Continuing with the series of “practical guide” posts about carbohydrates, in this third entry we will see that they are not only important during physical activity but also afterwards, because after exercise a key stage begins, recovery. That moment when our body is in “shock” and needs all the nutrients, starting with water, then carbohydrates, proteins and fats, and finishing with vitamins and minerals.
Recovery is very important, much more than we think, because if it is not done correctly all the physiological adaptations that are supposed to occur, one of the main reasons we train, can be slowed down. This is why, the faster we are in stopping catabolic (destructive) processes and reversing them into anabolic (constructive) ones, the better the phase of assimilation of the training loads will be.
But before continuing, one more note, and that is that you need to know that whenever we talk about recovery it must occur on two levels, the energetic and the muscular, with one or the other being predominant depending on the type of sport, that is, depending on the type of wear we have experienced.
And having said this, the questions that now usually arise are, How can I do this? How can I speed up the recovery processes?
Well, here is the answer summarized quickly and simply: “after training you have to eat”, that is, you have to ingest nutrients and this is definitely the most important thing and what we have to keep in mind.
It is true that other complementary strategies such as adequate rest, cold, massages, etc. can also help us.
But returning to the nutritional strategies, if we want to get a little more detailed, what and how many nutrients should we “eat”?
Well then, let's see what science says... and what it basically says is that we should ingest high-glycemic and/or fast-absorbing carbohydrates (glucose, maltodextrin, etc.) to quickly replenish glycogen stores, that is, to refill that gasoline tank we were talking about in other posts. The generally recommended amounts are 1 to 1,2 g of carbs per kg of body weight after exercise. The sooner they start being ingested, the better, and if in liquid form, even more so. This ensures that first part of recovery, the energetic one.
But what has been seen in the latest scientific research, and that we explained to you more technically in another entry of our blog, is that proteins also play a very important role in glycogen replenishment. And it has been observed that "eating" proteins at the same time as carbohydrates not only affects the other part of recovery, the muscular part, but also favors the processes of energy recovery, that is, that of glycogen.
Another question that is surely coming to your mind now is, then is any protein okay? How much or in what proportions should I take it? The truth is that if we want to maximize recovery, it should be taken, whenever possible, in a ratio or proportion of 3/1, that is, for each serving of protein there should be three of carbohydrates.
Once all of the above has been said and by way of summary, if we want to maximize recovery we should use the nutrients that science tells us are the best, that is, both carbohydrates and quickly absorbed proteins, and if it is in the form of a shake or drink, even better, because it will be an even faster vehicle and, in addition, we introduce another of the essential nutrients for recovery after physical activity, water, which, as I said at the beginning, is one of the most important nutrients that we need to replenish after training (but I will talk about this in another post).
So having all these scientific concepts clear, we have used them to develop our recovery products, 3:1 PRO Recovery ST and 3:1 Recovery+.
That said, don't forget, taking a smoothie of these products is only the first step, that is, taking a recovery drink alone is not enough, that is just the 'start' of recovery, and we must not forget that we have to continue eating carbohydrates and proteins in the following hours.
RELATED VIDEOS
Crown training channel, in which you can find videos explaining all this: https://crownsportnutrition.com/formacion/
Video with the YouTuber Daniel Race, explaining what we need to take to recover:
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