subject: Post and Pre Workout Nutrition [print this page] Post and Pre Workout Nutrition Post and Pre Workout Nutrition
For you to get the maximum productivity from your weight training, your pre and post workout nutrition (foods and supplements) has to supply your organism with everything he needs at the right time.
While you will work out, engaged in intense power training for less than an hour, important is whatis important what you get in the 90 minutes prior and 90 minutes after the training.
These 4 hours frame (90 minutes before, 60 during, 90 after) is the most important time in your program in terms of the nutrition, for muscle growth and fat burning.
It is during these four hours you can significantly improve your ability to build muscle and/or lose weights. In this time frame the body will want your attention to give him the best foods and best supplements available for your goals.
PreWorkout Nutrition
Your pre-workout meal, as some say, is the 2th most important meal during the day, topped only by the post-workout meal. The aim of this meal is to prepare your organism for the stress given by the effort.
During intense training, body energy resources are depleted, so that the body will turn to glycolysis to replace this energy. Glycolysis is the process of conversing sugar (carbohydrates) in ATP. So, you need to make sure energy is easily available (carbs and fat).
The pre workout meal should focus on protein, complex carbs and some fat. It is important the presece of these macronutrients. The meal should be about 60-90 minutes before training beginning, so that the body will have enough time to digest and deliver the nutrient to muscle cells.
Complex carbohydrates in your pre-workout meal will ensure that you have energy for your training. Another practice to consider, that is simple, is to ingest carbohydrates (fruit, fruit juices) and / or protein in a quick drink shake with 20 to 30 minutes prior exercise.
Before training is a grate time to use one of the best pre workout supplement. Most pre workout supplements use ingredients such as creatine, beta alanine, caffeine and amino-acids. This products are specialy made, to give you better gains. This translates in better performance, better recovery and achiving goals faster than ever.
After workout nutrition
After training the anabolism window is opening. This means that your body is hungry and willing to take all nutrients that he needs for recovery.
Your body will need carbohydrates to replace energy used (muscle glycogen) and protein for reconstruction and recovery to begin. The better the materials you will provide (quantity and quality) the faster your body gets the materials and can get started with recovery/building muscle/ or fat burning. Studies have shown that time really is the essence.
The goal of proper after workout nutrition is to quickly and efficiently refuel the muscles and assure them with the raw materials they need to rebuild larger and stronger.
Is a good thing to try and make your post-workout meal with about 15-25% of the total daily caloric requirements (if your diet calls for 3150 calories/day, your post-workout meal will be about 500-800 calories). There should be a quality carbs mixture and a quality proteins.
A sports drink is one good first step in post-workout nutrition. It will act quickly to replace energy stores to replace lost nutrients and also create an insulin spike.
Supply the body with quality protein source is the closest thing to the post-workout nutrition agenda, and it should be the first step to follow as soon as possible. A liquid source is ideal because it is processed and used by the body fast.
After training, eat your food to eat after a workout, when your stomach and schedule allows. This can vary by individual. In general, the longer you go 90 minutes after a workout, but ideally you would do within the first 30 minutes. The resulting muscle growth you experience as a result of the training may be able to dramatically how quickly you can re-supply the body with muscle building nutrition are affected.
The post-workout meal should pack heavy on protein and carbohydrates. By providing an insulin spike, carbohydrates provide the body with good transport links for the nutrients in the muscle cells to achieve. The release of insulin and the sensitivity of muscle cells (induced by the trauma of intense weight training) is also the reason most recommend taking creatine at this time.
After training, the muscle cells are incredibly hungry for food and will suck all that you can give them. Make sure you provide only quality supplements and foods.
In your workout days, if your goal is to build bigger muscles, you can increase your daily calorie intake with 9-15%. This could come from your post workout supplement or from the best pre workout supplement. As said you can replace your pre workout meal with a meal replacement containing carbs, protein and some fat.
Picking carbohydrate sources
Choosing the right carbohydrates is very important when you are dealing with pre-and post-workout nutrition. High glycemic foods can contribute to an insulin spike that will help the nutrients get faster and in bigger amounts in to the muscles. *Use high glycemic foods esspecialy after workout.
Check out the articles about the best supplements, best post workout supplement and best pre workout supplement.
