Post workout drink

[Michael]

Read a recent article that says you should wait 30 – 60 min. before taking your post workout nutrition or protein load. It said it is best to wait until your system has returned to a normal range.

Does anyone here follow this routine, more importantly, do you think it makes any significant difference.


P.S. Tim, loved your stories about being with your old bud, sounded like a great time, glad your back.

[Troyster]

Not me, as soon after as possible I dump down two or three scoops of Protein Powder (was going to say "PP"... but...) in some water, sans-dextrose and then within two hours I eat a full meal of "real food".

T

[Tim Wescott]

Thanks Michael!!

I`m with my man Troy on this one and I eat my PW meal as soon as I can and eat again an hour or so later.

Gotta` take advantage of that window of opportunity when you can!!

[Maximum6]

what 's sans-dextrose ??

and me..i down my shake in less than ten seconds...i wonder how i can do that...i mean i can't even drink 1 bottle of water that fast..but i down my shake with 16oz of water .

[Tim Wescott]

Max,sans means minus/without,so Troy is saying his shake contains no dextrose.

[Maximum6]

hmm... I know troy doesnt like dextrose ..but i'm still curious what he eats for carbs...or does he just go pure protein?

[hossjob]

Honestly Max, I'd actually have some of my drink pre-workout and finish it during my workout. YOu want that stuff in your blood stream ASAP, then soon after, eat a solid meal! But, you can do it either way, just GET IT IN!

You may want to make a drink w/ about 50 carbs-80 carbs and 30-50 grams protein. Drink about 20-30 carbs &10-20 protein before the workout and tehn finish during the workout. Right after the workout or up to 30 mniutes later have some carbs like white rice or even complex carbs like brown rice and either a protein shake or very LEAN protein!

[Troyster]

Hey Max, sorry I'm late on this question. My carbs, offseason, come from rice, milk, corn meal, puffed wheat and some fruit (and some from veggies too). Remember, I don't count carbs, only carb calories (same idea, but a bit simpler, IMHO).

Couple things to consider:
- when we talk about "metabolism" that's your muscles... that's where/how we humans metabolise food.
- metabolised food fills your muscles with glycogen (the stored energy). When you work out, you "burn" this glycogen for fuel.
*** - complex carbs burn slowly, this is true... however, keep in mind that until you burn that existing glycogen, it's not replaced by anything... so, if you're following, what you're burning for energy was already stored. See what I'm getting at? The energy you're burning is what you ate YESTERDAY (or several hours ago, not what you just ate...)
*** - sugar is the only thing that burns instantly. However, it BURNS; it doesn't store as glycogen. That's why I don't use it... some believe that it stores (so the theory goes you're replacing what was burned immediately, or as quick as possible -- and I suppose it does to a degree -- but I also believe that protein powders are SO efficient that they BEHAVE like simple sugars without adding any sugars to them -- so you're really DOSING with sugars by adding) but what simple sugars also do is spike insulin and THAT causes storage (insulin being the "storage" hormone)... guess what happens if there's extra around to store? Fat storage.

I believe that insulin spikes WILL cause growth, but also fat storage and the fat storage at a much, MUCH higher rate than groth potential (in other words: I believe that the damage done by fat storage is by far much higher than the effect of the muscle growth).

I believe this because I know a few people who run actual insulin at VERY high volumes... and it takes a lot to stimulate muscle growth... there's no way that eating some sugar is going to produce that kind of effect. It WILL, however cause fat storage. (Tim, I hope this is OK to mention here).

Just my opinions

T

(Edited for typos)

[Maximum6]

ahh troy ....i never thought about that....

Sugar being Burned..and complex carbs being stored ..and your body burning what glycogen it has already stored.

Now i'm starting to understand why marathon runners would eat tons of carbs the night before...

thanks for the info troy.

[ntrllftr]

I take a shaker cup and protein mix in it every workout. IMMEDIATLY after my workout I mix it and drink on my way home. I then make a High protein/carb meal 1 1/2 hours later. This is what works best for me.

[Mystic79]

I shower first then have my protein shake with 1 banana mixed in (for insulin spike). I workout at home, so this wait isn't that long... maybe 15-20 mins? Then usually I wait and have my meal with "real food" as Tim does.

[Troyster]

I'm with Tim, I don't believe there's so much a "magic window"... I'm just sooooooo F''n STARVED by the time I finish my workout, I gotta' something in my gut ;D

I do feel it's important to get some good food in you within a couple hours though or you start messing with "emergency starvation" hormone release and goofy blood sugars, etc. that can throw off your growth (and, in fact, produce the opposite effect... catabolism).

T

[Maximum6]

For some reason...i don't like the taste of blended bananas with a protein shake...

I like the flavor of it straight from peel.

[Merlin]

hossjob said:

Honestly Max, I'd actually have some of my drink pre-workout and finish it during my workout. YOu want that stuff in your blood stream ASAP, then soon after, eat a solid meal! But, you can do it either way, just GET IT IN!

You may want to make a drink w/ about 50 carbs-80 carbs and 30-50 grams protein. Drink about 20-30 carbs &10-20 protein before the workout and tehn finish during the workout. Right after the workout or up to 30 mniutes later have some carbs like white rice or even complex carbs like brown rice and either a protein shake or very LEAN protein!

I agree with this. If you take care of preworkout/during workout nutrition, then post workout nutrition is almost a non-issue.

Why would you wait until afterwards and try to repair, when you can prevent and maintain in the first place? It makes no sense to me.

[Tim Wescott]

The only reason that I don`t advise eating or drinking anything other than water during a workout, is because I want the blood in the muscles I am training, as opposed to in my stomach, trying to aid in digestion.

I know a pump is not a good indicator of a productive training session,but I think it is more important than it is given credt for nowadays .

Besides,with food or drink(other than water) in the system during training,you are taking a chance of getting sick and blowing your lunch.

Just my thoughts on it,but as usual,to each his own, as long as it`s producing results for you.

[AI]

I can't remember where I heard this but from what I understand, you get the most benefit from a protien shake within 15 min of your workout.

Now i wish I could find that source... gotta research.

[Troyster]

Merlin said:

I agree with this. If you take care of preworkout/during workout nutrition, then post workout nutrition is almost a non-issue.

Why would you wait until afterwards and try to repair, when you can prevent and maintain in the first place? It makes no sense to me.

Yes, but you burn GLYCOGEN... replacing glycogen takes HOURS. So what you eat just before/during a workout is DIGESTING while you're working out and is doing NOTHING to/for your workout. It's not an instant processs, with the exception of simple sugars which don't sustain.

People tend to skip the conversion to glycogen when they think of energy for workouts... food doesn't produce energy from the stomach... it's simply digested there (good 40 plus minutes to digest) where simple sugars are extracted... the food is then sent through the intestines where the nutrients are extracted OVER TIME (technically, specific nutrients are extracted as the digested food passes through each section of the intestines -- specific lengths of the intestines extract specific nutrients). Further, energy is then stored in the muscles for use. When you burn energy, you're actually "burning" glycogen stored in the muscles.

What you burn in the gym is what you ate MANY hours ago that has converted to glycogen and is sitting in the muscle. So what's important is to have a steady input of food all the time so that you never have a lul.

T

[str8flexed]

it's not about whether pre workout is more important than post... they are both very important and you should aim to optimize your intake of nutrients at BOTH times.

[Tim Wescott]

Well said Layne!!

Stored glycogen is a must!

[Merlin]

Quit trying to confuse me with your big words. We all know that things like glycogen that you labrats gleaned from studies are useless in a real world setting. I've been in the game for over 75 years, so I know more than you after training myself and countless clients. You have to find what works best for you because we are all different.

(For the humor-impaired, this is a joke poking fun at the guys like Tim and IH) ;D