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What to eat when you're injured

What should you eat when you're injured? Eat close to what your body is actually burning, keep protein high and spread across the day, and build your meals from real, minimally processed food. Nothing on your plate will knit a bone or a tendon back together faster, but eating too little can make the whole process worse.

That second sentence matters to me, because the instinct of almost every endurance athlete I know is the opposite. The training stops, panic sets in about getting heavy, and the first thing to go is food. I understand it. I've done it. It's the wrong call.

Your body is still working hard

An injury is not the same as a rest week. Healing tissue costs energy. In his review of nutrition for exercise-induced injuries, Kevin Tipton notes that energy expenditure can rise by 15% up to 50% depending on the type and severity of the injury. The bigger and more serious the injury, the more your body spends on repair.

Then there's getting around. If you are on crutches, Tipton points out that the energy cost of walking goes up two to threefold. A runner with a stress fracture swinging between crutches all day, or a cyclist hobbling around after a collarbone break, is not living the sedentary life they think they are.

So yes, you burn less than you did in a 15-hour training week. But you burn more than the calorie counter in your head assumes.

Why slashing calories backfires

The review is direct on this: cutting energy intake hard is the intuitive choice, and energy balance should be the aim instead. Two reasons stand out.

  • You lose more muscle. Even a moderate energy deficit turns down muscle protein synthesis by around 20 to 30%. That's the process you need running to hold on to muscle while a limb is out of action.

  • Wound healing suffers. Negative energy balance interferes with wound healing.

There's an honest flip side. Tipton also notes that a big energy surplus during inactivity actually speeds up muscle loss. So this is not a licence to eat like you're still in a race block. The target is balance: roughly what you're burning now, not what you burned before, and not a crash diet either.

How fast muscle goes

This is the part that should change how you think about the first two weeks. In a study by Benjamin Wall and colleagues, young men had one leg immobilised in a cast. After just five days, the thigh muscle had shrunk by 3.5% and strength had dropped by around 9%. After 14 days, muscle size was down 8.4% and strength by almost 23%.

A 2015 review by Wall, Morton and van Loon describes the first one to two weeks as the period of fastest muscle loss, and argues that the amount, type and timing of protein through the day can limit how much muscle and strength you lose. That's exactly the window when most athletes are eating least.

Protein: the one number worth knowing

If you take one thing from this, make it protein.

Tipton's review suggests intakes of 2 to 2.5g per kg of body weight per day seem warranted during immobilisation. And at the very least, if you do eat less overall, don't cut the absolute amount of protein. For a 70kg triathlete, 2g per kg is 140g a day.

How you spread it matters too. Around 20 to 25g of protein in one go, roughly 0.25 to 0.30g per kg, maximises the muscle-building response in healthy muscle, and immobilised muscle likely needs a bit more per dose. Spreading that evenly across the day beats one big protein dinner.

Here's what that looks like in food for a 70kg athlete aiming for four or five protein-rich meals and snacks:

MealExampleRoughlyBreakfastThree eggs on toast with a glass of milk30 to 35gLunchChicken, rice and roasted veg30 to 35gSnackA big bowl of Greek yoghurt with fruit20 to 25gDinnerSalmon, potatoes and greens30 to 35gBefore bedCottage cheese or a milky drink15 to 25g

Vegetarian or vegan? Lentils, tofu, tempeh, beans and soya milk all do the job. You'll just need slightly larger portions to land the same numbers.

The foods that matter beyond protein

The broad advice from the research is refreshingly boring: a well-balanced diet based on whole, minimally processed foods, adjusted as the injury heals and your activity changes. A few specifics are worth knowing.

  • Vitamin C. It is needed to make collagen, the main structural protein in tendons, ligaments and skin. Peppers, citrus, kiwi, berries and broccoli cover it easily.

  • Calcium and vitamin D for bone injuries. Getting enough of both is important for bone formation when you're healing a fracture. Dairy, fortified plant milks, tinned fish with the bones in, eggs and some time outside all help.

  • Vegetables for volume. When you're eating less than in full training, low energy density foods like vegetables help you feel full without overshooting.

  • Go easy on alcohol. Alcohol impairs wound healing. A few beers to drown the frustration of a DNS is understandable. A fortnight of it is not helping.

And here's what I'd skip. Tipton's review found no clear evidence that you need supranormal intakes of micronutrients during recovery, and called blanket fish oil recommendations during immobilisation premature, partly because too much could blunt the inflammation that healing relies on. If your diet is decent, you already have what the research supports.

Adjust as you move through recovery

Injury nutrition is not one plan for six weeks. Your needs shift.

PhaseWhat's happeningWhat to focus onFirst days to two weeksInflammation, fastest muscle loss, often immobilisedDon't crash diet. Protein high and spread out. Real food, plenty of veg and fruit.Immobilised or on crutchesLow training, but repair and getting around still cost energyEat to roughly match what you burn now. Keep protein at 2 to 2.5g/kg.Rehab and return to trainingStrength work, cross-training, building backBring carbs back up as training load climbs. Protein stays generous.

That last phase is where swimmers with a shoulder issue start kicking sets, runners move to the bike or pool, and cyclists start rebuilding on the turbo. The moment real sessions return, fuel them. Under-fuelling a comeback is a fast way to stall it.

FAQ

Should I eat less when I'm injured and can't train? Eat less than in a full training week, but not much less than you're actually burning now. Healing and getting around on crutches cost more than people expect, and a deficit speeds up muscle loss.

How much protein do I need when injured? The research suggests 2 to 2.5g per kg of body weight per day during immobilisation, spread across four or five meals and snacks of around 25 to 30g each.

Will eating more protein make my injury heal faster? No food has been shown to speed up healing. Protein helps you hold on to muscle and strength while you're out, which makes the return easier. That's adequacy, not acceleration.

Do I need supplements for an injury? For most athletes, no. The evidence favours a well-balanced diet built on whole food. If you're getting enough protein, energy and a decent spread of fruit, veg, dairy or alternatives, you've covered what the research supports.

Will I gain weight while I'm injured? You might gain a little, and that's not the end of the world. A crash diet costs you muscle you'll have to rebuild. Eating to match what you burn now keeps changes small.

MOVE's daily targets follow the training you actually do, so when an injury clears your calendar your numbers come down to match, and rest days shift the split towards protein instead of leaving you guessing.

Sources

Put this into practice

MOVE applies these principles automatically, personalised to your sport, weight and training load.

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