Refueling After You Run

Audio Transcript

Coach Dylan: Hi there, Runners Connect fans and friends. This is the Run to the Top Extra Kick Podcast. I will be answering your fantastic questions.

Today’s question comes from Josh.

Josh: I was just wondering if there was a rule thumb or a formula to help me figure out how many calories or better yet, how much protein and carbohydrates specifically I need to take after a run?

An easy run vs a hard run because I would imagine there are different amounts. Thanks in advance.

Dylan: Wonderful question and thank you for taking the time out of your day to reach out to us.

Post run recovery nutrition is the most immediate and one of the most important factors when kickstarting your body into internal recovery mode.

Post activity, your body is the most susceptible to taking in nutrients to restore your glycogen levels.

You have a small window of time that remains the most optimal which lies around 30 minutes.

Your body will still take in and use nutrients for fuel after this period, but if you can get something in your body after a workout within that 30-minute time frame, you’re going to be able to restore glycogen levels at its sensitive peak.

Running in its nature is a catabolic activity which means we’re breaking down muscles, so it makes sense that once we complete our run, we want to return to an anabolic state, which means building up your muscles which is how we make improvements in strength.

The window for when this is optimal is around 30 minutes and during this time, research indicates that a 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio is going to be the most ideal.

However, 3:1 and 2:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio are still quite effective.

A good rule of thumb here is to take your weight in pounds and that will be the amount of carbohydrate that you would need.

Let’s say that you weigh 150 pounds, then that would mean you would take in 150 grams of carbohydrates and if we’re using the 4:1 ratio that would leave us with 50 grams of protein.

150 grams of carbohydrate, 50 grams of protein, for 150-pound individual post run.

I would aim to get half of this within that 30 minutes and then try to get the rest of this nutrition later during the day maybe for breakfast or brunch.

This might seem like quite a bit, but what’s important is that we find the right ratio for us and we do work with and tweak the different aspects in which we’re feeling or how we feel recovery after runs.

Some of us may find that 4:1 isn’t the most optimal for them. While research says that this is, it doesn’t indicate that it’s going to work the best for everybody, so trial and error is of usage here, but I would start with 4:1.

I recommend bringing a small protein bar or making a quick protein shake as this is an easy way to get this replenishment.

If you’re away from home, I would pack a 200 to 300 calorie snack such as a protein bar, fruit and granola, or a peanut butter and banana. These are all great options to ingest post run.

My personal favorite is to combine my complete body cocoa elite protein mix and mix this with milk and it tastes just like a chocolate smoothie.

I will then add a regular meal within the next hour or two to supplement my recovery shake.

What this looks like for me is oatmeal with a banana and peanut butter or I will make oat flour and an egg in there as well.

Smash a banana in there, put it on the stove, and make some pancakes and then I’ll put peanut butter on top of it. It’s really tasty and I think it’s a great meal to have within that first hour or two post-run.

You might be asking when do we need to incorporate this 4:1 ratio?

I would say it’s best only intake this mix or the heavy amount of mix after a hard workout or a long run where your body has been put through a physical demand that it’s beyond a normal easy continuous run.

We’ve got to make sure that we get something into your system quick, so we can begin that recovery process immediately. Remember, we want to be an anabolic state as quickly as possible.

This can of course include both liquid and solid forms of recovery as well. We can ingest some of that carbohydrate with sports drink post run.

For runs of less than an hour, water typically suffices, but if you’re away from home I recommend bring in a snack. Bring something smaller that has 100 to 250 calorie range that has a good ratio of carbs to protein

No run is too short, but I would make sure that we really don’t go up and over the top unless we’re really working that day on a hard workout or a long run specifically.

If we’re really aiming for that hour to an hour and a half, it’s like an in-between zone.

You can sometimes supplement with water and a light carbohydrate such as a sports drink or a small snack especially if this was a maximal run for us.

The larger takeaways from today’s question is that the sooner the better when ingesting calories post run or long run.

I would try to aim for that 4:1 carbohydrate to protein ratio and aim to get another meal within two hours of your run to ultimately give your body the best chance at recovering in the optimal sense.

Thank you very much for submitting your question into us today Josh. I hope I have been of help for you in your future.

For those of us listening I would like for you guys to share with me or into share with us what is your favorite thing to take in post run or post recovery.

I know many of us have wide and very different things that we take in post run.

For those of you listening and have an Instagram account, I recommend that you tag at runners connect and let us know and show us your pictures of what you had post run. I can’t wait to check it out.

Thank you for turning in today. For those of you listening that want to have your question answered by one of the runners connect coaches, head over to runnersconnect.net/daily and click the record button to sing your question over.

We look forward to hearing from you soon. Enjoy the rest of your day.