Is Eating the Wrong Thing After Your Workouts Sabotaging Your Progress?

High-intensity workouts are those that require short, challenging bursts of energy. Usually they don’t take longer than 45 minutes or an hour, but leave you feeling wiped. Because muscles are used for quick, explosive power (e.g. repeating 30-second sprints, followed by a minute of jogging, on the treadmill), the glycogen that’s stored in them doesn’t get completely used up like it would in an endurance workout that takes longer, but is less intense. So there’s no need to hit the carbohydrates hard to replenish glycogen stores — focus instead on eating an equal amount of protein and carbs instead to help muscle fibers rebuild and prevent damage.