How long should you wait after your workout to eat??
There are better ideas than eating immediately after or fasting for long periods after training. Here’s why…
Fast answers:
Fasting after training is catabolic (you’ll lose muscle)
Eating too fast after training is too hard on digestion (you won’t digest the energy you need to recover; except for liquid carbs & protein)
For the nerds
We need to be aware of SNS (Sympathetic) & PNS (Parasympathetic)
PNS – Rest and digest
SNS = Fight or flight
We don’t digest food in an SNS state, but fasting too long after training moves our bodies more to an SNS state; this is due to the breakdown of glycogen the body releases cortisol to lower your blood sugar, and this cortisol is stressful on the body and moves it more into SNS.
Training in itself is a highly SNS-dominant activity; which is okay as long as we can come down from that. This stress from training is why we should wait a little bit after training to get more PNS before eating.
Note: If you think that training is a de-stressor in the short term just check your blood sugar, blood pressure, or heart rate and tell me you’re de-stressed… No in the long term YES short term NO.
So what’s best:
1. Eat 30-60 minutes after training
2. Have carbs and protein (don’t make this 0 carbs if you have carbs in your diet)
3. Try to do some belly birthing before eating
4. Listen to calming music (Turn your training music off as soon as you’re done training)
5. Try to take your time but start prepping your meal when you get home or if you’re at work try your best to eat away from your work
6. Don’t watch TV or look at your phone
7. Supplements are great to add this time (ashwagandha, magnesium, and Cort-ease from https://nuethix.com/ (Code HEALTHHUNTER Saves you 10%)