Post Training Nutrition and Recovery | Saint Clair Vineyard Half | Blog

BACK TO BASIC’S: RECOVERY PROTEIN POST-TRAINING

BACK TO BASIC’S: RECOVERY PROTEIN POST-TRAINING

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At Megs & Soph, we place so much importance on eating foods that support optimal recovery from exercise, but that also works to replenish, repair and grow your hard-working muscles. Due to the effect training has of continually breaking down your muscles, this process stimulates proteins to essentially ‘rebuild’ and ‘regenerate’ your stressed muscles = building you a stronger body overall. 

Proteins are broken down into amino acids in our bodies for us to use, not just for muscle growth and repair but also many other processes (I have listed a few below). You will have heard in high-school the golden rule “amino acids are the building blocks of protein” drilled into you for exams. However, there are 20 amino acids total but 9 amino acids the body cannot produce itself, so it’s crucial that we consume these through the foods we eat.

Here’s a great image and accompanying blog post [click here to read] about all the Essential 9 amino acids from Bare Blends website.

PROTEIN ALSO PLAYS AN ESSENTIAL IN;

  • boosting the immune system
  • maintaining blood sugar levels aka. fewer energy dips throughout the day
  • keep’s you fuller for longer
  • forming collagen, bones, cartilage, skin and blood
  • creating enzymes
  • developing organ tissues building
  • healthy hair and nails
  • transports oxygen throughout the body with a protein called ‘haemoglobin’ containing iron (Fe)
  • energy production = 4calories per gram of protein

HOW MUCH PROTEIN DO I NEED?

The minimum amount of protein required daily is 1.2g per 1kg of body weight.    

i.e. 60kg female will need 72grams of protein over the day.

TO GIVE YOU A ROUGH IDEA OF PROTEIN PORTIONS;

  • 3 eggs = 20grams protein
  • 1 cup of milk = 8gram of protein
  • 1 serve protein powder = 20-30grams protein (brand dependent)
  • 100almonds = 25grams protein
  • 100grams Salmon = 20grams of protein
  • ½ cup Greek yoghurt = roughly 10grams of protein (very brand dependent, we would advise choosing one with the highest protein and lowest carbohydrate content)

TYPES OF PROTEIN SOURCES THAT WE LOVE:

  • Free-range Eggs
  • Almond Butter
  • 100% Peanut butter
  • Free-range Chicken
  • NZ grass fed Lamb and Beef
  • Greek Yogurt or Natural yoghurt’s
  • Tahini (Chantel organics is the best!)
  • Hummus (homemade is the best – no canola oil)
  • Legumes, pulses, beans
  • Milk, Cottage Cheese
  • Fish – Salmon, tuna, white fish
  • Seafood – prawns, mussels
  • Protein Powders: Whey, Rice, Pea – we use Nuzest
  • Bliss balls made with nuts, seeds, protein powders
  • Spirulina powder 

Discount code: 15% off Nuzest products ‘megs&soph’

RECIPES

Here are some of our delicious recipe’s that are high in protein. Use these wholefoods ideas for, super recovery, refuelling purposes, to eat as a snack or post-training meal.

 

 

 

 

OTHER RECOVERY FACTORS

Carbohydrates also play a vital role in the recovery process as you need to replace the lost glycogen (energy) stores that you used up during your training session. We discussed the importance of carbohydrates in this post [click here]. Along with great sources of wholefood carbohydrates we eat to fuel our bodies.

Hydration is a massive component to recovery especially over the warmer months as we tend to sweat more, resulting in greater loss of water and electrolyte minerals (potassium, sodium, magnesium, chloride, calcium and phosphate). We will be discussing this in much more depth in a blog post coming soon… in the meantime make sure you drink plenty of water before, during and after training to make up for the loss.

e.g. Eat a banana (for potassium) covered with nut butter and sprinkled with sea salt + kelp (see image for the brand, not sponsored just good stuff!) to get your replacement electrolytes.

 

 

 

 

 

Or use a simple electrolyte drink mix such as SOS hydration.