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Post Event Meal Plan for Athletes

Jun 14, 2011 | By Linda Tarr Kent
Post Event Meal Plan for Athletes
Photo Credit race track image by dinostock from Fotolia.com

Planning for a post-event meal will help you recover from the all-out effort of your big day. However, post-event nutrition is often neglected by athletes, according to "Triathlon Training" author Michael Finch. If you are an athlete who participates in long events such as triathlons, marathons or cycling races, chances are you will have a race-day nutrition plan. Ensure your plan also includes the two hours after you cross the finish line. This is the ideal time frame for replacing lost fluids, carbohydrates, minerals and proteins.

Initial Time Frame

Have something small immediately after your event such as a large banana, orange or apple juice, pretzels or fruit yogurt, advises sport dietician Amy Jamieson-Petonic, director of wellness coaching at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. You also may consume a carbohydrate sports drink. Whatever you choose, it's best to take this in within 30 minutes of finishing your race, advises T.J. Murphy, author of "Triathlon Magazine's Guide to Finishing Your First Triathlon."

Overall Time Frame

Follow up with a meal that consists largely of carbohydrates but also includes protein, such as spaghetti with meat sauce, a bagel and low-fat string cheese, veggie pizza, or fruit and low-fat cottage cheese or yogurt, a chicken sandwich made on whole grain bread, or a bagel with peanut butter and jelly. Also include healthy mono- or polyunsaturated fat in this meal if possible. Make sure this is within your two-hour window, Murphy says.

Considerations

To ensure you replenish fluids adequately, take in 24-oz. fluid for each pound you drop during your event, advises Murphy. It's a good idea to add sodium, too, because it will enhance rehydration due to sweat loss. Take in 110 to 200mg sodium per 8-oz. fluid. Many sport drinks fall within this range.

Significance

Missing the two-hour timeframe for your post-event meal not only slows your recovery time, it also leaves you more vulnerable to illness, Finch says. The more demanding your event, the more likely you are to fall prey to illness in the days that follow it, says Laurel T. Mackinnon, author of "Advances in Exercise Immunology." Upper respiratory tract infections are common in the two weeks following an event. This vulnerability occurs because heavy exercise suppresses the immune system, according to British Medical Bulletin.

Expert Insight

If you cannot stomach food following your big event, you can use recovery mixes. The downside is that these can be expensive, notes Murphy. Look for a mix that has a three or four to one ratio of carbohydrate to protein. Chocolate milk is an option for that half-hour window following your event. A 24-oz. serving has 84g carbohydrate, 2g fat and 26g protein along with 345mg sodium.

Effects

Your post-event meal helps ensure you are ready for your next event quicker. Consuming carbohydrates and protein right after exercise enhances your carbohydrate storage and protein synthesis, notes Richard B. Kreider, lead author of a report for Professionalization in Exercise Physiology Online. Eating carbs within the "carbohydrate window" of one hour is the most effective way to replenish your muscles' depleted glycogen stores. Ideally, you'll take in 1g carbohydrate per 2 lbs. body weight to replenish these stores, Finch says. The need for post-event meals applies to strength events as well. In fact, consuming carbs immediately after resistance exercise as well as one hour afterward results in a better body protein balance, which helps preserve muscle, according to the "Journal of Applied Physiology."

References

Article reviewed by James Dryden Last updated on: Jun 14, 2011

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