Over the course of the past five years, I've read about the importance of post-workout fueling hundreds of times. Everyone knows it is important, but the most concise reasoning I've read comes from Matt Dixon.
Matt talks about the importance of such fueling in his book The Well-Built Triathlete. His claim is the fueling that occurs within 15 minutes of finishing any training is very important to trigger proper adaptations. He recommends consuming 15 to 20 grams of protein within that window, but his reasoning behind why it is important is what I feel has real value.
The intake of protein after every single session sends a signal to the brain that it is no longer under stress and to start the recovery process. Cortisol is produced in your body when it is under stress, including training, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. What you do want to stop is the prolonged cortisol response after training, which is slowed by consuming the protein immediately after training. You should consume a full meal within 90 to 120 minutes of the end of the workout, but the immediate protein intake is the first step in the recovery process that is important.
In all honesty, this is not something I have been great about in my training, but I am committed to changing that. Matt explains at several times in his book the full meal within 2 hours goes a long way to prevent hunger cravings later in the day as well. Too many times I've had just a small snack after a hard long run only to have insatiable cravings later in the day. Getting a solid, well balanced meal in helps return the body to homeostasis and curb global stress on the body.
Frequently we feel like eating is the last thing we'd like to do when getting back from a hard session, but in order to get the most out of your training proper recovery is essential.
