Why Post-Workout Protein is a Must

If you’ve been planning to hit the gym more this new year, you need to realize that you also need to pay attention to what you eat after your workout. You may have spent hours doing your cardio exercises and weightlifting to get the best body you can have, but if you don’t pay attention to your post-workout routine, your hard work and effort may be undermined.

Post-workout protein works

To get the optimum benefits of your workout routine, many fitness experts recommend consuming protein after you exercise.

You might say you are too busy to squeeze that into your timeframe, but personal trainers and other fitness experts cannot stress enough the importance of refueling your body with protein.

Here you go…

Some of the reasons why post-workout protein is important.

To make your blood sugar stable

When you exercise, the body uses up your blood sugar, and the stored sugar you have in your body will replenish what was lost. You may have felt the familiar feeling that aside from your muscles being sore, you definitely feel weak and hungry after an intense workout.

With your body low in sugar after a workout, when you consume protein post-workout your blood sugar will stabilize slowly as the protein is digested into your body.

To facilitate muscle tissue repair

There’s no escaping the fact that when you do an intense workout, there will be damage and tears to your muscle. If there is not enough protein in your body, it would be impossible for your body to heal quickly.

This might not mean much if you only workout once in a while, but if you are serious about your exercise plan, this may lead to you straining your muscles too much which could lead to a serious injury.

The “anabolic window”, which is about 60 minutes from the moment you stop working out, is the perfect time to take in protein.

That’s because this is the time that your body really feels the ache and strain of working out, and when the protein enters your body, it will prioritize repairing all the microtears and microtrauma your body has gotten during your workout routine.

To reduce the inflammation

Another result of post-workout protein is that the inflammation in your muscles may be reduced.

That is because of the presence of insulin which the body releases to help bring the protein to your muscles for repair.

The presence and increase of insulin in the body assist in decreasing cortisol, which is actually a stress hormone that causes inflammation in the body.

Wrap-Up

There are many types of food that you can eat post-workout to help your body heal better and faster.

While some may suggest that solid food is the best bet, others may not have the time to prepare that.

A good idea would be to use protein shakes. If you are not sure which one is perfect for you, check out this review by Protein Powder Xpert to help you with your choice.