Smashing a heavy training session can leave your muscles sore and achy for days post workout. Incorporating a good post workout nutrition and supplement strategy is crucial in order to recover faster so that you can get back in the gym and hit the weights hard day after day. Studies have proven that specific supplements can provide a reduction in muscle mass soreness and exercise induced muscle mass breakdown. We are going to talk about the best post workout supplements to optimize your recovery and performance.
Make Sure Your Supplement Is Clinically Dosed & Proprietary Blend Free
When you’re looking for the best post workout supplement to purchase, there are a few important things to note.
To start, you’re going to find a ton of post workout supplements, simply named “POST”. It’s important to research these products and make sure they contain the ingredients you need to really optimize recovery. Most of the time, specific post products are similar to pre workouts, and contain proprietary blends, which don’t tell you the dose of each ingredient. It is vital to your recovery, that you get the full dose of the ingredients your body need, unless these products are just a waste of money.
To summarize, before you buy a post workout supplement, make sure
- It’s proprietary blend free
- It’s clinically dosed
- It contains the ingredients proven to reduce muscle soreness and optimize recovery
Just because a professional athlete or influencer claims they use a product, does not mean it works.
The 6 Best Post-Workout Supplements Actually Proven To Enhance Recovery
1. POST
Aptly named, POST is Swolverine's premier POST workout supplement. POST is a synergistic combination of proven sports nutrition and high quality super foods.
POST combines complex carbohydrates from peas, papaya, pineapple, and pomegranate with fast absorbing pea protein isolate and electrolytes for maximal recovery, muscle growth, and hydration.
Studies show that a combination of protein and carbohydrates are needed for optimal muscle growth and recovery. POST also contains the best amino acid for recovery and less muscle soreness, L-Glutamine.
Post-Workout Benefits Of POST
- Less Muscle Soreness
- Reduces Muscle Mass Breakdown
- Proven Formula To Build More Muscle
- Made With 100% whole superfoods
- Vegan, Non-GMO, Gluten Free, Soy Free Formula
2. Citrulline Malate
Post-workout supplements are specifically used after your workout to help reduce exercise induced muscle soreness and speed up recovery time. But Citrulline Malate is an exception. Citrulline Malate is a natural Nitric Oxide [NO booster]. Nitric oxide widens your blood vessels, which improves blood flow, oxygen, and nutrient delivery to your muscles. Often times you’ll find L-Citrulline or Citrulline Malate as a main ingredient in pre-workout supplements. However several studies have shown that Citrulline Malate enhances exercise performance and recovery.
Citrulline Malate has also been proven to stimulate muscle protein synthesis the muscle building process, as well as enhance the use of specific branched chain amino acids, to enhance post workout muscle recovery.
Post-Workout Benefits Of Citrulline Malate
- Delayed Muscle Fatigue- Increases ATP Production [R]
- Improved NO – Better recovery, increased strength, delayed muscle fatigue
- More Power- Increases phosphocreatine levels [R]
- Increased Strength- Facilitates Muscle Protein Synthesis [R]
- Optimized Recovery- Enhances Amino Acid Utilization [R]
What’s The Proper Dose Of Citrulline Malate
Studies show that a dose of 5-6g pre workout will provide the desired post workout benefits.
RECOMMENDED PRODUCT: 2:1 Citrulline Malate (100 Servings, Unflavored)
3. BCAA
Gains aren’t made in the gym; they’re made at home when you recover. Branched-chain amino acids have been shown to reduce muscle mass breakdown and initiate muscle protein synthesis the muscle rebuilding process. When you lift weights, you cause microtrauma to the muscle tissue. These microtears or fissures, can result in what’s called DOMS or delayed onset muscle soreness. Studies show that supplementing with BCAAs pre and post workout is extremely beneficial to repair muscle mass breakdown and optimize your recovery [R].
Post-Workout Benefits Of BCAAs
- Improved Muscle Recovery
- Reduced Muscle Mass Breakdown
- Rebuilding Lean Muscle Mass
- Reduced Exercise-Induced Muscle Soreness
- Delays Muscle Fatigue
- Improves Body Composition
What’s The Proper Dose Of BCAAs
Studies show that a dose of 6-8g pre and post workout with a ratio of 2:1:1 will provide the desired post workout benefits.
RECOMMENDED PRODUCT: 2:1:1 BCAA + Electrolytes (Lemon Lime, 50 Servings)
4. L-Glutamine
L-Glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid, This means that under certain conditions such as increased training volume, glutamine stores are depleted faster than your body can replenish them, which can cause your body to be catabolic and break down lean muscle mass. Low levels of glutamine can also compromise your immune system, increasing the risk of infection post workout.
Glutamine is one of the best post workout supplements for muscle recovery due to its ability in reducing muscle mass breakdown and post-workout soreness. With less soreness and faster recovery, you can increase training volume. Increased training volume translates to more training and better results.
Post-Workout Benefits Of L-Glutamine
- Improved Muscle Recovery
- Reduced Muscle Mass Breakdown
- Rebuilding Lean Muscle Mass
- Reduced Exercise-Induced Muscle Soreness
What’s The Proper Dose Of L-Glutamine
Studies show that a dose of 5-10g post workout will provide the desired post workout benefits.
RECOMMENDED PRODUCT L-Glutamine (100 Servings, Unflavored)
5. Whey Protein Isolate
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 and proteolysis (muscle mass breakdown).
The essential branched chain amino acids, that you derive from protein post-workout provides the critical fuel you need to reduce exercise-induced muscle damage and accelerate the recovery process [R]. Therefore, adding protein to your post-workout nutrition strategy is vital to fuel your goals.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that protein supplementation or ingestion post-workout has a beneficial effect on acute anaerobic power, strength, and recovery [R].
For the best results post-workout, opt for a liquid form of protein like Whey Protein Isolate. Whole foods digest slowly and if whole meals aren’t practical after your workout, then toss back a post-workout nutrition shake, to get the nutrients you need quickly and efficiently.
Post-Workout Benefits Of Whey Protein Isolate
- Improved Muscle Recovery
- Reduced Muscle Mass Breakdown
- Rebuilding Lean Muscle Mass
- Reduced Exercise-Induced Muscle Soreness
- Delays Muscle Fatigue
- Improves Body Composition
What’s The Proper Dose Of Whey Protein Isolate
Including protein into your post-workout nutrition strategy really depends on how much protein you ate during the day. The current Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for healthy individuals is 0.8 g/kg/day for an untrained conventional diet. However in physically active individuals that are optimizing training performance protein intake of at least 1.4–1.6 g/kg/day is recommended [R].
RECOMMENDED PRODUCT Whey Protein Isolate (Chocolate, Vanilla, Or Honey Cinnamon Peanut Butter, 30 Servings)
6. Clean Carbs
Studies have shown that carbohydrates are a crucial piece of your post workout nutrition strategy and muscle recovery.
Glycogen is the major fuel source produced from glucose found in Carbohydrates. Glycogen plays a major role in supporting energy demands during pro-longed high-intensity training and moderate exercise. [R]. The depletion of glycogen stores is the main factor in the onset of fatigue during exercise [R]. For rapid recovery from prolonged exercise, 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’re training for hours throughout the day, or have multiple WODs in your workouts, it’s crucial to supplement with a clean, natural complex carbohydrate product to help replenish glycogen stores, for long-lasting energy and endurance.
But not any carbohydrate supplements are the same. Most carb supplements are made with maltodextrin, dextrose or cyclic dextrin, which are fancier words for modified corn starch, aka sugar. Corn is a fast-acting source of starch, meaning it spikes your blood glucose levels. It’ll give you a quick burst of energy, followed by a devastating crash, which is something we all want to avoid.
We recommend our product Clean Carbs, which contains sweet potatoes, yams, oats, and blueberries.
Getting the proper and adequate amounts of essential amino acids from protein and glycogen from carbohydrates is crucial for post-workout nutrition, in order to replenish and initiate the repair process to optimize your training.
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 Benefits Of Clean Carbs
- Long Lasting Sustained Energy
- Increased Strength Gains
- Enhanced Endurance
- More Muscle
- Optimized Post Workout Muscle Recovery
What’s The Proper Dose Of Clean Carbohydrates
Carbohydrate intake depends on several key factors such as health, fitness, and body composition goals. General recommendations for carbohydrates are 4g per kg of body weight per day. Endurance athletes are recommended to consume between 7-11g per kg of body weight per day.
RECOMMENDED PRODUCT: Clean Carbs
Best Post-Workout Supplements: Takeaway
Implementing the right supplements into your post workout nutrition strategy is crucial for your exercise performance and training outcomes. Less muscle soreness, means you'll be able to recover faster and get back to lifting heavy, running, and on track to your goals. Too much muscle soreness can be debilitating and counterproductive, causing pain, and exacerbated inflammation. With the right post workout nutrition, you can build more muscle mass, recover faster, and build the body you want.
Looking For The Best Post Workout Supplement To Help You Add More Muscle And Recover Faster?
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