We are kicking off a 3 part series on recovery nutrition by sportsRDpro!

The first question about recovery nutrition that we asked the dietitians at sportsRDpro was…. What is the difference between pre/post workout nutrition?
Pre-workout nutrition should focus on simple foods that are easy to digest. Foods that are lower in fiber and higher in carbohydrates. During our pre-workout snack our main focus is ensuring our body has enough energy available to begin our workout.  Post-workout snack or meal should focus on carbohydrates and protein. Carbohydrates replenish glycogen stores and protein is needed to start muscle synthesis following a workout.

Perhaps using a sponge analogy will make it easier to understand how our body uses nutrients such as carbs and protein during/after exercise.  Our muscles following exercise are like a dry sponge, with all the water squeezed out. As soon as we expose that sponge to water it will become saturated, but there’s only so much water that sponge can soak up.  This is the same with our muscles following exercise, the carbs and protein we consume following exercise will be soaked up and saturate the tired muscles allowing nutrients for repair and growth. Once the muscles reach their saturation point
they are no longer soaking up, or utilizing, incoming nutrients. This means more than enough is not better than enough!

For more sports nutrition information visit theRDpro.com!

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