The Role of Carbohydrates in Recovery

Most athletes know that protein is extremely important for recovery. But carbohydrates are just as important.

The athlete's body has one primary goal in mind after each workout and that is to replace glycogen storage. Eating carbohydrate as part of the recovery meal increases plasma glucose and insulin concentration, and makes it possible for the body to resynthesize glycogen at a higher rate. This is in addition to what protein is doing for the muscles.

However, this will hit home for many of you: Eat carbohydrates for recovery so you don't crave them all day. Our bodies are pretty amazing. If you don't eat enough of something, your body will demand it. But, instead of eating whole-grain toast, oatmeal or a fruit smoothie, you'll end up at your co-workers candy jar at 3 p.m. Your body doesn't care how it gets the carbohydrates as long as it gets them.

However, from an overall health and performance standpoint, eating more complex carbohydrates as part of the recovery meal will serve three purposes: 1) replacing glycogen storage, 2) providing essential nutrients to the athlete's body, and 3) making the athlete faster/stronger over time.

Next time you grab that quick protein shake for recovery, think about how you can add an adequate amount of carbohydrates within the recovery window.

More: 5 Gluten-Free, High-Carb Meals for Runners

Carbohydrate Recommendations For Recovery

The U.S. Olympic Committee Sports Dietitians and The Australian Institute of Sport both agree that daily carbohydrate needs increase when training volume increases. This is the essence behind nutrition periodization. As a matter of fact, it's recommended that athletes consume between 1 and 1.5 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of bodyweight (0.45 to 0.68 grams per pound) for recovery. The actual number depends on length and intensity of the workout.

For a 130-pound female athlete, that equals 59 to 89 grams of carbohydrate. Translation: If she ran 30 to 45 minutes, she would need to eat 59 grams of carbohydrate afterward. If she rode 3 hours, she should eat 89 grams of carbohydrate as part of the recovery meal.

More: Top Marathon Recovery Foods

Best Recovery Option

The true recovery window is about 30 minutes. In a perfect world, the athlete would recover each training session with a full meal. This meal would provide adequate protein and carbohydrate for recovery, and it would contain some additional calories from fat to qualify for a meal.

More: The Role of Protein in Exercise Recovery

Using a different example, assume a 180-pound male athlete was going to eat a full meal to recover a shorter training session. His carbohydrate recovery, according to recommendations above should be 81 grams. Recall there are 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate, so 81 grams of carbohydrate equals 324 calories.

He would need around 20 grams of protein (also containing four calories per gram), which equals 80 calories. If that meal had a serving of fat (such as olive oil used for cooking or peanut butter on a sandwich) that would add approximately 150 calories to the meal.

After adding the carbohydrate, protein and fat calories together, you'll see this meal is about 555 calories. He would also snack in 2-hour increments until the next meal for the best recovery.

More: 4 Delicious Recovery Smoothies

Alternative Recovery Option

We're all busy and sometimes perfect-world scenarios don't happen. This is why athletes turn to quick recovery options like bars, shakes and chocolate milk.

Consider low-fat chocolate milk. Per cup, it contains 29 grams carbohydrate, eight grams protein and two and a half grams fat. This is 170 calories. If the female athlete from the earlier discussion drank two cups, she would be very close in composition to the meal from earlier.

More: 10 Post-Workout Drinks to Fuel Fast Recovery

However, on a different day, assume she was in a hurry after a shorter workout because she showered at the gym and had to get to work. She chose to eat half of a PowerBar quickly to begin the recovery process but would eat breakfast as soon as she got to the office. The PowerBar provides 22 grams carbohydrate, 4 1/2 grams protein and two grams fat immediately after the training session.

When she gets to the office, to finish out her recovery meal, she could have one packet of plain oatmeal cooked with 3/4 cup of soy milk with 2 tablespoons of chopped walnuts and 2 tablespoons of dried cranberries. After the quick recovery bar and the breakfast at the office, she met the recovery meal standards.

More: 3 Fast and Healthy Meals for Athletes