Can I eat an apple after a workout?

Modern life with its fast pace requires endurance from a person. And this quality can be achieved only if a number of conditions are observed, the main of which is an active lifestyle. Perhaps, for this reason, many people of different age categories are willingly engaged in certain types of sports.

Of course, each individual has his own goal of sports: someone is struggling with body fat, while others, on the contrary, want to build muscle. But in any case, in order to achieve a positive result in the sports field, it is necessary, in addition to a strict training regime, to strictly observe the nutrition rules.

Nutrition is, one might say, the basis of all achievements. After all, only a properly built diet will help the athlete withstand tremendous physical exertion and quickly recover after performing a set of mandatory exercises.

Eating Behavior After Training

Any kind of physical activity is perceived by the body as stress. Indeed, in just one hour training, an athlete who is seriously involved in sports spends about 400 kcal. Therefore, after such an event, the body experiences a shortage of energy resources. The fact is that in the first hours after intense loads in the body, fat is broken down in an active mode. Given this factor, experts do not recommend eating for two hours.

Some athletes believe that eating a small apple after exercise in the gym is acceptable. How justified is such a relaxation in the diet, we will try to answer.

How do specialists relate to the apple diet after training?

It is known that the daily requirement of the body, or rather the liver, for glycogen is only about 150 grams. It follows that the daily dose of fruit should not be significant. If we are talking about apples, then it is enough to include one yellow or 2 green fruits in the daily menu. Such a light fruit snack is best done by an athlete in the first part of the day. But under no pretext should you eat apples before bedtime after an evening workout. This limitation is due to the fact that in a passive state of the body, carbon is more actively split, and this is accompanied by the release of energy. Unclaimed energy resource is necessarily converted to fat.

From the foregoing, we can conclude that after exercise you can eat an apple, and sometimes you even need to. It all depends on the specific situation and the purpose of sports activities. For example, an athlete seeking to quickly gain muscle mass is allowed to make such a retreat in a strict diet schedule. If training is based on weight loss, then it is better to refuse an apple snack.

The nutritional value of apples

Apples have many useful qualities that will provide effective assistance to the athlete’s body after intensive training. Fruits have the following beneficial properties:

1. Digestive processes are normalized due to the high content of plant fiber in them.
2. They stabilize hemoglobin because one of the main components of the composition of the fetus is iron.
3. They help the active burning of fats, as they saturate the blood with oxygen.
4. They have pronounced antioxidant properties, which is manifested in the cleansing of the body of toxins and toxins.
5. The tannins present in apples fulfill a preventive mission, preventing the development of urolithiasis.
6. Organic acids inhibit the process of decay in the intestines.
7. Ascorbic acid (Vitamin "C") is a natural immunomodulator that supports the normal state and function of blood vessels.
8. Pectin neutralizes and removes salts of heavy metals.

This entire list of beneficial effects can provide one small apple. The energy value of 100 grams of the product is approximately 46 kcal. Therefore, one fruit will be enough to satisfy the feeling of hunger and give the body a charge of vivacity.

How to eat apples after a workout

It is recommended to make a light snack in the first 20 minutes after class. During this period, the anabolic window remains open in the body, that is, all components that fall into it will be directed to the recovery process.

The optimal apple varieties for the athlete's diet are Simirenko, Granny Smith. They have a lot of iron and a minimum of sugar. Therefore, these varieties of apples will not affect weight gain in any way if the training process is aimed at losing weight. Red fruits cannot boast of such qualities, in addition, they can cause allergies.

How can I replace an apple

To restore the water balance, such drinks are suitable:

• green tea;
• cocoa;
• fruit juice;
• purified plain water.

Such inclusion in the athlete's menu will help to recover quickly. There is another option - low-fat kefir. The optimal dose of a fermented milk drink is 2 glasses.

Summing up, we can confidently say that apples are very useful for actively training athletes. If rationally introduced into the diet, they will help fill up the deficiency of fluid and the necessary energy.

Video: nutrition before and after training