What to do post workout: Part 1:
By Craig Bunnell
Today I’m going to deal with the basics of post workout eating, part 2 will add in some of my favourite additions to boost fat loss/muscle gain and reduce soreness.
First of all, the benefits of a properly designed post workout feed are increased protein synthesis (muscle repair), faster restored glycogen (energy) levels, reduced muscle breakdown post exercise, decreased subsequent muscle soreness and less immune supression.
Should we be consuming solid food or liquid nutrition? The evidence is clear here, there is an advantage due to the rapid digestion and easier absorption of liquid nutrition, simply the repair process starts much faster. Also you can much more easily control the nutritional values when using a range of supplements; not so easy when eating several foods.
As you can probably tell from previous articles and I’m a fan of getting lean first then building muscle. Initially I suggest that you consume little to no carbohydrates within your post workout shake.
Using a basic whey protein and adding L-glutamine for replenishing energy stores is better than using a whey and carb’ mix for the majority of people. The addition of glutamine will not only restore glycogen faster but will also significantly reduce subsequent muscle soreness.
If you are one of the fortunate people who see’s there ab’s on a daily basis I’d add some carb’s to the shake to increase muscle gain.
I recommend that you split the following shake into two and drink half immediately after your workout and then the other half 30 minutes later this is called peri-workout nutrition and its benefits have been well documented by Charles Poliquin.
Here’s my recommended nutrition breakdown:
• Whey protein 40-70grams depending on bodyweight (light female take less, heavy male take more).
• L-glutamine 10-30grams depending on bodyweight and if you’re adding carb’s then use the lower glutamine figure.
• Optional carb’s when lean: 30-90grams depending on bodyweight and use more on hard leg training days and less on easy arm training days.
For the choice of carbohydrates you can use any of a range of carbohydrate powders; Vitargo, Quadricarb, Maltodextrin, or Dextrose. But I prefer to take advantage of the opportunity to drink a fruit juice when not feeling guilty about the sugar content: Apple, Pineapple or any of the innocent smoothies all provide rapidly digested carbohydrates that can be a perfect treat and beneficial during your post workout feed.
Remember to check out Part 2 coming very soon.
