutrition plan.
The 3 R’s of Recovery:
Refuelling muscle glycogen stores
Repair and synthesis of muscle cells
Rehydration
Start refuelling within 30mins of finishing training. Recovery Snack should include 0.8-1.2g/kg Carbohydrate + 10-25g protein, depending on your sport and training goals. For example, for a 65kg athlete this could be 52g carbohydrate e.g. Smoothie with 250ml low fat milk + ½ cup yoghurt + banana + tsp honey.
For more Recovery Snack ideas or to find out more about optimising your recovery for performance, talk to an Accredited Sports Dietitian.
