Loading page
About this tool
Protein, carbohydrate, fluid and sodium targets for the recovery window after training, with real food portions to hit them.
A post-workout recovery meal planner converts your bodyweight and the session you just finished into four numbers: grams of protein, grams of carbohydrate, millilitres of fluid and milligrams of sodium to take in during the recovery window. Protein follows the ISSN per-dose guidance of 0.25 to 0.40 g per kg bodyweight within a practical 20-40 g band, carbohydrate follows the 1.0-1.2 g per kg per hour rapid-refuelling rate used when the next session is under eight hours away, and fluid follows the ACSM rule of drinking back about 1.5 litres for every kilogram of bodyweight lost. It then turns those targets into actual food portions across eight omnivore, vegetarian and vegan combinations.
Open Post-Workout Recovery Meal Planner on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.
Enter Bodyweight (kg), Session type, Session length (minutes), How hard it felt, Hours until your next session and Age (years); leave "Bodyweight lost during the session (kg, optional)" blank to estimate sweat loss from length and intensity.
Set Hours until your next session below eight to switch on the rapid-refuel carbohydrate rate — above eight, that row reads "Not required — next session is 8+ hours away".
Read protein in grams and g per kg (floored at 20 g, capped at 40 g), carbohydrate and the carb-to-protein ratio, fluid to drink back, sodium and leucine from whole food versus whey, then use the "Portions that hit these targets" table of omnivore, vegetarian and vegan pairings; Copy result saves it.
Uses the 0.25-0.40 g/kg per-feeding rate capped at the 20-40 g band that research supports.
Rapid 1.2 g/kg/h carbohydrate only applies when the next session is under eight hours away.
Both foods contribute protein and carbs, and the grams are solved so the pair lands on both targets wherever that's mathematically possible; a few protein-dense-but-carb-heavy combos are portioned to hit protein first, with carbs following as closely as the food allows.
About 0.25 to 0.40 g per kg of bodyweight in a single feeding, which is roughly 20 to 40 g for most adults. Resistance training that covers a lot of muscle mass, and anyone over about 60, sits at the top of that range; going far above 40 g in one sitting does not add much to the muscle protein synthesis response.
For protein, no — the muscle stays sensitive to protein feeding for several hours, so eating within about two hours is fine. For carbohydrate it is different: if your next session is less than eight hours away, glycogen resynthesis really is fastest in the first hour, and 1.0-1.2 g of carbohydrate per kg per hour for up to four hours matters.
Replace roughly 125-150% of the fluid you lost, which works out to about 1.5 litres for every kilogram of bodyweight lost during the session. Weigh yourself before and after, towelled dry — each kilogram lost is close to a litre of sweat, and the extra 50% covers ongoing urine losses.
Not necessarily in the meal itself. Carbohydrate after training mainly matters for restoring glycogen before the next hard session; if you train once a day and are eating in a deficit, your total daily carbohydrate matters more than the timing. Protein after training still helps preserve lean mass. Speak to a registered dietitian before restricting intake substantially.