Nutrition and Recovery: Priming the Pump for Tomorrow

Written by Holly Ortlund, M.S., Director of R&D, Carb-BOOM, Inc.

Recovery- One of the most important aspects of any serious athlete's regimen. In order to be ready for the next intense workout or competition the body has to quickly rebuild and refuel itself. Athletes that take appropriate measures to eat well following exhausting exercise can reap significant recovery benefits.

Restocking the shelves
Most athletes are aware that blood glucose and muscle glycogen power their long workouts and competitions. And most athletes have nutritional savvy when it comes to planning their meals/supplements during exercise in order to maximize performance. But few athletes seem to realize the importance of nutritional needs in the early hours following intense exercise.

Because there is a direct relation between exercise fatigue and muscle glycogen stores, glycogen resynthesis immediately following exercise is vitally important in speeding recovery. Although the body is capable of replacing muscle glycogen loads within 24 hours, this timeframe is sometimes not available or practical to many individuals. Therefore, athletes competing in multiple day events or involved in heavy training sessions with less than 8 hours of rest are particularly in need of restoring glycogen levels as quickly and efficiently as possible.

To gain a better understanding of how to attain optimal rates of glycogen synthesis, it's important to get to know the major players involved:

• Carbohydrate availability
  Glycogen synthesis after exercise relies on ingested carbohydrate, therefore, if inadequate amounts are consumed during recovery, glycogen stores will not be optimally replenished.
• Insulin
  Following exercise, insulin sensitivity in the muscle cell is increased. A very important hormone in the recovery process, the presence of insulin positively affects glycogen synthase activity and muscle glucose uptake.
• Timing/Feeding Schedule
  Replacing glycogen stores depends not only on what you eat, but when you eat it. The timing of carbohydrate consumption after exercise is crucial in achieving optimal results. This particular topic is explained in more detail later in the article.
• Fitness level
  We train to get faster, stronger and leaner (among other reasons). Training elicits numerous adaptations to the body; therefore, it's not surprising that training status is also an important influence for the ability to replace muscle glycogen levels. Trained individuals can show muscle glycogen storage rates that are twice as high as sedentary individuals following exercise (2).

Timing and amount of carbohydrate intake
Ingestion of carbohydrate is critical during the early hours after exercise. Glycogen synthesis rates can be as much as two-fold higher when carbohydrate is consumed immediately post-exercise as compared to a 2-hour delay (3).

How much is enough and at what time points should carbohydrate be ingested? Recent evidence points to an ideal feeding schedule consisting of 30 minute intervals at an amount of 0.4 ñ 0.6 g/kg body weight to achieve maximal glycogen synthesis rates (1,4,5,7,14). This equates to consuming roughly 0.2 g of carbohydrate per pound of body weight every half hour for a total duration of 4 hours (see table 1 below). Small and frequent feedings (i.e. every 30 minutes) appear to be more beneficial than consuming a large amount of carbohydrate once every 2 hours. This advantage is thought to be due to the body's inability to sufficiently increase and maintain blood glucose and insulin levels for a 2 hour period. (5,12)

Table 1: Amount & Timing of Carbohydrate Ingestion
Body Weight	Immediately after exercise	Every 30 min until 4 hrs post exercise	Total consumed after 4 hrs
100-125 lbs (45-57 kg)	20-25 g	20-25 g	180-225 g
126-150 lbs (57-68 kg)	25-30 g	25-30 g	225-270 g
151-175 lbs (68-80 kg)	30-35 g	30-35 g	270-315 g
176-200 lbs (80-91 kg)	35-40 g	35-40 g	315-360 g

Don't forget the protein!
Don't think only in terms of consuming carbohydrates during recovery; protein is another nutrient that merits significant attention. Protein and carbohydrate make excellent partners for post-exercise nutrition. When consumed together, the result is a synergistic stimulation of insulin release. Put more simply, the addition of protein amplifies the insulin response and promotes glucose delivery to depleted muscle cells.. Several studies have shown higher muscle glycogen storage rates following exercise when a carbohydrate-protein mixture is ingested versus carbohydrate only (6,14,17). The enhanced synthesis was attributed to higher levels of insulin as a result of the carbohydrate-protein mixtures.

In addition to affecting glycogen synthesis, insulin also plays a key role in protein dynamics. Insulin stimulates protein synthesis and helps reduce protein breakdown. Shortly following intense exercise, net protein balance enters a negative state if protein or amino acids are not consumed. In other words, muscle proteins are broken down to a larger extent than they are being rebuilt. The consumption of protein is therefore beneficial on two fronts; to boost insulin release but to also provide the basic building blocks for muscle repair.

Analogous to glycogen synthesis, a critical window also exists for protein synthesis during the early hours after exercise. So like carbohydrate, the timing of protein intake is very important during recovery. Several studies have shown significantly higher rates of protein synthesis and net protein balance when protein is ingested shortly after exercise as compared to delayed feedings of 3 hours or more (8,11,13).

As for how much protein to include in your recovery plan, shoot for a carbohydrate to protein ratio in the range of 2:1 ñ 4:1. The same chart from above is updated below with protein for better clarification

Table 2: Amount & Timing of Carbohydrate & Protein Ingestion
Body Weight	Immediately after exercise		Every 30 min until 4 hrs post exercise		Total consumed after 4 hrs
	CHO	PRO	CHO	PRO	CHO	PRO
100-125 lbs (45-57 kg)	20-25g	5-12g	20-25g	5-12g	180-225g	45-112g
126-150 lbs (57-68 kg)	25-30g	6-15g	25-30g	6-15g	225-270g	54-135g
151-175 lbs (68-80 kg)	30-35g	7-17g	30-35g	7-17g	270-315g	63-157g
176-200 lbs (80-91 kg)	35-40g	8-20g	35-40g	8-20g	315-360g	72-180g
*CHO = carbohydrate, PRO = protein

Summary
Putting it all together, nutrition following exercise can be just as important to your performance as it is during exercise. So while you're planning the next intense 3+ hour training session, don't forget to work out a good plan for your post-exercise feedings. Recover smart today, perform better tomorrow.

A recap of important points:

• Restoring glycogen quickly and efficiently is especially important when you train or compete more than once per day.
• The use of a carbohydrate/protein mixture more efficiently elevates insulin levels than carbohydrate alone, promoting optimal glucose uptake into depleted muscle cells.
• Similar to glycogen synthesis, your muscles are primed for peak protein synthesis in the early hours after exercise.
• Aim for consuming carbohydrate and protein in 30 minute intervals ñ beginning immediately after exercise and continuing up to 4 hours post-exercise

References
1. Doyle JA, Sherman WM, Strauss RL. Effects of eccentric and concentric exercise on muscle glycogen replenishment. J Appl Physiol 1993; 74:1848-1855

2. Hickner RC, Fisher JS, Hansen PA Racette SB, Mier CM, Turner MJ, Holloszy JO. Muscle glycogen accumulation after endurance exercise in trained and untrained individuals. J Appl Phsyiol 1997; 83:897-903

3. Ivy JL, Katz AL, Cutler CL Sherman WM, Coyle EF. Muscle glycogen synthesis after exercise: effect of time of carbohydrate ingestion. J Appl Physiol 1988; 64:1480-1485

4. Ivy JL, Lee MC, Brozinick JT, Reed MJ. Muscle glycogen storage after different amounts of carbohydrate ingestion. J Appl Physiol 1988; 65:2018-2023

5. Ivy JL. Glycogen resynthesis after exercise: effect of carbohydrate intake. Int J Sports Med 1998; 19:S142-145

6. Ivy JL, Goforth HW, Damon BM, McCauley TR, Parsons EC, Price TB. Early postexercise muscle glycogen recovery is enhanced with a carbohydrate-protein supplement. J Appl Physiol 2002; 93 (4): 1337-1344

7. Jentjens R and Jeukendrup AE. Determinants of post exercise glycogen synthesis during short term recovery. Sports Med 2003; 33 (2): 117-144

8. Levenhagen DK, Gresham JD, Carlson MG, Maron DJ, Borel MJ, Flakoll PJ. Postexercise nutrient intake timing in humans is critical to recovery of leg glucose and protein homeostasis. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab 2001; 280: 982-993

9. Levenhagen DK, Carr C, Carlson MG, Maron DJ, Borel MJ, Flakoll PJ. Postexercise protein intake enhances whole-body and leg protein accretion in humans. Med Sci Sports Exer 2002; 34:828-837

10. Price TB, Laurent D, Petersen KF, Rothman DL, Shulman GI. Glycogen loading alters muscle glycogen resynthesis after exercise. J Appl Physiol 2000; 88:698-704

11. Rasmussen BB, Tipton KD, Miller SL, Wolf SE, Wolfe RR. An oral essential amino acid-carbohydrate supplement enhances muscle protein anabolism after resistance exercise. J Appl Physiol 2000; 88: 386-392

12. Siu PM, Wong SH, Morris JG, Lam CW, Chung PK, Chung S. Effect of frequency of carbohydrate feedings on recovery and subsequent endurance run. Med Sci Sports Exer 2004; 36 (2): 315-323

13. Tipton KD, Ferrando AA, Phillips SM, Doyle D, Wolfe RR. Postexercise net protein synthesis in human muscle from orally administered amino acids. Am J Physiol 1999; 628-634

14. Van Loon LJ, Saris WH, Kruijshoop M, Wagenmakers AJ. Maximizing postexercise muscle glycogen synthesis: carbohydrate supplementation and the application of amino acid or protein hydrosylate mixtures. Am J Clin Nutr 2000; 72: 106-111

15. Van Loon LJ, Saris WH, Verhagen H, Wagenmakers AJ. Plasma insulin responses after ingestion of different amino acid or protein mixtures with carbohydrate. Am J Clin Nutri 2000; 72: 96-105

16. Williams MB, Raven PB, Fogt DL, Ivy JL. Effects of recovery beverages on glycogen restoration and endurance exercise performance. J Strength Cond Res 2003;

17 (1): 12-19 17. Zawadzki YM, Yaspelkis BB, Ivy JL. Carbohydrate-protein complex increases the rate of muscle glycogen storage after exercise. J Appl Physiol 1992; 72 (5): 1854-1859

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