One of the best ways to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your strength training workout is to eat the right foods. There are many different schools of thought as to how to replenish your body in the most effective manner. Here are a few tips that are accepted by most of the dietary experts who specialize in building muscle mass. These tips are more aimed at people working to build muscle tone and strength, rather than body builders looking at building muscle mass.
1) Stay hydrated: Make sure you drink a lot following your workout, but not past the point of saturation. You can use plain water, but if you are working out for a longer period of time, it might be better to drink an energy drink like Gatorade or PowerAde to replenish your electrolytes as quickly as possible.
2) Banana or apple: One of my favorite after workout snacks is a piece of fruit. It gets your blood sugar up again, and it helps you to feel better immediately after your workout. While fruit might not be the best source of protein, it can be a great way to get you feeling good after your workout and help your body begin to reconstruct.
3) Bag of nuts: Another great workout snack is a half cup of cashews, almonds, or peanuts. This is a great way of getting a shock of protein after your workout to go directly to building muscle mass. Nuts are calorie dense, so you don’t need many, but they are also a healthy fat, so don’t be too afraid of eating these. Be careful that you are only eating lightly salted nuts, as you do not want a lot of salt immediately after your workout.
4) Powerbar or Cliff Bar: I admit that after a long workout, when I don’t have a healthy homemade snack on hand, I do enjoy a Powerbar or Cliffbar. There is something about the combination of ingredients that just feels great when it hits your stomach. That said, I think there is still a lot of junk in these products, and if you have the time, you are better off making your own power bars or substituting nuts and dried fruit.
5) Smoothies: One of my favorite ways to recover after a good workout is a yogurt smoothie made with a dash of peanut butter, some bananas, and berries. This is a great way to get your protein and calories up again. You can also add protein powder and any other goodies for a kick if needed.
It’s true that eating the right kind of food after strength training is important. You need to replenish all those energy you’ve shed during training so you should what kind of foods are good to eat.