Training Nutrition Thursday: “Crashing” After Training

Question:

I tend to “crash” after a tough workout. I feel good for 30 minutes or so after the workout but tend to get mild nausea from about 30 minutes-2 hours after. What am I missing? –Ben

Kelli’s Answer:

It could be a few things:

1) Dehydration.  Dehydration can cause nausea and even mask hunger – this is a double whammy for the athlete.  When you’re nauseous and low on appetite, you’re not likely to recover well with fluids, carbs, or electrolytes.  Then, the cycle continues as you become more and more dehydrated.  If an athlete goes into a tough workout fully hydrated, he or she usually needs 20-32 oz. of fluid per hour of training.  This amount needs to be consumed during (for best performance), or immediately after.  Then, you have daily hydration needs to take care of.

2) You may be low on lytes – sodium and potassium are the usual “feeling-bad” culprits.  It’s important to realize that you need 100-130 mg of potassium and 400-700 mg sodium per hour of intense training, especially in higher heat or humidity (I take caution with clients anytime the temperature + the humidity is greater than 140, so most of the summer months it’s very important).  A sports drink, or electrolyte tablets that dissolve into water are a good place to start (such as NUUN or Camelback Elixir) – these should also give you calcium and magnesium, which are also important.  Then, you usually need more.  I prefer adding a small amount of Milton’s Lite salt to the drink (regular salt doesn’t have potassium), which will add mg sodium and mg potassium for just ¼ tsp – so you’ll need to calculate how much you’ll need in addition to your drink.  Or, if you cannot find or do not want to use Milton’s Lite, you can try other foods/gels with lytes – most gels have ~50 mg sodium and 30-50 mg potassium.  Powerbar gel has the highest levels of sodium I’ve found, at 200 mg sodium, but only 20 mg potassium – I wish it were easier!

3) You may simply be hungry.  Sometimes, an empty stomach feeling can feel the same as nausea, or nausea occurs because our stomachs are empty and producing acid after training.  Either way, you should always aim to eat a recovery snack after a tough training session – it will have a good impact on how you feel the rest of the day,how your glycogen stores and muscles recover, how you feel in subsequent training, and for those trying to lose weight/fat, it takes away the attitude of “owing yourself” and simply overeating the rest of the day.  For recovery, you don’t have to buy special sports foods.  If you’ve fueled well before and during training, you only need ~40+ grams of carbs and ~10-20 grams of protein in addition to adequate fluid to have a positive impact.  Additionally, I’ve become a big fan of adding organic coconut oil to recovery snacks.   Here’s some examples of good recovery snacks:

Add 1 Tbsp organic coconut oil (within or on side) and fluids to the following:

– Whey shake – 1 scoop whey + 1  banana + 8 oz. milk (340 calories, 42 gm carbs, 2 gm fiber, 28 gm protein)

– 12 oz. Honey milk made w/ 12 oz.  milk and 2 Tbsp honey (300 calories, 48 gms CHO, 12 gms pro)

– Odwalla Power SoyProtein Drinks (350 calories, 47 gm CHO, 19 gm protein)

– Smoothie with 8 oz. yogurt, fruit, 4 oz. milk and ½ cup cottage cheese (300 kcals, 38 gms CHO, 19 gms protein)

– Sandwich w/ 1 piece bread, 1.5 Tbsp peanut butter, 1 Tbsp jelly (310 kcals, 32 gms CHO, 7 gms protein)

– Clif Bar + 2 Tbsp nuts (325 kcals, 47 gms CHO, 15 gms pro)

– Muscle Milk (RTD) + 1 banana (330 calories, 44 gm carbs, 2 gm fiber, 25 gm protein)

– 2 scoops of Endurox R4 Recovery Drink with a 16.9 oz bottled water + 1 small banana (329 calories, 67 gm CHO, 13 gm protein)

Stick to a recovery plan regardless of how you feel.  Lots of athletes have a suppressed appetite for a few hours after a tough workout.  Recover anyway!  It will pay off!

I hope this helps!

Kelli, RD

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