The Best Foods to Eat After Working Out

There’s no time like the present to get started with a new workout routine. Building muscles can help you feel and look better and keep your body healthy and strong.

What you eat before and after muscle building can help maximize the efficacy of your workout, according to Healthline. Exercise damages muscle proteins and uses up glycogen stores, so by eating a diet high in healthy carbs and proteins, you can effectively repair the muscles and replenish the body’s stored energy.

When you exercise, your body sweats out electrolytes and water during a workout, and both hydration and electrolytes need replenishing to aid the body in recovering.

Macronutrients
Macronutrients are the three nutrients your body needs in large amounts — proteins, carbohydrates, and fats — and these substances, in particular carbs and protein, can help you recover after a workout. Carbohydrates work to replenish glycogen stores that are used up during exercise, particular endurance workouts, the proteins help repair muscles, and healthy fats are generally needed to support overall health.

SELF explains that when you work out your muscles, micro-tears form in the muscle fibers. As the body repairs these tears, the muscle gets thicker and stronger, which is how exercising builds muscles. To repair muscle fibers, the body relies on amino acids, which are molecules found in proteins, which is why proteins are so essential for post-workout recovery.

Meanwhile, carbs work in tandem with proteins. In addition to boosting energy, and fighting post-workout fatigue, these macronutrients raise your blood sugar and stimulate insulin production. The process triggers proteins to circulate and repair muscles.

Personal trainer, Tyler McDonald, tells SELF that carbs “get overlooked a lot, but they’re really a recovery spark. While you’re sparking the transport needed in your body, you don’t necessarily have the right nutrient mix,” 

Important Nutrients
In addition to the macros, it’s good to choose foods loaded with particular minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and electrolytes to speed up post-workout recovery. For example, vitamin C and copper are nutrients that support the collagen found in tendons and joints which, in addition to muscles, get stretched while working out.

Meanwhile, foods that have antioxidant or anti-inflammatory properties help the body heal torn muscle fibers more quickly and with less inflammation. That translates to faster recovery and less soreness.

These four snack and meal options are packed with macro and micro-nutrients to support muscle building and recovery. 

Toast and Eggs
After exercise, your body needs protein to recover. “Eggs are a really good example of a protein-dense food that’ll do a lot for you,” McDonald shares. When this high-protein food is paired with multigrain, high-fiber toast, it provides the perfect blend of carbs and protein.

You can also switch out the eggs for tuna, another protein-rich option.

Yogurt or Cottage Cheese with Fruit
Yogurt and cottage cheese are packed with both protein and an amino aid called leucine that boosts recovery and muscle building. Pairing this snack with healthy and tasty carbs in the form of fruits makes for a great post-workout meal. Fruits like apples, cherries, raspberries, red grapes, and citrus, are an especially good pairing option, as they contain an antioxidant called quercetin that helps the body repair muscular microtears.

Kiwi and pineapple are also good post-workout fruit options. Kiwi contains actinidin, an enzyme that helps the body digest protein and pineapple has bromelain, an enzyme that aids protein digestion while also reducing soreness and inflammation.To get the protein-and-carb-rich fruit and dairy blend, you can also combine a protein shake with an apple on the side. 

Salmon
This all-around healthy fish is loaded with anti-inflammatory, healthy, omega-3 fatty acids. If you aren’t interested in turning to fish after the gym, you can make a smoothie with walnuts, chia seeds, or hemp hearts, all of which also contain anti-inflammatory omega-3s.

Salted Almonds and a Banana
Nuts are a nutritionally-dense food, containing protein, fiber, and healthy fats. Meanwhile, bananas provide healthy carbs. The snack is also rich in electrolytes, found in the sodium of the salted almonds and the banana’s potassium.