What seems more applicable for recreational athletes and those competing in team sports on a weekly basis is to get their sports nutrition right in the post training / post game window. Depending on what sources you read you have a 2-4 hour window after exercise to restock your muscle glycogen. It would be wise to consume higher carbohydrate based foods in this window; however it would also be pertinent to consume more nutrient dense food. Consuming fruit and vegetables in this time is a given, but also consuming some whole grains, starchy vegetables such as potato or sweet potato or some dried fruits such as figs, dates, raisins would also be useful. However it would be wiser to avoid fruit juice and soda drinks as these have been linked with diabetes, and avoid foods such as jams, jelly beans and sugary breakfast cereals as these are junk foods devoid of nutrition.
For the average gym goer wanting to lose weight there is no need to consume a higher carbohydrate diet – the whole point of most people going to the gym is to lose weight and eating a lower carbohydrate diet combined with resistance exercise has been shown to lead to good weight loss results.
