3 Benefits of Protein for Marathon Recovery

With Marathon season well underway, we thought we’d recap on the crucial role that protein plays in muscle recovery after endurance running – whether that’s training runs or the big event itself! It’s important to remind yourself of these crucial benefits to enable you to make the right nutrition choices ahead of your marathon.  

High-carb protein sources will replenish your energy  

That feeling of tiredness and fatigue during and after your marathon event is because your body depletes the majority of its energy stores when exercising over extended periods. Even if you manage to keep to the recommended intake of 60g carbohydrates per hour during a marathon, it is highly unlikely that you’d have been able to match your energy expenditure with your calorie intake during a run. This means its crucial you replenish these stores as quickly as possible immediately after your marathon, alongside some easily digested quality protein to support those muscles that have been pounded mile after mile.  

Protects your lean muscle mass 

Having worn down your body’s energy stores, i.e. your muscle and liver glycogen, it’s important to consume protein immediately after a marathon to prevent your body from breaking down lean muscle mass to convert protein into energy. This is especially important if you have not managed to fuel adequately during your run. Consuming protein after your marathon event will prevent your body from seeking energy from your lean muscle and enable your muscles to rebuild after strenuous exercise. Milk-based proteins are a great choice as they are high in essential and branched chain amino acids, which make up a third of your lean muscle mass. 

Amino Acids accelerates new muscle tissue production  

Amino acids are the crucial building blocks of proteins and are continually broken down and rebuilt. There are 8 amino acids which cannot be produced by our body and must be consumed as part of our diets. Leucine is one amino acid that’s particularly effective at improving the rate of muscle growth as it stimulates the rate of muscle protein synthesis, and milk-based proteins are naturally high in leucine. Alternatively, if you’re vegan or prefer dairy-free, then soy protein is recognised as having the most complete amino acid profile plant-based option.  

Drink FGS Recovery for an optimal dose of protein & carbs 

We’ve taken all these crucial benefits onboard to carefully formulate our Recovery shakes and powders to ensure you’re getting all the nutrients you need in those crucial 20-30 minutes following your marathon. Our unique formula offers a 3:1 carb:protein ratio to both replenish energy and enable muscles to rebuild with an optimal dose of protein and carbs. Our milk-based protein formula provides 17g of protein from milk. Heightened feelings of fatigue and tiredness after a marathon event can sometimes mask your appetite for solid food, which makes a ready-to-drink shake a quick and easy option to get the nutrients you need. Have one in your kit bag that you drop off at the start so that you have the chance to get vital nutrition on board as soon as possible, and then try and have a meal with both protein and carbohydrate within two hours.