Optimal Recovery After Running: Do You Really Need to Take Something After Every Run?

Optimal recovery after running depends on the length and intensity of the session as well as the time until your next workout.

• After a short, easy run, water and a normal meal can often be enough.
• After long or hard sessions, fluid, carbohydrate and protein become more relevant.
• PurePower recommends 1.6 grams of protein per kilo of body weight per day as a practical starting point for active runners.
• Creatine is taken as a fixed daily routine – also on rest days – while Recovery and BLG are used as needed.

An easy 5K and a hard long run are both runs. But that is also about the only thing they have in common when we talk about recovery.

After the easy run, a glass of water and a normal meal can easily be enough. After a long session, a race or a round of intervals in summer heat, the equation looks different. Here, both fluid, carbohydrate and protein may need to be topped up again – especially if you need to train again shortly afterwards.

That is why it is a little misleading to talk about one perfect recovery solution. Optimal recovery is not about taking as much as possible after every run. It is about matching the effort with what the body actually needs.

Recovery starts with a fairly simple question

Before you get out the shaker, powder and shots, ask yourself:

How hard and how far did I run – and when do I need to be ready again?

That question is more useful than a fixed rule that everyone should do the same thing within 30 minutes.

If you have run a short, easy run and will be eating dinner in an hour, you rarely need to make it complicated. If, on the other hand, you have run for a long time, trained hard or have another demanding session later the same day, the first part of recovery becomes more important.

Fluid: The part many people make unnecessarily complicated

How much you sweat depends, among other things, on pace, temperature, size, training status and clothing. That is why there is no single amount to drink that fits all runners.3

After a normal training session with plenty of time until the next one, water and normal meals can often restore fluid and salt balance. If you have sweated a lot and need to be ready again quickly, it can make sense to work more systematically. A scientific position recommends around 1.5 liters of fluid per kilo of body weight lost when rapid and complete rehydration is necessary.[3]

You can get a useful estimate by weighing yourself before and after the run under roughly similar conditions. If your weight is one kilo lower, that roughly corresponds to about one liter of net fluid loss. If you drank along the way, that amount should be added if you want to calculate your approximate sweat loss.

This does not mean you should immediately pour down a liter and a half. Drink over a little time and preferably together with a meal or a drink that also contributes salt. For runners who sweat heavily or train in warm conditions, electrolytes can be a practical way to support fluid and salt intake. It is just as important not to overdo it: Both ACSM and NATA emphasize that fluid intake should be adapted individually, and that overdrinking can be a problem.4

Carbohydrate: The harder the session, the more relevant it is

Carbohydrate is stored, among other places, as glycogen in muscles and the liver and is used as fuel during running. The longer and harder the session is, the greater the need to replenish stores can be.

If you are not running again until the next day, your normal meals that day can often do a large part of the work. If you only have a few hours until the next demanding effort, sports nutrition guidelines recommend a more targeted strategy. When very rapid restoration is needed, around 1.0–1.2 grams of carbohydrate per kilo of body weight per hour in the first hours after exhausting endurance training is mentioned.1

For a runner weighing 70 kilos, that corresponds to 70–84 grams of carbohydrate per hour. That is significantly more than a small snack, and it also shows why no standard serving is a complete solution for every situation.

PurePower Recovery Mango & Orange provides 22 grams of carbohydrate and 12 grams of protein per serving and is mixed with 500 ml of water or milk.[6] After a hard session, it can therefore be a practical start to recovery. After a very long run or when there is little time until the next workout, there will often also be a need for a meal or additional carbohydrate sources.

Protein: Relevant after running – but more is not always better

Running does not only tax your energy stores. Muscles and other tissue have also been at work, and protein is part of the body’s ongoing maintenance and rebuilding.

If you train several times a week – or several times on the same day – the most important thing is not only the protein you get immediately after training. It is your total intake for the day.

As a practical starting point, PurePower recommends 1.6 grams of protein per kilo of body weight per day for active runners. This falls within the general recommendation of 1.4–2.0 g/kg/day for training adults. Recent research on endurance athletes indicates that serious athletes may need around 1.8 g/kg/day and, in some demanding periods, more.11

For most active recreational runners, 1.6 g/kg is a sensible starting point – but not a definitive answer for everyone. Needs are influenced by, among other things, training volume, intensity, total energy intake, age and the goal of the training. With many hard sessions or an energy deficit, it may be higher.[12]

This does not mean that you automatically need to take an extra shake after every session. Instead, spread protein across the day’s meals, and use a protein product when it makes it easier to reach your total daily amount. A serving of 20–40 grams of protein is often used as a practical framework around training.1

Here, the two protein formats in the pack offer different options.

The Recovery powder fits well when you want carbohydrate, protein and half a liter of fluid. BLG Whey Shot fits better when you primarily lack protein, your appetite is low, or you do not feel like a large drink. One shot provides 20 grams of whey protein in 100 ml, 81 kcal and 0 grams of fat.[7]

For a runner weighing 70 kilos, PurePower’s starting point corresponds to 112 grams of protein per day. One BLG shot covers around 18 percent of that amount. So it is a practical contribution to your total daily protein – not the whole solution.

After a long run, the BLG shot is also not a complete recovery solution on its own, because it provides neither carbohydrate nor a notable amount of fluid. On the other hand, it is a simple way to get protein if carbohydrate and fluid are covered elsewhere.

You do not need to stand there with a stopwatch

It makes sense to begin recovery relatively soon after a hard session, especially if your appetite is low or there is little time until the next workout. But there is no invisible gate that slams shut after exactly 30 minutes.

The guidelines become most aggressive when rapid restoration is actually necessary. If you have plenty of time, ate before training and will soon have a normal meal, the situation is less urgent.[1]

The practical rule can therefore be: The greater the load and the shorter the time until the next session, the more you should plan the first part of recovery.

What is creatine doing in a pack for runners?

Creatine is often associated with strength training, and not without reason. The well-documented effect is about increasing physical performance during repeated bursts of effort in short-duration, high-intensity training. The effect is achieved with a daily intake of 3 grams.[8]

Creatine does not work as an acute energy boost that has to be timed just before training. The purpose is to increase and then maintain the muscles’ creatine stores. If you take 3–5 grams per day without a loading phase, it typically takes around four weeks to approach a saturation level.[13]

That is why it makes sense to take creatine every day – also on rest days. It is the consistency, not the time of day, that matters. Feel free to connect it to something you already do every day, such as breakfast. It can also go in your recovery drink, but it does not have to be right after the run.

Creatine is not acute recovery after an easy run. It does not replenish glycogen stores and does not replace either fluid or protein. But many runners do not only train easy. Intervals, hill sprints, strength training and hybrid training involve repeated, high-intensity efforts where creatine can be relevant as a fixed routine.

Some people experience a small weight gain as a result of more water in the body. It may be worth testing during a normal training period rather than right before an important race.[13]

And what about Collagen Shot?

Collagen Shot is also intended as a daily routine rather than an acute solution after one specific session. One shot contains, among other things, 15 grams of bovine collagen peptides, 30 mg hyaluronic acid, 5 µg vitamin D and 1.4 mg riboflavin.[9]

This does not mean that a shot can repair an injury or make sore knees disappear. Here, it is a daily collagen supplement in a simple format – not a treatment.

If you have persistent pain or suspect a running injury, you should have it assessed professionally rather than simply increasing your supplements.

Recovery Routine Pack works best as a toolbox

The pack makes the most sense when the products are not treated as five things that all need to be taken at once. It contains one bag of Recovery, one bag of creatine, five BLG shots, five Collagen Shots and a shaker – and the parts have different roles.[10]

This is a more honest and usable way to view the pack. On an easy day, you might only use your daily routine and eat dinner as usual. On a hard day, the Recovery powder can be an easy beginning. And if you have no appetite after a run, the BLG shot may be the solution you actually end up using.

A simple recovery routine after running

When you get home, start by assessing the session rather than automatically taking the same thing every time.

After a short and easy run, you can drink according to thirst and eat as you normally would. After intervals or a longer run, it is worth thinking protein, carbohydrate and fluid into the next few hours. After a very long or hard session, you should also make sure you get a proper meal; a shake can start the process, but does not have to finish it.

Creatine and collagen are best placed in a fixed daily habit where you remember them. That could be with breakfast, after training or at a completely different time. The important thing is that acute recovery after the run and daily supplements do not get mixed together into one big rule.

And then there is the boring part that no bundle can deliver in a cardboard box: Enough total food, rest and sleep. The products can make the routine easier. They cannot make it unnecessary.

In short

Optimal recovery after running is not a question of taking as much as possible. It is about doing the right thing after the session you have actually run.

After an easy run, water and a normal meal are often enough. After a long or hard session, fluid, carbohydrate and protein become more relevant. If you have little time until the next workout, timing and amounts become more important. And if you have a low appetite or are busy, a practical format can be the difference between a plan and something that actually gets done.

This is where the Recovery Routine Pack makes sense: Not as an order to take everything after every run, but as a combined toolbox for the different parts of a recovery routine.

References

1. International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Nutrient Timing
2. Dietary Carbohydrate and the Endurance Athlete: Contemporary Perspectives
3. Position of the Working Group Sports Nutrition of the German Nutrition Society: Fluid Replacement in Sports
4. American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand: Exercise and Fluid Replacement
5. NATA Position Statement: Fluid Replacement for the Physically Active
6. PurePower – Recovery Mango & Orange 400 g
7. PurePower – Elite BLG Whey Shot
8. PurePower – Creatine Neutral 300 g
9. PurePower – Collagen Shot Red Berry
10. PurePower – Recovery Routine Pack
11. International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Protein and Exercise
12. Protein Nutrition for Endurance Athletes: A Metabolic Focus on Promoting Recovery and Training Adaptation
13. Australian Institute of Sport – Creatine