post-session nutrition.

Alright so the session’s come to an end, your legs are aching, shins are cut, your gooch is throbbing from credit carding yourself, and you didn’t get your trick. Well no worries mate, in this article on The Daily Push I’m going to be going over how the way you eat can speed up how fast you recover and enhance how well you recover from a sesh.

For your recovery from the session to be considered successful, your body should have adapted and become stronger and more resilient than it was the last session. There are a shit load of different things you can do to make this happen, but one of these is the way you eat. When it comes to eating to recover it’s based on the ovalactic trivector romboid system, no actually I made that up, but it’s based on 3 main principles: rehydrate, restock the energy you used, and repair muscle damage.

rehydrate.

Rehydrating should be the first thing you do after you finish skating to restore all those juices you sweated out and to create a nice moist environment for what’s to come.

Focus on drinking a lot of water. Water is all you need here. I know a beer is a classic after-sesh drink for many people but if you’re after rapid recovery, try and hold off on this one for at least a few hours as it’s only going to slow down rehydration and recovery, coffee and soft-drinks aren't good options partially because you can't drink enough of them to fully rehydrate. If you're one of those weird people that doesn't like the taste of water, sports drinks can be a valid option.

If you want to really start slaying the hydration game then one way to make sure you're rehydrating enough is to weigh yourself before and after your session and drinking 1.5x the lost weight is what’s recommended. Also if you lost more than 2% body weight here then you need to do a better job at staying hydrated during the session.

restore & repair.

So the next goals of recovery are to restock the energy you used and repair any muscle damage. First though, it’s important to mention that for your body to be effective at recovering itself, more important than anything is making sure you’re eating a solid balanced diet every day, meaning you’re getting enough carbs, fat, protein, and enough vitamins and minerals from fruits and veggies, along with drinking enough water, in general.

Your recovery snack/meal should contain some carbs and protein, along with some fruits or veggies and electrolytes, which you get can get from a little pinch of salt.

The carbohydrates are going to restock the energy you used during your sesh.

Protein is going to repair your muscles, reduce extra muscle being broken down, along with rebuilding them stronger for the next session.

Fruits and veggies are going to give your body a little blast of extra healing power.

A pinch of salt will help with rehydration.

timing.

Now is the timing of when you eat important? Well, sometimes...

If you had an intense session and you plan on going skating again within about 8 hours, and your last meal was a few hours before your session, or you ate something small or nothing at all, then you’re going to want to restock your energy tank as fast as possible. To do this you should try and eat a recovery snack/meal high in carbohydrates within 30 mins of the end of your sesh as your body’s repair mechanisms are enhanced within the first couple of hours after you finish skating.

On the other hand, if you don’t plan on skating in the same day and as long as you’re eating enough in general, your energy stores take about 24 hours to be fully restocked so the immediate food hustle isn’t so important. That being said, if the last time you ate was more than a couple of hours before your session you should still try and polish off some kind of recovery meal within 2 hours of the end of your session to take advantage of your body being in its optimal recovery mode and to speed up recovery.

If you haven't eaten some high-protein food within 2 hours before your session, getting in some protein within 2 hours at the end of your session may be benefical, but only if total protein throughout the day is already being met.

food examples.

The following are some different food examples that are good to monch on after your session. Check out this skate nutrition page for more general info on healthy eating.

I know they're usually much more expensive but if possible buy as much organic food as you can, always go for as little processed food as possible, and try and make sure the majority of your plate consists of plant-based foods.