Protein is one of the most misunderstood and underestimated parts of the diet. Jen Kates breaks it down to show why it's important and how much you need -- regardless of whether your a desk jockey, weekend warrior, or elite endurance athlete.
Most athletes know they need protein for recovery, but there's a lot of conflicting information floating around the interwebs as to exactly how much we need to recover from workouts, get stronger, and perform optimally.
Thankfully we have Amity Warme to help cut through the cloud of misinformation with the following simple and straightforward evidence-based recommendations.
Getting key nutrients after training is critical to optimizing recovery from hard workout so you get full benefit from your workout and come back stronger for the next one. My latest recovery smoothie recipe includes the ingredients I’ve found to the most profound effect on decreasing inflammation and speeding tissue repair. It contains tart cherry juice, beet juice, plant-based protein, tumeric paste, cacao, and spinach amongst other fruits and vegetables.
I can recall hearing about fasting almost as far back as I can remember, but until recently I was skeptical there was a place for it amongst endurance athletes. You see, I was always that type who would wake up ravenous. If I didn't eat within 30 minutes of getting out of bed my thoughts would be solely focussed on finding food as quickly as possible. I would also experience a similar scenario if I went more than a few hours during the day since my previous meal. For someone who loves food, this was great from the standpoint that I'd get to eat again, but also made me feel like a slave to eating. "Hangry" was an all-to-common state for me.
Winter is here, which means that many of you include a winter strength training program to supplement your endurance training in the off-season. You may be lifting more (and heavier) weights, spending more time in the saddle indoors on your trainer, trail running in snow, or participating in a variety of other snow sports. No matter what training you do in your off-season, you need to make sure you optimize your recovery.
