Recovery Nutrition

The goals for post Badminton exercise nutrition are: re-hydration, refueling of carbohydrate stores (glycogenesis) and stimulation of muscle repair and adaptation (protein anabolism).

Here we present a solution for the carbohydrate and protein demands based on Ref 1.  It has been discovered that the presence of protein helps the processing of the carbohydrate, and the presence of carbohydrate helps the processing of the protein.  This leads to the ideal solution of consuming a combination of carbohydrate and protein.

The combination should be taken immediately after exercise and again 2 hours later (for a 4 hour recovery period).  The recommendations we present here are based on Ref 1 but will probably be refined in the future.  For example, changes may be made to reflect the type of muscle utilisation common in Badminton, the length of the session to be recovered from, and percentage body fat.  However, the research base for this current recommendations suggests that even in its present form it will be very beneficial.

Formula
Carbohydrate: 0.8g per kg body mass
Protein: 0.2g per kg body mass

References

1) REGULATION OF MUSCLE GLYCOGEN REPLETION, MUSCLE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS AND REPAIR FOLLOWING EXERCISE, John L. Ivy, Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2004) 3, 131-138
2) PROTEIN - WHICH IS BEST?, Jay R. Hoffman and Michael J. Falvo, Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2004) 3, 118-130