Peri-Workout Eating

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Van Canna
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Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am

Peri-Workout Eating

Post by Van Canna »

Do you agree with this Bill?
It's virtually impossible - no matter what you eat - to gain fat after a workout - provided it was a real workout and not something silly involving water aerobics. The time frame that goes for about one hour after lifting weights.

Although gaining fat during this time period is unlikely, it's very likely that you will build muscle provided you feed your body the protein it requires.

It is due to insulin (insulin carries glucose and amino acids to muscle cells). Insulin is like a bus driver, taking the food to the fat cells for storage or to the muscles for building. The route is determined by exercise - if you've just finished lifting weights, insulin will take the nutrients directly to muscle for repair.

Now that doesn't mean a bag of popcorn and a coke. It means a pre-workout drink with some carbs to fuel the energy needed. Just don't go overboard with it. A very simple thing to do is get a 32 OZ Nalgene and fill it 3/4 with water and the other 1/4 with Gatorade. Bare minimum. There are certainly better options ranging from low cost to high cost amino drinks, but working on heavy lifts while hungry will yield little.

Afterwards I simply mix up a protein shake with about 50 grams of Protein using Almond milk. You can use the same Nalgene (after rinsing of course).

Experiment and see what works for you. If you have something you are already doing, feel free to share at Warrior Talk's Fitness Section.
Van
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Bill Glasheen
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Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY

Re: Peri-Workout Eating

Post by Bill Glasheen »

Van

I don't disagree with the premises presented.

Testosterone, HGH, and insulin are the three important anabolic or muscle-building hormones. They work somewhat in dynamic tension with cortisol, which is a stress hormone. Each works in its own way to help you respond positively/negatively to resistance training. All come into play.

There is an hour-long window after weight training where you essentially have a "pass" to consume some high-glycemic-index carbs (e.g. sugars and other simple carbohydrates). Normally the consumption of an HGI carb will by definition spike your insulin which causes the blood glucose spike to be stored as fat. But in that window of time after weight training, the sugar actually can cause the insulin released to have a muscle-building rather than fat-building effect. Meanwhile the spike of sugar gets stored as readily-available glycogen rather than not-so-appealing fat. Something I used to do back when the logistics were right was to go from the gym (after lifting) about 2 blocks away to a smoothie place. I'd get a fruit-only (no added sugar) smoothie with good stuff like acai, blueberries, strawberries, and banana, along with some added whey protein. That's about as good as it gets. You're getting Nature's sugars along with some muscle-building whey, vitamins, minerals, and important phytonutrients with antioxidant properties.

The actual timing of the consumption of insulin-spiking carbs is the voodoo of it all. I don't know what's best, and there's competing literature on the subject. Most "experts" pushing their methods in the muscle magazines are on modern pharmaceuticals anyway, so I take their advice with a grain of sea salt. But this guy's formula certainly is within the realm of both reasonable and thoughtful. What is optimal is the only point of debate, and that probably varies by individual and initial conditions.

Another thing to consider is that *any* process which maintains or increases muscle mass will maintain or increase your basal metabolic rate. That means you burn more calories while sitting on your bum - as I did in spades for about the first 80% of my life. That gives you license to eat heartily, and that can be fun. It also means you're a warm heating blanket to your honey, who just might be glued to you all night.

- Bill
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Van Canna
Posts: 57244
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am

Re: Peri-Workout Eating

Post by Van Canna »

:)
Van
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