What time is it? Time to eat…

After every workout the first thing on my mind is, damn I’m hungry… The goal for this post is to give you some basic understanding why timing your meals around your workout (more specifically post workout) is so important.

Someone forgot their post workout meal...

After completing a WOD your body is in what we call a catabolic state, that means its in a process of breakdown. Large molecules are being transferred around to be broken down into smaller ones to fuel your body. Stress hormones such as cortisol are elevated, and key fuel stores such as muscle glycogen are low or even depleted. For recovery and positive adaptations to occur at the most optimal rate, a shift must be made from this catabolic state to an anabolic one. Ingesting the proper post-exercise nutrition and doing so with optimal timing is critical for this desirable transition to occur.

Post exercise nutrition is beneficial by accomplishing just that a shift to a more positive “building” state. Immediately after exercise, the sensitivity of muscle to nutritional stimuli is heightened, remaining maximally elevated for approximately 30–60 minutes. Ingesting nutrients during this time optimizes the rate at which muscle glycogen can be replenished and muscle protein synthesis can be activated. In addition, nutrients can attenuate the catabolic stress hormone response and can help prevent additional protein breakdown , thereby accelerating protein accretion. Basically, your body puts good shit back where it needs to go and builds on it from there…

So now everyone knows they need to eat after their workout, and soon after. Now what? What do I eat you may ask… Well a mixture of carbohydrate and protein have been shown to provide the greatest benefit. A mixture of both macronutriants is better then any one macro nutrient because they activate different but cooperative signaling pathways that serve to regulate carbohydrate and protein metabolism. You noticed I left fat out, the reason for this is due to the fact that fat slows down digestion of the other two key macronutriants.

Here is a flow char of how the whole process works:

Fancy chart that convinces you to eat PRO and CHO after each workout

Enhanced muscle glycogen storage and protein accretion lead to faster recovery and increased muscle mass and strength, key goals of any resistance training program. In addition, appropriate nutrient supplementation during and following exercise can prevent exercise-induced immune system suppression.

Ill take a number 2 with extra whey!

Recommendation:

Based on the current research on resistance exercise and nutritional supplementation, it is recommended that approximately 1.0 to 1.2 g of carbohydrate plus 0.5 to 0.6 g protein per kg of body weight should be ingested immediately after a resistance exercise session and then again 2 hours later in the form of either a supplement or a meal. Avoid large quantities of fat during this time period…

This timeline and quantity will supply the body with enough of each macronutrient to maximally refuel muscle glycogen and create a positive protein balance.

Workout of the Day 7/2/2010

A. Deadlift 4-4-4

B. 3 Rounds
AMRAP 5 minutes 1 minute off
5 Pull-ups
10 Slam Balls
15 Double Unders

Continue from where you left off. Score is cumulative total rounds