Hey folks I am clueless when it comes to post-workout nutrition. Any thoughts on what is best after a 1.5 hour pretty hard swim workout?
Former Member
What is your schedule?
You want to eat ASAP after you workout, which will start replenishing your glycogen stores so you can workout again. This is pretty critical if you want to have a good second workout the same day, say if you swim in the morning and lift at night, or if you are doing a back to back PM/AM swim or if you are a triathlete and you regularly do doubles. If you are only swimming 3x/week, not as big a deal, but it will make you feel a little better.
Right after workout, your body is primed to load fuel back into the muscle and as time goes on, it returns to its normal state which is put some fuel in the muscle, some in the liver some in fat.
Protein+carb is absorbed better than carb alone. If you are away from a fridge, there are drink mixes like PureSport and Endurox (and many more) that will work, plus bars like ThinkThin (only protein+carb bar I know off off the top of my head). If you have a fridge and are in a hurry, skim milk or fat free chocolate milk. If you are not in a hurry, egg whites and toast.
Those are ideas for the first 30 minutes you are out of the pool. After that, a regular meal is just as good as anything else. Fat slows down digestion, which is good after the 30 minute window is up, because it will help you feel full longer.
Choose between these three:
1) PB&J sandwich (on whole grain bread);
2) Endurox (if you are into powders);
3) Chocolate milk (be a kid again).
Mix it up for variety. Quantities dependant on how much it takes to satisfy your hunger.
