TOP 5 sports nutrition products for recovery after workouts

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2019-11-07

I think everyone understands that after each workout, the body needs not only time to recover but also resources. Sometimes, the body does not have enough time to recover from one workout to the next, and fatigue accumulates more and more.

This typically manifests as a decline in energy, apathy, loss of appetite, poor sleep, and a reluctance to train. Moreover, you may not experience all these symptoms at once. However, even an inexperienced person begins to understand that they simply cannot recover in time. Here, there are three options to address this problem:

• Reduce the load (work volume in training).
• Increase rest time (train less frequently).
• Provide the body with more resources for recovery.

This article will focus on the last option. That is, how to give the body more resources for recovery through sports nutrition. To answer this question more effectively and to make it clearer for you, we first need to understand what recovery from workouts consists of:

• Restoration of expended energy.
• Restoration of lost minerals.
• Restoration of muscle structure.
• Restoration of psycho-emotional resources.

The last option has little to do with sports nutrition. Here, what is simply needed is rest and sleep. However, in the first three areas, sports nutrition can be quite beneficial.

1. Gainers

Gainers are specifically designed to restore expended energy. For example, a man weighing 100 kg will burn about 600 kcal during a 1.5-hour strength training session. If this same man runs nonstop for an hour, he will burn 900 - 1000 kcal (more details - here). This energy needs to be replenished somehow. The best way to restore energy is through carbohydrates. Moreover, these should be fast carbohydrates. And here, the sports nutrition industry has long proposed its solution: gainers, which consist primarily of fast carbohydrates, averaging around 70%.

Many will exclaim: what should I do if I am trying to lose weight? Then I shouldn't take a gainer, as it is intended for bulking. I would say: if you manage to recover between workouts, then it will indeed be unnecessary for you. But if fatigue accumulates day by day and you simply do not have enough time for recovery, then you will have to take a gainer, or prepare to train less frequently and with less intensity, as you simply won't have the strength.

For recovery, inexpensive gainers containing a lot of carbohydrates (about 70%) are suitable. Here are some examples:

• Mutant Mass by Mutant
• Real Mass by Maxler
• Mass Builder by VPLab

2. Vitamin and Mineral Complexes

They are necessary for restoring the expended micronutrients and minerals. Primarily, this involves potassium, sodium, and magnesium, but it also applies to other minerals and vitamins, albeit to a lesser extent. Both pharmacy vitamins, such as “Oligovit” and “Complivit,” and sports vitamins will work:

• Men's Vitamins from Dobromil Fit
• Women's Vitamins from Dobromil Fit
• Multi Pack by Nutriversum
• Vita-min Multiple Sport by Olimp

In principle, you can purchase potassium and magnesium separately and consume more salt (salt is sodium + chlorine), but although this may be cheaper, it will not replace all the other components.

3. BCAAs

This and the next two types of sports nutrition are aimed at restoring muscle structure. Now I want to say a few words about this. Muscle structures are made up of amino acids. During strength training, micro-tears occur in the muscles. This is why muscles start to ache a day later. If there is no muscle soreness (all about muscle pain), it doesn't mean that the muscles don't need to recover. It simply means that their structure is only slightly disrupted. Regardless, even with no training at all, amino acids are needed to maintain muscle mass.

Why specifically BCAAs? For those who aren't familiar, you can read about these amino acids here. For now, you just need to know that about 30% of all the amino acids present in muscle mass are BCAAs (isoleucine, leucine, and valine). Thus, BCAAs were specifically developed for muscle recovery after training.

Typically, an actively training person should take 2 grams of BCAAs per 10 kg of body weight per day, splitting this dose into two intakes (morning and evening). So, for a weight of 100 kg, 20 grams of BCAAs a day would be sufficient. Here we are talking about pure BCAAs. I can recommend the following:

• BCAA by Dobromil Fit
• BCAA Xplode by Olimp
• 100% BCAA by BioTech
• Premium BCAA Powder by Weider

4. Amino Acids

However, our muscles consist not only of the three amino acids mentioned above, but of 18! All of them need to be replenished. Therefore, I recommend that if you don’t have much money, focus on complex amino acids. While they may contain less BCAAs (about 20% - 25% of the total amino acid mass), they provide all the other essential amino acids.

I recommend taking complex amino acids in the same way as BCAAs, but the dosage should be 3 – 4 grams per kg of body weight. This means you should take 1.5 to 2 times more than you would with BCAAs. Here are some complexes I suggest:

• Amino Tablet by PurePro
• Amino 5600 by Scitec Nutrition
• Anabolic Amino by Olimp

5. Protein

Protein serves the same purpose as amino acids. Furthermore, protein itself is made up of amino acids. The difference between protein and amino acids is simply that the latter is already broken down into amino acids. With protein, it is not. I think you understand that this difference is negligible and in the stomach, everything will still break down into amino acids.

Thus, BCAAs, amino acids, and protein are all essentially the same: amino acids. It's just that BCAAs consist of three amino acids, while complex amino acids and protein consist of 18. However, they all serve one purpose in terms of recovery: restoring muscle structure. Therefore, there is not much point in taking them all, and in most cases, it is enough to take protein. If you find it difficult to consume enough food, or if you have digestion issues with protein, you may opt for amino acids. If you feel that you specifically lack BCAAs, then you can add them to your diet as well.

I recommend consuming protein at about 1 gram per kg of body weight per day. It's best to split this dose into two intakes: morning and evening, for better absorption. I recommend choosing a regular whey concentrate with approximately 70% or more protein. For example:

• Whey Protein by Dobromil Fit
• Matrix by Syntra
• ProStar Whey by Ultimate Nutrition
• Golden Whey by Maxler

Conclusions

What can be added at the end of this article? Personally, I believe that the most important factors for recovery are sleep, regular food, and minimizing stress. However, adding sports nutrition can accelerate your recovery by roughly 25%. Whether that's a lot or a little - let each person decide for themselves. I think it's not insignificant, especially in a context where most people work a lot and constantly do not get enough sleep.

Before rushing to buy everything I've listed above, it's important to identify where your weak link is. For instance, if you simply lack energy, then purchasing amino acids will not solve your recovery problem. Similarly, if you have a vitamin deficiency, gainers won’t help. And so on.

However, it often happens that the body lacks resources in all three areas. Just in varying amounts. In any case, you need to be attentive to your body and understand when and what you are lacking. Good luck!