University of Evansville Athletics

Most athletes know and understand the importance of the pre-exercise meal. However, what and when you eat following exercise can be just as important. While the pre-exercise meals can ensure that adequate energy is available for optimal performance, the post-exercise meal is critical to recovery and improves your ability to train consistently.

Eating Post Competition
Immediately following exercise (within 15 to 30 minutes), consume carbohydrate to help restore glycogen. Research has shown that eating 100-200 grams of carbohydrate within two hours of endurance exercise is essential to building adequate glycogen stores for continued training. Waiting longer than two hours to eat can result in 50 percent less glycogen stored in the muscle.
Additionally, research shows that combining protein with carbohydrate in the two hours after exercise nearly doubles the insulin response, which results in more stored glycogen. The optimal carbohydrate to protein ratio for this effect is 4:1 (four grams of carbohydrate for every one gram of protein).

15 to 30 minutes after competition:
•    fresh fruit
•    fruit or vegetable juice
•    bread, bagel
•    pasta with tomato sauce
•    baked potato
•    energy bar
•    30 oz of a sports drink (diluted 3:1 with water)

1 to 2 hour after competition:
•    Full meal with a mix of carbohydrate and protein (4:1 ratio)

Hydration Post Competition
Another nutritional priority after exercise is to replace fluid lost during exercise. In general, the best way to determine how much to drink is to weigh yourself before and after exercise; replace the lost fluid by drinking 20-24 fl oz water for every 1 lb lost.

Key message
Immediately replenish energy loss by eating carbohydrate within 30 minutes after competition.  Within 2 hours of competition, refuel your body with a combination of carbohydrate and protein.  Don’t forget about hydration; continue to replace fluid loss.