Post Workout Smoothies

A post workout smoothie is a smoothie that you consume after your workout. Smoothies are an excellent snack after a workout because they are delicious, packed with nutrients, and easy to add protein and other supplements to. They can help you recover from your workout and build muscle. Here’s what you need to know about post workout smoothies.

Why do I need a post workout smoothie?

When you exercise, you break down muscle protein and burn through glycogen stores in your muscles. This is especially true during high intensity exercise. After your workout, your body restores the glycogen stores and regrows muscle proteins. To help with this process, it's important to eat the right nutrients, especially carbs and protein, shortly after you exercise so your body can perform this process quickly and efficiently. Consuming a post workout smoothie can give you the protein needed to rebuild and grow muscles and the carbohydrates needed to replenish glycogen stores.

When should I have my post workout smoothie?

If you’re looking to maximize muscle growth, consume your post workout smoothie with some extra protein immediately after or within 2 hours after a workout. This is especially true if you don't have a pre-exercise meal. Consuming protein and other nutrients shortly after your workout will help your body start the recovery process with proper nutrition. If you happen to miss your post workout smoothie immediately after your workout, don’t sweat it. For most people, anytime after your workout is still good. The most important thing is to get some extra protein and proper nutrition in your body within 12 hours after a hard workout session. 

Pre Workout Smoothies

Believe it or not, you can also consume your smoothie before your workout and get similar muscle development results to having a post workout smoothie. Timing is less important than getting enough protein throughout the day. Some people even enjoy sipping on a smoothie during their workout to give them a constant stream of energy to get them through the workout. Although this isn't recommended if you are doing an intense workout as you don’t want to upset your stomach.  

Protein

Protein is important because it provides your body with the amino acids it needs to build muscle. And when you exercise, the proteins that make up your muscle fibers become damaged. Consuming protein after your workout helps give your body the raw material it needs to repair the muscle damage, recover, and build new stronger, bigger, muscles.

How Much Protein Should My Post Workout Smoothie Have?

Somewhere between 20-40 grams of protein. Go on the higher side if you are bigger and/or are trying to add muscle. Any more than 40 grams of protein though is excessive for most people and your body won’t use it for muscle-protein synthesis.

The National Institutes of Health recommends consuming 0.36 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day for a sedentary person. But in reality, much more is needed for people who are active, want to gain muscle or lose weight. Unfortunately, many people consume less than the daily minimum recommendation and could benefit from some extra protein each day.

Not getting enough protein can lead to a variety of health issues. In addition, not getting enough protein in your diet can lead to muscle loss. If you’re active, you should consume much more than the recommended amount of protein. Many fitness trainers and bodybuilders recommend consuming 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.

For someone who weighs 170lbs that’s 136-170 grams of protein which can be quite tough to consume if your not consciously adding additional protein to your diet throughout the day. That’s why adding an extra smoothie each day to your diet is a fantastic way to meet your daily protein needs and get an extra 20-40g of protein during a meal or snack.

One great way to add a lot of additional protein to your smoothie is by adding a scoop or two of protein powder. For more information on protein powders check out Smoothie Ingredient Guide: Protein Powders.

Protein Consumption

Consume protein every 3 hours for optimal muscle growth and recovery. Depending on your body weight, 20-40 grams of protein every 3 to 4 hours is recommended.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are important because your muscles use the glucose from carbohydrates for energy. The body processes and stores glucose in the liver and muscles through glycogen. But your glycogen levels in your muscles are limited. During high intensity exercise, the glycogen stores in your muscles are the primary source of energy and can become depleted and thus your performance and intensity can fall. During long-distance events such as marathons, “hitting the wall” can occur when the body’s glycogen stores are depleted. This leads to extreme fatigue, a significant decrease in performance, and the feeling that the body is shutting down. “Hitting the wall” often occurs after 2-3 hours of continuous exertion without additional nutrition. So it’s important to consume carbohydrates for energy to perform your best during longer and intense workouts and to recover after you’ve burned through the glycogen in your system.

Post Endurance Workouts

For long endurance workouts, aim to consume more carbs in your pre or post workout smoothie for activities like running, biking, and swimming vs weightlifting.

Fats

Fat is used as a fuel source for longer and moderate-to-low intensity exercise. Don’t add too much fat to your post workout. Some fat is good post workout but consuming a lot of fat post workout might slow your digestion and inhibit nutrient absorption and protein synthesis. 

Best Protein Sources for Smoothies

Whey Protein Powder - 24-30g per scoop

Plant Protein Powder 10-20g per scoop

Yogurt - 11.5g per 4 oz

Milk - 8g per cup

Oats - 5g per ½ cup

Quinoa - 4g per ½ cup

Hemp Seeds - 9g per 3 tbsp

Chia Seeds (14% protein) - 2g per tbsp

Lentils (28% protein) - 12g per ¼ cup

Chickpeas (18% protein) - 6g per ½ cup

Peanut Butter - 8g per 2 tbsp

Almond Butter - 7g per 2 tbsp

Peanuts (17% protein) - 8g per 1 oz

Almonds (15% protein) - 7g per ¼ cup

Pistachios (15% protein) - 6g per ¼ cup

Cashews (10% protein) - 5g per ¼ cup

Spinach - 5g per cup

Pumpkin Seeds (19% protein) - 3g per 1 tbsp

Sunflower Seeds (17% protein)- 3g per ⅛ cup

Smoothie Ingredients for Recovery

Whey Protein

Milk

Coffee

Tart Cherry Juice

Watermelon

Pomegranate Juice

Beet Juice

Cacao

Blueberries

Best Post Workout Smoothie Flavors

The most popular post workout smoothie flavors tend to be sweet, desert flavored smoothies with chocolate or vanilla tastes. This is largely because chocolate and vanilla are delicious flavors and because they are the most popular protein powder flavors. Unflavored protein can work in a lot of different smoothies too but depending on the taste of the powder, it can make your smoothie taste worse.

Post Workout Smoothie Recipes

Popular Flavors for Chocolate Protein Powder

Chocolate 

Chocolate Peanut Butter

Chocolate Almond Butter

Chocolate Strawberry

Coffee

Popular Flavors for Vanilla Protein Powder

Strawberry Banana

Blueberry Banana

Banana Nut

Apple Cinnamon

Raspberry

Peach

Tropical

Green

Popular Flavors for Unflavored Protein Powder

Tropical

Ginger

Green

Veggie

Shakes vs Smoothies

These two are very similar and at times, shakes and smoothies are basically the same.  Shakes often include dairy such as milk, ice cream or yogurt, lots of ice blended, and some sweet flavoring or flavored protein. A smoothie on the other hand, can include the same ingredients as a shake but often includes fruit, vegetables and other ingredients. Smoothies are often not quite as thick as a shake and are generally easier to drink through a straw.