When people hear the words martial arts training, they think almost instantaneously of sparring, punching bags and black belts. Although this picture isn’t wrong, it is lacking and only superficial. Martial arts training involves a lot of activities other than the training itself. In fact, nutrition is an important aspect of martial arts training. An individual’s potential in martial arts can be hindered if he doesn’t take care of his health properly through proper nutrition.
One important component of nutrition in martial arts is the post workout meal. Specifically, this is the meal consumed by an individual right after martial arts training. Because your body exerted energy in training, it’s expected that the body needs to be replenished by way of eating. The post workout meal should be able to do just that. Its goal goes beyond satisfying hunger. It needs to replace the energy spent and help the body recover after training.
I’ve come across an article on markstraining.com which discusses the importance of the post workout meal. It also encourages readers to replace unhealthy post workout habits such as drinking and smoking with a healthy meal. The following sections are directly quoted from that article.
The post workout meal is one of the most important ones of the day. It is one of the times in the day when the body is crying out for food the most. Consistently going without a good meal after a workout can leave some bodybuilders actually losing size or strength, something that is contrary to the goals.
For a martial artist, there is no difference. After a workout where one may be exerting a great amount of energy punching bags, sparring for many rounds, pulling, pushing, hitting, getting hit etc it is vital to get in the right amount of nutrients into one’s body.
The post workout meal is very important and while many martial artists like to have a quick beer or a burger with training partners after their workout (which is fine and encouraged on occasion) it may be a good idea to substitute that with a nutritional meal instead, especially if one is training for a competition or fight.
Martial arts training is physically challenging in itself. It requires individuals to exert effort and push themselves to the limit. More often than not, these people become exhausted after training. Therefore, a post workout meal should help an individual recover from the physical stress of training in order for it to achieve its purpose. In addition, individuals must understand that a post workout meal should also coincide with the diet they are observing for consistency. In other words, they should consume healthy foods in appropriate quantity.
