What to eat for recovery on rest days?
Do you eat differently on rest days? Should I eat less since I'm not training, or keep everything the same since my body is recovering?
Recovery requires energy too. Your body is repairing muscle tissue on rest days, which is an active process that needs calories and protein.
My recommendation: keep protein the same (or even slightly higher), you can slightly reduce carbs since you're not fueling training, and total calories can come down by 200-300 but don't slash them dramatically.
Protein stays high every day, period. Muscle protein synthesis continues for 24-48 hours after training. Your rest day is when the actual building happens.
This is literally why I carb cycle. Higher carbs on training days (fuel performance), lower carbs on rest days (don't need the glycogen). Protein and fat stay constant. Gives me a natural calorie variation.
I eat the same thing every day regardless of training. Simpler, and my body seems to prefer consistency. The difference in TDEE between a training day and rest day is only a few hundred calories anyway.
During a bulk: eat the same. You need the surplus for growth. During a cut: slightly less on rest days is fine. During maintenance: doesn't really matter.
As a runner, my rest day nutrition focuses on anti-inflammatory foods: berries, fatty fish, leafy greens, turmeric. Whether this helps or is placebo, I feel better the next training day.
Makes sense. Keep protein high, maybe slightly less carbs, don't slash calories. Simple enough. Thanks!
Don't forget hydration on rest days! People often drink less water when they're not training. But recovery needs adequate hydration too.