Winter sports- Recovery

By Vivai, nutritionists

After a long day skiing or snowshoeing, getting back to the cottage or your home can be the best part of the day! Warming up with a mug of hot chocolate and a cookie or relaxing in a hot tub or a sauna can feel great after a day outside. But your favorite way of relaxing could actually have a negative impact on your recovery and make the next day of activity feel harder!

Hot chocolate and cookies

After exercise, particularly after intense exercise, our bodies need protein to repair micro-tears in our muscles caused by exercise. Hot chocolate made with water and a cookie, though delicious, does not provide enough protein for recovery. Instead, look for a snack that provides 10-20 grams of protein as well as 15-30 grams of carbohydrates within 15-30 minutes of finishing an activity. Greek yogurt is a great example of a protein rich food and is easily mixed with fruit or cereal to meet your post workout needs. After you’ve put away your gear and relaxed, plan to have a balanced meal within 2-3 hours. Here are some examples. 

Post ski snack ideas:

-Greek yogurt topped with 2 tbsp of granola and honey, a great dip for fruit

-Rice crackers with peanut butter and banana slices

-Hot chocolate made with warmed milk instead of water, ½ tbsp cocoa powder and 1 tbsp of sugar

-Smoothie made with greek yogurt:

Easy Post ski meal ideas:

-Vegetarian chili made with black beans and zucchini topped with a scoop of plain greek yogurt

- A tuna sandwich with cottage cheese, fresh fruit and honey for dessert

-Scrambled eggs with green peppers and salsa

Hot tubs and Saunas?

Hydration is another critical factor in recovery. We have a harder time staying hydrated in the winter as our desire to drink is less diminished and water bottles often don’t seem practical to winter athletes. Following a day of activity, drinking water to replace the fluid that was lost through sweat is critical. When we start the day even slightly dehydrated, we are more likely to have headaches, lack of coordination and our activity will feel harder to us than usual. Keep that reusable water bottle close after your activity and drink often.  Keep in mind that alcohol as well as hot tubs and saunas will dehydrate your body further, so be sure to compensate with additional water and keep the number of drinks (and minutes in the hot tub) to a minimum.

For more information on your nutrition needs for winter sports

New! We’ve updated the nutrition calculator created by the team of nutritionists at VIVAÏ for Liberté to include your favourite winter sports!