Should you not eat after a workout?

When, in what quantities, and should you eat at all after training? These are the questions that plague not only athletes, but also all girls who watch their figure. Firstly, I want to maximize the effect of melting fat “glaciers”. Secondly, after physical exercise, many people suddenly wake up with brutal hunger. Moreover, as luck would have it, he is drawn to harmful things: baked goods, sweets, fried and salty foods. What should I do?

It turns out that the type of fitness largely affects our appetite and food cravings after the gym. Have you noticed that after a long swim in the cool water of the pool you almost always want to have a snack, something high in calories, for example, cookies. But jogging on a hot day has the exact opposite effect - it turns off your appetite for two or three hours.

English physiotherapist David Stanzel from Loughborough University got to the bottom of the reasons. The fact is that different types of high-intensity physical activity affect our body differently. Running in hot weather suppresses the activity of the “appetite hormone” ghrelin, and swimming in low-temperature water, on the contrary, stimulates ghrelin, and with it the feeling of hunger wakes up.

On the other hand, moderate and low-intensity physical exercise, say, brisk walking, cycling, does not affect the level of ghrelin in the blood. This means that after an hour of walking, your appetite will feel exactly the same as if you spent the entire 60 minutes relaxing in your favorite chair.

In his book “Sport and Hunger,” Stanzel puts forward a hypothesis: our body reacts this way to different sports because it is programmed by nature to maintain a stable body temperature.

During exercise, the main task of the brain is to ensure maximum blood flow to the muscles, the expert explains. – Accordingly, its work in the digestive organs is suspended at this time. If you are also hot, your body temperature needs to be lowered to a normal level. Blood rushes to the skin, which again “distracts” it from working in the digestive organs, and your appetite falls asleep. At low temperatures, exactly the opposite happens.

In short, as far as I understand, for me, with my usually increased appetite after training, it is better to avoid swimming and water aerobics and choose high-intensity cardio exercises: running, cycling, dancing, boxing, etc. That’s great, I’ve been dreaming of learning to dance flamenco for a long time.

But that is not all. The desire to eat a certain dish or product after exercise, according to Stanzel, can also be explained by the fact that your body knows exactly what it needs at the moment. Listen to your body - and do as it asks. Here are some examples:

Run. Afterwards you are usually very thirsty. Your brain pushes you toward foods with more fluid content, and for good reason. They will help restore water balance, lower body temperature to normal, and at the same time will not cause you to gain extra pounds.

Strength training equipment. If you regularly work out on exercise machines to give beautiful shape to your chest, arms, hips and legs, try to give preference to foods rich in carbohydrates and proteins - so that the muscles feel your care and gain strength and tone.

Swimming in cold water signals to the brain that your body needs a protective layer of fat. Donuts, fatty meats, ice cream and sandwiches with cheese and mayonnaise immediately appear in your head. Be careful with fatty foods - they slow down your metabolism and, accordingly, nullify your efforts during training.

Do you snack before or after training? And what do you usually choose?