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Andrea Manley MS, RD, LDN
Clinical Die cian, St. Joseph's/Candler
Ultra Marathoner
Muscle recovery a er a race or training session is more important than you might expect. The key
post-race is avoiding muscle loss and thus avoiding a sports injury.
During the hours a er a race there is a high rate of muscle glycogen use and without replacing it,
runners can experience muscle loss. For that, carbohydrates are our friends.
There are five key points to replacing muscle glycogen:
1. Timing of carbohydrate intake
2. Rate of carbohydrate intake
3. Type of carbohydrate consumed
4. The intake of protein and carbohydrate a er exercise
5. The intake of caffeine
Research has shown that a substan al intake of carbohydrate immediately a er exercise appears
to prevent muscle atrophy.
Get this: researchers have seen that delaying carbohydrate intake for two or more hours a er exercise
can cause the replenishment of muscle glycogen to be 45% lower than if taken immediately a er
exercise. So it is important to eat some carbohydrates as fast as you are able.
Intake of different types of carbohydrate has different effects on muscle synthesis. Fructose, or
fruit sugar, has been shown to prevent muscle loss be er than table sugar, or sucrose. Glucose and
fructose have both been shown to increase muscle synthesis post-exercise.
NUTRITION FOR RECOVERY
