Along with blogging about my training experiences, I would also like to start adding information on nutrition. I have done some pretty extensive research with my nutrition in the past, and I would just like to share my findings, along with the results that I have gotten. Along with training, I feel as if you should have established goals for nutrition, in order to help get the physique that you want and the most out of your training. Are you interested in bulking up, improving recovery, getting leaner? These are some questions to ask when planning out a nutrition profile. This post will focus specifically on post workout nutrition - the window of time following your workout. There has been a lot of buzz in the fitness community about the "45 minute window" following training, where your body is most susceptible to flooding nutrients to your just trained muscles. I am in 100% agreement with this. However, I do not feel that it is absolutely necessary to start eating or drinking immediately once the weight is set back on the rack. Within about 30 minutes following a workout, however, I feel one should most likely get some type of food source in them, containing both carbohydrates and protein. I am currently on a supplement hiatus, and I honestly feel better with just using high quality, all natural food sources for my meals including post workout, as opposed to supplements. Depending on how hard you worked, and how long you worked determine roughly how much protein and carbohydrates to consume. Typically for an hour and ten minute strength training session, I usually try to get 45 grams of carbohydrates and 35 grams of protein in as my post workout meal. The protein and carbohydrates work synergistically to promote the repair of damaged muscle fibers and to restore glycogen lost from the training as well. This is due to the carbohyrates spiking the hormone insulin. Insulin is a transmitter hormone, and thus transmits the nutrients from the food you eat into the blood stream. Being in a trained state, muscle cells are much more receptive to nutrients, thus the benefit of both carbs and protein to promote the recovery process. I have been incorporating this practice for some time, and I have noticed that I not only do not get as sore, I also feel as if I get stronger for my consecutive workouts. I also follow a lower carbohydrate diet plan with other meals other than post workout, and I have noticed that I have lost more body fat on top of increasing strength gains in my bench press and squat. My current post workout meal includes 2 or 3 Chobani Greek Strained Yogurts and Fruit. They are 100% natural and supply both protein and carbohydrates to my body after my workout. What are some of your favorite post workout meals and why???
Whats the price difference for a month between all natural foods (greek yogurt) vs supplements?
ReplyDeleteWith regards to your question, I would not necessarily look at it from that standpoint. I guess you need to look at the quality of food or substance you are putting in your body. I heard one of the old trainers that I still follow to this day make reference to the body as a type of car. If you want your body to look good and perform high, you typically would think of yourself as something like a Lamborghini. Would you put a poor grade of gas in a Lamborghini? I probably wouldn't, especially since I wouldn't want my car to break down. Now with regards to food, all natural foods usually have very few ingredients - the food has derived from nature and not loaded with preservatives or a proprietary blend of hidden ingredients. Natural foods are broken down much easier in the body and allow your body to partake in its natural processes without struggling to break down some preservatives, and potentially storing them in fat cells. You do not necessarily know what you are getting with supplements. I would look at, instead of price, but rather the quality of the food you are putting in to your body. If it means buying all natural foods and spending more money, I would rather have that as opposed to having a lower quality food choice and some supplements that I am not entirely sure how they were made and saving a couple dollars. Hopefully this helps. Thanks for the question!
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