We can never stress the importance of consuming quality food before you start your work-out session, but eating right after the work-out is just as important, especially if you want to improve the efficiency of your training. While most people are aware that the body gets the energy to perform the way they want it to from pre-workout meals, the best-post-workout-meal many make the mistake to skip the meal that could give back their strength after the training. It is actually the worst thing you can do to your body: your muscles and your entire system need the pampering care and the enhanced nutritional help from your post-workout meals to recover after the training and to replace the nutrients your body lost during the work-out.The most important nutrient that gives you the energy to work out – and contributes to building the huge and lean muscles you want – but gets depleted during your work, is protein. You don’t want the calories lost during the work-out to come back on, so you need a meal that is low in calories, low in carbs, but high in proteins and fibers – here are five of the best meals you should consume after you leave the gym, you complete your running circle or you get off your bike.
Protein Pancakes
This is one of the most delicious options, packed with proteins and fibers. To make the pancake, you need four eggs – whole, to be able to make the most of the ability of the eggs to promote the development of lean muscle mass –, half a cup of oatmeals, vanilla extract for more flavor, a little baking powder and some cottage cheese to add even more proteins. For some vitamins, top the pancakes with fruits of your choice.
Tuna and Crackers
To make this recipe, mix a can of tuna flakes with whole-grain crackers, then season the mix with black pepper or chili flakes. The tuna provides the proteins to help your muscles recover after the work-out and grow, while the crackers add some carbs to your meal to increase your insulin production, thus helping the nutrients reach your muscles. To avoid consuming extra calories, make sure you choose tuna that comes in brine, not in oil.
Cereal
Cereals combined with frozen or fresh fruit and nuts, mixed with some low-fat milk or yogurt is another excellent choice. The milk or the yogurt will supply the proteins, the fruits will add the flavor and the vitamins, while the cereal will give you the fibers your body needs – an excellent, easy to prepare mix that has everything your body can possibly need to grow beautiful muscles. Make sure you select a high protein, high fiber cereal varieties that come without any added sugar to be able to keep nutrient values high, but calorie intake low.
Egg Scramble
Egg scramble is a breakfast food for many – while you can choose it to kick start your day, it makes an excellent post-workout meal that helps your muscles recover faster after you exhausted them at the gym. Use whole eggs and add one or two extra whites, too, to get enough proteins and mix your eggs with nutrient-rich veggies to add not only health benefits but texture and flavor, too. The meal will clench your hunger like nothing else and you don’t have to be concerned about the calorie count either.
Protein-Rich Sandwich Wraps
Wholegrain wraps make excellent post-workout meals as well. Pack your wraps with chicken or tuna for all the right proteins, add your favorite crunchy veggies, maybe even some quinoa or brown rice if you like it, and you can be sure your body gets everything it needs. Wraps are easy to make, easy to take with you and easy to eat while on the go – great for a busy day, great after a strenuous workout.
The best time to consume your post-workout meals is about 15 minutes after you are done exercising if your main goal is to build more muscle. If you want to shed a few pounds and get fitter, you can benefit from the after-training fat burn effects of your exercise session, so you should consume your meal a bit later, about 45 minutes after you finished your training.
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