Superman has his workout nutrition in check. Do you?
I’ve gotten a couple questions recently about food and maximizing recovery before and after workouts.
Questions have included:
- What should I eat before a workout?
- How much should i eat before a workout?
- How long before a workout should i eat?
- Ohh Slaughter, why are you drinking Milk?
- What are these Zico drinks, man they taste good!!
So lets break down the science of whats going on in the body before and after a workout. The workout we will classify as the stimulus. Pre stimulus it is important to have hormone levels balanced, and energy needs to be ready to be utilized. The way to accomplish this to eat a meal before your workout. This meal needs to be balanced. Let me repeat that. NEEDS TO BE BALANCED. ->> It needs to have protein, carbs, and fats. The questions of when and how much to eat are more variable and person dependent.
Pre-workout is Prime-time-dizzle
If I workout in the morning, I’ll eat something around a 4 block meal, 1 hour before a workout. This is because #1) it’s breakfast time, i haven’t eaten in like 8 hours, and I’m friggin hungry! #2) I don’t have a lot of time after a morning workout to make breakfast and eat it. #3) I don’t get an upset stomach with something around a 4 block meal (this would be like 1/2 an avocado, 4 eggs, and a grapefruit with a cup of blueberries). Some people have a much harder time dealing with a large amount of food pre-workout.
Here are some quick recommendations for pre-workout foodZ!
- 1 block meal 15 minutes pre-workout (example is slice of turkey breast, 1/2 apple, 3 almonds)
- 2 block meal 45 minutes – 60 minutes pre-workout (example is 2 oz jerky, 1/2 grapefruit, 4 full walnuts)
- 3 block meal 1 hour – 1.5 hours pre-workout ( example is 3 oz cooked chicken breast, large kale salad with some avocado.
Bob is the uber-dog of awesomeness
Post workout is the shiznat-didlio-snapdazzle-time
Post-stimulus the chemical levels in the body have changed. This is true whether your female or male, tall or short, can or can’t do double unders. Intense exercise such as Crossfit workouts cause an increase in growth hormone. When nutrition is taken into account correctly post-workout, the hormone levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) are elevated for an extended period of time.Post workout the body has a sensitivity to insulin, basically what has happened is you have depleted the energy levels (glycogen) of the muscles, and the cells are saying FEED ME!!!! When you have some carbohydrates post workout, it raises insulin levels, and stores those carbohydrates into the muscles to be used in the future. This can drastically decrease recovery times. Ever notice when you drink a Zico you feel pretty refreshed about 15-30 minutes after compared to directly post workout?
I want you to further this effect and cause elevated levels of insulin-like growth factor as well. Elevated levels of IGF-1 will signal the body to build lean muscle mass, burn body fat, and develop neurological pathways. (All good things!) To accomplish this, it’s simple. Add in some protein. There are several kinds, Whey protein, casein protein, whey protein, or a mix of several. Stay away from Soy protein please.
Heres some guidelines for post workout nutrition (This should be taken almost immediately after a workout). These are guidelines from my own experiences, as well as influence from OPT, Rob Wolf, and other nutritionists.
- Over 200 pounds: 40 grams protein
- 170-200 pounds: 35 grams protein
- 140-180 pounds: 30 grams protein
- 110-140 pounds: 20 grams protein
- Over 25% bodyfat: 10 grams carbohydrates
- 20-25% bodyfat: 15 grams carbohydrates
- 15-20% bodyfat: 20 grams carbohydrates
- 10-15% bodyfat: 30 grams carbohydrates
- 5-10% bodyfat: 35 grams carbohydrates
Fat comes into play also here, a little bit of fat is good, and plenty OK to have after a workout, but keep it to limited amounts. Fat slows absorption in the intestines and digestion in the stomach, and i want those nutrients on a super rocket into your muscles! If you’re going to have a Zico, bring a little portable protein powder to have with it. It will make a pretty significant difference in your adaptations to the speed and strength training of Crossfit. Cheers all!
WOD 2/12/2010
A. Hang Snatch 2-2-2
B. 1000M Row
21-18-15-12-9
Ring Dips
Wallball
How could you go with Brandon Routh over Christopher Reeves!?! Blasphemy!
Here’s a great article on “Overtraining” I meant to post it yesterday but I guess it didn’t go through. If anyone is every bored at work, Marks Daily Apple is a great blog on training, eating, and life in general. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-deal-with-overtraining/
Well, you stole my next post idea, but you’ve provided me another: milk.
There are actually many more reasons not to drink milk than to drink milk (or at least of the modern type and quantity that post workout might require).
I was looking forward to reading reasons why one ought to drink milk PWO and why a Got Milk? poster deserved the leading spot on the post. PWO milk is goal-specific and will have different effects on different people depending on where they are in terms of sugar metabolism/body comp.
Oh yeah, and what carbohydrate sources are superior: complex starchy vegs vs. simple sugar fructose-filled fruits, etc. To be continued!
john welbourn says to drink milk. i’m scared of him. so i drink milk.
I wait in patience Remy!!
Here’s what I have been trying – and it really has worked for me but I have some questions.
My preworkout stack is the Dr Max Powers Anabolic Stack, and also 30 Minutes before workout take 20g whey protein
Questions:
any good reccomendations on buying the Max Powers Anabolic Stack in bulk ? I want to use the stack for 3 months, off for three months and then on again for 3 months. Any bulk options?
thinking about adding Vitamin C also, i’m just trying to mix and match to see what my body works well with and buy it all in bulk so i can save money.
thanks for any feedback.
Jesse – I don’t know if we’ve talked in the Gym before, if not, come find me. Supplements do get expensive so i understand the bulk. this is a very typical bodybuilding + testosterone complex. Glutamine and creatine are cheap now a days.
Arginine is not cheap, and the reasoning you’re paying a premium is because of the chemical forms they’re creating. Arginine is used in NO supplements, and in all honesty, I don’t think they’re worth the price. Creatine is a great product and has hundreds of proven clinical tests. The NO (nitric oxide) supplements are supposed to increase oxygen delivery, but I’m skeptical. I’ve used them before in the past with mixed results.
Check out http://www.bodybuilding.com
They have every supplement you could ever want. Including Tribulus (which is well known to increase T1 levels), and glutamine is also a good recovery protein. My advice is to dump the Ornithine and A-AKG though. Your mental ability to put up the weight has more influence than does Arginine.
Also – these supplements have more of an impact on bodybuilding type workouts because hormone levels are raised to a blunted level with bodybuilding type workouts than with higher power (intensity) workouts such as CF workouts.