Nutrient Timing
What are the best post-workout foods? Why is it even important to eat after working out? Well it is all dependent on what type of workout you have just completed. When it comes to a cardiovascular workout under 60 minutes long the most important food to consume is water. Yup zero calorie drink is sufficient enough if you are not running a 3-6 hour marathon. Hydration is the priority when completing your cardio-regimen.
What about the other side of the coin? What should you eat after training with weights? This is a strenuous workout that, if done correctly, the desired effect is to reshape your body composition. Working out your muscles will make your body look lean and make you stronger. This will lead to your robust fat tissue being replaced with dense muscle tissue. Since muscle has more weight than fat when lifting weights, you may not see an immediate loss on the scale. But you will see fewer inches on your waist.
So is it important to “feed” your muscle after weight training? You don’t have to but if you want to maximize your recovery and performance you should consider certain nutrients after weight training.
There are two macro-nutrients proven to be beneficial. What are these nutrients you may ask? Well it’s not a specific vitamin, it’s not a particular amino acid, and it’s not even creatine or caffeine. The two powerhouse nutrients that help your muscle recover and repair itself is Protein and Carbohydrates.
Let’s first look at the more obvious ingestion of protein during and after weight training. We have all seen or heard about the protein shake craze. The muscle tissue is made of protein, amino acids being the building blocks of protein. So it would make sense to ingest protein during or after your weight training to substitute the loss as a result of the breakdown of the muscle during the workout. The intentional breakdown of the muscle tissue with weight training forces the muscle to regenerate stronger and possibly bigger. An analogy would be how Mother Nature creates heavy winds that wipe out older weaker trees to allow the juvenile ones better access to light and more available water for them to grow and become stronger. The water and light that the juvenile trees need in this situation is similar to the protein our muscle needs after weight training.
The second important nutrient the muscle benefits from is carbohydrates. Replenishing carbohydrates are important because you will deplete the circulating and
stored form of carbs (such as blood sugar and glycogen) soon after weightlifting. Your body’s preferred source of energy is carbs/glucose. Therefore, ingesting some while or after weight training will help your muscle have that energy to push through the workout and increase your muscle strength/performance and hence achieve more leanness. Because the body will pull on this preferred source of energy it will spare excessive muscle tissue degradation. Also, studies have shown that carbohydrate intake causes a spike in insulin production which has shown to help with protein synthesis.
What type of protein and carbs is recommended when or after weight training? The answer is the most easily digested type for both. Whey protein is recommended and simple sugars like dextrose will meet your carbohydrate requirement. Just remember what your goal is when weight lifting and how your total calorie count will help you get there. If you want to be lean and lose weight, your calorie count should be negative and if you wish to make your muscle bigger and gain mass then you should have a positive calorie count.
References:
- Haff GG, Stone MH, Warren BJ, Keith R, Johnson RL, Nieman DC, Williams F Jr, and Kirksey KB. The effect of carbohydrate supplementation on multiple sessions and bouts of resistance exercise. J Strength Cond Res 13: 111–117, 1999.
- Kulik JR, Touchberry CD, Kawamori N, Blumert PA, Crum AJ, and Haff GG. Supplemental carbohydrate ingestion does not improve performance of high-intensity resistance exercise. J Strength Cond Res 22: 1101–1107, 2008.
- Lambert CP, Flynn MG, Boone JB Jr, Michaud TJ, and Rodriguez-Zayas J. Effects of carbohydrate feeding on multiple bout resistance exercise. J Appl Sport Sci Res 5: 192–197, 1991.
- Leveritt M and Abernethy PJ. Effects of carbohydrate restriction on strength performance. J Strength Cond Res 13: 52–57, 1999
- Slater G and Phillips SM. Nutrition guidelines for strength sports: Sprinting, weightlifting, throwing events, and bodybuilding. J Sports Sci 29: S67–S77, 2011.