FitSugar

4 Post-Workout Must Dos (and 1 Don't!)

Leta Shy — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 19:17:26 PDT

Congrats, you've completed a workout for the day! Sometimes, nothing feels as good as knowing you've sweat it out and burned calories. But before you think you're done, make sure you do these four things after your workout (and avoid doing the last one!).

What's Your Favorite Recovery Drink?

FitSugar — Sat, 21 May 2011 03:05:50 PDT

After a particularly vigorous workout, run, or bike ride, you need to replenish important nutrients in your system. A recovery drink helps you quickly get what you need - electrolytes to rehydrate as well as carbs and protein to rebuild your muscle. There are many ways to drink those essential nutrients after a workout, from ready-made sports drinks like Gatorade to chocolate milk or coconut water (or even just making your own with maple syrup).

If you are a recovery drink fan, what's your drink of choice?

Real Food vs. Energy Bars and Sports Drinks

FitSugar — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:00:00 PDT

Here's a little food for thought: the biggest difference between eating engineered energy sports foods and real foods after your workout is convenience.

There are many "recovery products" on the market right now; scientifically researched products designed to deliver carbs and protein to muscles depleted after long training sessions. While it is true that muscles do need carbs and protein after exercise to repair themselves, many researchers believe the window of time to feed the muscles these macro nutrients is any where from two to four hours. This is ample time to find yourself a kitchen and make yourself some good old fashioned food.

To see how much protein and carbs you should eat during your recovery time,

The amounts of both nutrients are rather small. Muscle repair only requires about 10 to 15 grams of protein, the equivalent of two eggs. In terms of carbs, the body needs about one gram of carbs per kilogram of body weight (for us metrically challenged Americans 2.2 pounds roughly equals 1 kilogram) – I need about 60 grams of carbs. I can easily find that amount of carbs in an apple (31 grams of carbs), two slices of whole wheat toast (24 grams of carbs), and 6 ounces of vanilla flavored Greek yogurt (14 grams). Scramble up two eggs to go with my carbs and basically, I have a healthy breakfast, which is perfect after a long run.

Sometimes after a workout though, you just don't have the time or resources to make real food. In those cases, a Power Bar can come in handy. My point being, don't fall for the gimmicks and think you have to drink an Accelerade. Choose real food when you can. It is cheaper and less processed and tastes way better.

Source

Could My Post-workout Snack Be Making Me Fat?

Shape — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 04:37:39 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to nutritional consultant Mike Roussell, PhD, for some help!

Q: Could my post-workout snack be making me fat? I've read that chocolate milk is a great post-workout drink, but is that still true if I just took a beginning Zumba class (or did a similar low-intensity workout)?

20 Foods That Can Ruin Your Workout

A: No, your post-workout snack is not making you fat. In fact, quite the opposite. The holy grail of nutrition is to be able to preferentially send the nutrients in your food toward your muscles for energy and repair and not to your fat cells. Exercise is the one thing that can do this. Exercise causes your muscles' cells to actively pull sugar out of your bloodstream and into your muscles with much more fervor than any other time of day.

Find out if chocolate milk makes the best recovery snack after the break!

3 Eating Tips to Keep a Social Dancer Light on Her Feet

Anna Monette Roberts — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:18:15 PST

You might think that only athletes, runners, and cyclists train strenuously enough to refuel on protein-, carb-, and electrolyte-rich snacks before, during, and after a workout, but dancers need nutritious ammunition as well. Most dance halls that teach genres like salsa, lindy hop, or ballroom will have a social dance after the lessons so you can practice your newly obtained moves in a safe and friendly dance setting. Lessons and the social dance can add up to three to four hours and work up a serious sweat.

If you aren't eating the right things throughout such an intense round of dancing, you run the risk of experiencing DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness. Besides sore muscles, DOMS makes you feel exhausted, nauseated, and practically hung over the next day. An average 130-pound woman will burn 324 calories per hour of dancing, and if you plan to stick around for the social dance, you could burn up to 972 calories in a three-hour dance period. To keep your body adequately fueled for the exercise itself and to quickly recover for your next dancing round, here's a breakdown of what you should be eating and drinking.

Keep reading for the breakdown.

From the Community: Beat Boredom With This 40-Minute Treadmill Workout

Fit Community — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 00:57:25 PST

Caught in a rut on the treadmill? FitSugar reader FitFabCities has created a 40-minute treadmill workout that is certain to get you excited about the gym again!

I'm not afraid to say it: I love the treadmill. I know, I know, my fellow runners out there probably gasp in horror at the thought of spending even 30 minutes "running but going nowhere," but I love it. I love staying dry, I love watching TV, and I really love being warm.

That said, I am willing to admit it can get a wee bit boring if every time you hop on the old treadmill, you hit your regular three to five miles. Well that's why I love this workout; you'll be changing speeds, inclines, even directions every minute, so there is no chance you'll get bored. After all, keeping your mind and body guessing is the best way to keep seeing results!

See this interval workout (and get a printable copy) after the break!

Keep Your Post-Gym Trek Sweat-Free

Leta Shy — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 02:21:24 PST

There's nothing worse than heating up at the gym only to be met by frosty cold temps outside when you're done. If you're not making a pit stop in the locker room to get street-ready, you're met with a problem: you're too hot and sweaty to brave the cold outdoor air without feeling uncomfortable. If you're skipping the shower at the gym, here are two simple reminders to make sure your next trek outdoors post-workout isn't uncomfortable and cold.

Wait it out: Don't just hop off the treadmill and grab your stuff. When you're exercising regularly, it can take several minutes for your heart rate to go back down from peak to resting rate (the normal heart rate recovery rate is a decrease of 15-20 beats per minute) so if you go outside too soon, you'll still be pumped up from your workout. Use the time to cool down properly with post-workout stretches and foam rolling instead.

Always choose moisture-wicking: I've worked out in any old T-shirt and I've worked out in gear designed for working out, and there's definitely a difference. To keep yourself from being uncomfortably soggy under those Winter clothes, use performance wear designed to wick away sweat and keep you dry. And always bring a similarly sweat-wicking cover-up to layer under your coat before you head outside for even more protection. Here are some lightweight cover-ups that would work well under your puffy outerwear.

How do you brave Winter weather after sweating it out at the gym?

7 Reasons to Try Interval Training

FitSugar — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 08:11:00 PDT

Interval training is the ultimate fitness mashup, blending the speeds of both the tortoise and the hare. The benefits of this workout - pushing your pace, then slowing down to recover just so you can push your pace again - will certainly motivate you to play with your speed. If you haven't already added them to your cardio workouts, here are seven benefits of interval training.

Whittle your middle
While cardio exercise is necessary to lose fat all over your body, according to research published in the International Journal of Obesity interval training targets your waistline. Adding bursts of speed can help you lose stubborn abdominal fat, which is a boon for bikini season and your overall health. Having a waist size over 35 inches if you're a woman puts you at a higher risk for heart disease and some cancers. Curious how your middle measures up? Check your waist-to-hip ratio here.

Got a need for speed?
The most obvious benefit, but still worth noting, is interval training will make you faster. Picking up your pace when training with intervals helps to increase your speed whether you run, bike, or swim. If you're working towards a personal record for an upcoming race, don't skip your speed work. Here are interval workouts for biking, swimming, and running. Triathlon anyone?

Keep reading to learn five more reasons to kick it up a notch.

Chocolate Milk Post Workout?

FitSugar — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:17:03 PDT

Nothing beats a tall glass of ~~ice cold water~~ chocolate milk after a long workout. Sounds too good to be true and makes me want to watch The Jetsons, but chocolate milk could be the post exercise "recovery" drink you've been searching for.

After years of promoting carbo loading before exercise, research shows that the body needs and can process carbs post-workout more efficiently. For 30 to 45 minutes post workout, the human body is primed to replenish the lost fuel because your muscles are more responsive to insulin. The insulin helps muscles pull glucose, made from carbs, out of the bloodstream and into the muscle. This will provide fuel for the muscles for the next time you head out to workout. Add a little protein to the mix and your muscles can store even more fuel. Protein also helps repair the muscle damage associated with strengthening them. The recommended ratio is 4:1, carbs to protein.

An eight-ounce glass of low fat chocolate milk provides 32 grams of carbs and 11 grams of protein. If you are trying to lose weight, just beware that this simple recovery drink also contains 200 calories. Chocolate milk may not be the ideal post workout food for you; yogurt or a smoothie would work too or anything else that has both protein and carbs. Plus, you really only need to consider downing a recovery drink if you have worked out intensely for at least 60 minutes.

Source

Ask the Diet Doctor: The Best Post-Workout Snack

Shape — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 04:11:23 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to nutritional consultant Mike Roussell, PhD, for some help!

Q: I'm starving after my workout! What can I do to stop that or to avoid canceling out the calories I just burned?

-Regina, Facebook

A: It may seem a little counterintuitive, but immediately after your workout is the best time of day to eat, so even if you're not starving, you should still eat something.

The good news is that you can't cancel out the calories you just burned during your workout. Weight loss and the human body don't work like that. When you're working out, your body burns fat to be used as energy. If you eat right after your workout, those calories won't be used to replace the burned body fat. Your body only stores food as body fat when it doesn’t have anything else to do with the extra calories you eat. After your workout, your body needs to start restoring and repairing itself from your training session. In other words, it needs calories.

The calories you eat after your workout will be used to replace energy stores in your muscles that got used up during your training session. Your body also uses any protein you eat to build and repair your muscles that were broken down as a result of you pushing them to their limits.

Eating immediately after you finish a workout is beneficial for many reasons. Your body will automatically use the calories you eat for good (repair and recovery) and not bad (fat storage). In fact, research shows that your body's ability to refill muscle energy stores decreases by 50 percent if you wait to eat just two hours after your workout compared to eating right away. Eating after your workout may also increase your body’s insulin sensitivity or its ability to use carbohydrates - an important factor for weight loss and health for the following 24 hours.

Find out which foods you should eat post-workout after the break!