Recovery Nutrition

Recovery nutrition supports the body's return to readiness after training. A practical framework is the 3 R's:

• Refuel — carbohydrate: Replenish glycogen (see glycogen). When the next hard session is under ~4 hours away, refuel aggressively at ~1.0–1.2 g/kg/h of higher-glycemic carbohydrate for the first few hours. With a full day to recover, simply hitting daily carbohydrate targets suffices (see carbohydrate-timing).
• Rebuild — protein: Provide ~0.25 g/kg or 20–40 g of high-quality protein to stimulate muscle protein synthesis and repair (see protein). Adding protein to carbohydrate can modestly aid glycogen resynthesis when carbohydrate intake is suboptimal.
• Rehydrate — fluids and sodium: Replace ~125–150% of body-weight lost as fluid, with sodium to retain it (see exercise-hydration-strategy).

The urgency of recovery nutrition is proportional to how soon and how hard the next session is. For a once-daily exerciser eating balanced meals, a normal post-workout meal within a couple of hours covers recovery and the "anabolic window" is wide (see anabolic-window). Two-a-day athletes, tournament play, and stage races are where rapid, structured recovery feeding genuinely matters. Sleep and overall energy balance remain the foundation that recovery nutrition supports (see recovery-modalities).

• 3 R's: Refuel (carbs), Rebuild (protein), Rehydrate (fluids + sodium).
• Rapid refuel ~1.0–1.2 g/kg/h carb if next session <4 h away.
• Rebuild with ~20–40 g (0.25 g/kg) protein.
• Rehydrate ~125–150% of fluid lost, with sodium.
• Urgency scales with how soon/hard the next session is.

• nutrient-timing / anabolic-window — timing context.
• carbohydrate-timing — glycogen restoration specifics.
• exercise-hydration-strategy — rehydration details.
• recovery-modalities — sleep and rest underpin nutritional recovery.
• recovery-nutrition-40plus — how per-meal protein dosing and recovery timing change with age.