Post workout supplements are exactly what they sound like - supplements made specifically with the nutrients you need to recover faster and reduce post workout muscle soreness. Recovery is crucial to your performance if you want to continuously build more muscle mass, strength, and be in tip-top shape to rinse, and repeat training the following day. We’re going to discuss what post workout supplements are, the best post workout ingredients, and if you are the type of athlete that would benefit from supplementing with one.

What Are Post Workout Supplements 

Post workout supplements are sports nutrition products, normally a blend or mix of different ingredients required for optimal post workout recovery, such as carbohydrates, protein, and specific amino acids, or super food ingredients to enhance the recovery process.

Swolverine’s POST WORKOUT supplement contains the following ingredients

• Pea Protein Isolate
• Pea Starch (Carb 10)
• L-Glutamine
• Bromelain
• Pineapple
• Papaya
• Spirulina
• Pomegranate
• Coconut Water
• Oat Milk Powder
• Himalayan Pink Salt

This formula contains a 2:1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein. Ingredients such as Pea Starch, Pineapple, Papaya, Pomegranate, Coconut Water, and Oat Milk, provide high-quality complex carbohydrates from real food, to help restore glycogen to rebuild and recover muscle mass faster.

Why Do You Need A Post Workout Supplement

Post-workout nutrition is the most important aspect of your training and your overall success. Consuming the right nutrients is fundamental to maximize athletic performance and potential by repairing lean muscle tissue and optimizing recovery. Exercise capacity, performance and recovery from exercise can be enhanced by evidence-based nutritional interventions through the manipulation of different nutritional variables (i.e., nutrient composition, quantity, and timing of nutrient ingestion.) [R].

Post Workout Supplements/Nutrition - Protein

Protein plays a vital role in building and rebuilding muscle mass and strength, improving body composition, and optimizing recovery. Protein is rich in branched-chain amino acids BCAAs, Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine which stimulate protein synthesis (muscle building) and decreases proteolysis (muscle mass breakdown.)

Numerous studies have demonstrated that protein supplementation or ingestion post-workout has a beneficial effect on acute anaerobic power, strength, and recovery [R]. This is why supplementing with a post workout protein shake is so vital to your overall performance gains and goals.

Pea protein is perhaps the best plant protein source. Supplementing with a plant protein that has a full essential amino acid (EAA) profile, is critical to initiating the muscle-building process, better known as muscle protein synthesis. As compared to other plant-based protein sources, Pea protein has the highest essential amino acid mix, almost rivaling that of Whey Protein [R]. Finding a plant protein powder that contains a mix of nutritional plant protein sources with additional micronutrients is crucial for a plant-based diet. 

Post Workout Supplements/Nutrition – Carbohydrates 

Carbohydrates provide glucose, which is stored as glycogen, a major fuel source for your body. Glycogen plays a major role in supporting energy demands during high-intensity training and moderate exercise. [R]. The depletion of glycogen stores is the main contributing factor of muscle fatigue during exercise [R]. For rapid post workout recovery it is important to replenish glycogen stores to initiate muscle repair and adaptation [R]. Carbohydrates can be utilized within your post-workout nutrition strategy to influence the restoration of endurance capacity during high-intensity training [R].

Numerous clinical studies have proven that prolonged exercise correlates with low glycogen muscle content [R]. Therefore, if you plan on crushing multiple workouts or go for a long distance run, it’s crucial to supplement or eat complex carbohydrates to help replenish glycogen stores, for long-lasting energy and endurance.

As you can see it’s crucial that your post-workout supplement contains protein as well as carbohydrates to initiate the process of muscle protein synthesis, which will help build more muscle mass and replace glycogen stores. Clinical studies have shown that including carbohydrates and protein together into your post-workout nutrition has the greatest benefits on performance optimization [R].

Post Workout Supplement Benefits

Faster Recovery 

The obvious benefit of post workout supplements are supporting muscle recovery and reducing exercise induced muscle mass soreness. Traditionally, post workout supplements will contain glutamine, a conditionally essential amino acid proven to help improve muscle recovery.

L-Glutamine plays a vital role in helping your muscles rebuild and repair themselves, to prevent muscle soreness and aid in faster muscle recovery. L-glutamine inhibits muscle mass breakdown, and improves protein metabolism, thus improving exercise induced muscle soreness. Studies have shown that the anti-catabolism (protection against break down) effects of glutamine have a direct effect on reducing soreness ratings associated with resistance training, due to improving muscle tissue repair, theoretically putting your body back into an anabolic state.

RELATED ARTICLE Benefits Of Glutamine

In a randomized, double-blind controlled study conducted by the School of Health and Human Performance, at Dalhousie University, 16 healthy participants were either administered a placebo or 0.3 grams of L-Glutamine per kg of body weight every day for a 72-hour period after eccentric exercise involving knee extensions. The study concluded that L-Glutamine supplementation resulted in faster recovery of peak torque and diminished muscle soreness with lower soreness ratings post-workout after a three-day period [R]

RELATED ARTICLE L-Glutamine: The Best Post Workout Supplement For Recovery

Other ingredients shown to improve recovery are the branched chain amino acids, found in protein which inhibit muscle mass breakdown as well as bromelain, spirulina, and pomegranate.

Bromelain, derived from pineapple is a fascinating and extremely effective post-workout ingredient. Bromelain is a group of enzymes, naturally derived from Pineapple. Bromelain is rich in proteolytic enzymes, or proteases, which help metabolize proteins into amino acids. Once protein is broken down, it is much more readily absorbed. (This is the exact reason why Swolverine adds protease and papain from papaya, in our Whey Protein Isolate.)

Studies have shown that bromelain can ease and enhance digestion for better digestive health. Research also shows that bromelain may aid in reducing inflammation in regard to reduced joint pain, swelling, and stiffness.

RELATED ARTICLE Benefits Of Bromelain 

Muscle Mass & Strength

Post workout supplements also benefit the process of muscle protein synthesis, which will promote bigger gains in muscle and strength.

Protein is comprised of essential amino acids, which are directly responsible for increasing the rate of the biological process of muscle protein synthesis and decreasing the rate of protein degradation. Flooding your body with amino acids post workout is crucial, as it will help with the muscle rebuilding process and optimize your post-workout recovery. Adding extra single amino acids, such as L-Glutamine to your post-workout shake can further optimize your recovery by reducing protein muscle breakdown and exercise-induced muscle soreness. 

Post Workout Supplements:Takeaway 

Adding a post workout supplement to your supplement regimen will help you initiate the muscle building process and reduce muscle mass breakdown, supporting bigger gains in strength and muscle recovery. Recovery is crucial to reach your goals of bigger gains, and better performance. And with the adequate nutrients post-workout, either from real food or a supplement, such as protein, carbohydrates, or a formulated post workout supplement, you’ll be able to achieve greater performance outcomes