De 5 Beste Post-Workout Maaltijden Voor Spierherstel

At some point in your fitness journey, I’m pretty sure you’ve learned how crucial post-workout nutrition is for the ‘anabolic window’ and maximum muscle recovery.

However, the truth is that if you eat within 3 hours of training, post-workout meals are not as important as we thought, because essential amino acids are probably still present in the bloodstream.

Despite this, post-workout meals can be helpful, especially if you haven’t eaten in a while or if you’ve had intensive, long training sessions.

For this reason, in our own opinion, we have put together the five best post-workout meals!

We start with a deeper look at individual food sources found in meals and then discuss their added value. We then provide an overview of the necessary ingredients, preparation instructions and nutritional value.

Please note, this article is intended to guide you, and not as a personalized nutrition plan.

Recovery Shake as Replacement for a Post-Workout Meal

If you’ve read any of our previous articles, you probably know that we’re big advocates of whey protein. We consider whey to be the ‘best’ protein source for muscle protein synthesis (muscle building/repair).

To maximally stimulate muscle building/recovery after training, we use two scoops of whey protein powder.

And YES, whey is food, it’s actually the byproduct of cheese that is then converted into a tasty powder by various processes. The bioavailability of whey is unparalleled, meaning it is very well absorbed by the body. It is of the highest quality and contains 11% of it muscle building branched amino acid leucine.

If you hadn’t guessed it yet, whey protein powder is the first ingredient in our post-workout recovery shake, as it can quickly increase muscle recovery response.

Whey alone can’t get the muscle recovery response for longer than 3 hours increase. However, if we add some milk to it, it can slow down for an extra hour, meaning the muscle recovery mode is further enhanced.

Why? About 80% of the protein in milk is casein, which is absorbed more slowly.

The last ingredients are bananas, raspberries, strawberries and honey. These not only make the taste of the shake great, but also increase the nutritional profile to new heights.

Once you consume these ingredients, the carbohydrates degraded and stored as muscle glycogen for energy and recovery. Sports and activities can burn between 40-90% of your energy supply, highlighting the importance of consuming carbohydrates after activity to prepare for future activities.

The literature indicates approximately 1g of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight immediately after intensive or long-term activity. So, for a 70 kg (154 lb) person, we would aim for 70 g of carbohydrates.

In addition, these ingredients act as antioxidants that help reduce inflammation through heavy training, further promoting recovery.

Finally, these ingredients are high in fiber and micronutrients (vitamins/minerals), which are crucial for various bodily functions and general health.