A few questions about eating right after a strength training workout.

crysgabriela

Okay...so currently I am trying to lose about 15 pounds but also gain muscle and tone up. I've heard that you need to eat right after a workout to gain muscle. I ate my dinner today around 5 and then went to the gym and did a 20 min cardio and then worked on my back and biceps. Do I need to eat again when I get home? I'm so conflicted because I do want to lose weight but I also want to tone up. So yeah I just need some professional advice because I am a newbie.

gamerbabe14

You can't gain muscle in a calorie deficit. But weight lifting will help maintain existing muscle or at least reduce the amount of atrophy. When you eat really has nothing to do with it.

sijomial

I've heard that you need to eat right after a workout to gain muscle.
Untrue - muscle protein synthesis is elevated for 24 - 36hrs. Your overall diet is FAR more significant than timing. You have nutrients in your body already remember.

worked on my back and biceps.
If you are a beginer then that sounds like a really inefficient workout. What is your overall routine and why?

Do I need to eat again when I get home?
Not need, but it's not a bad idea to eat something within next couple of hours. You could save some calories from your daily allowance, many people get hungry after a workout.

I'm so conflicted because I do want to lose weight but I also want to tone up.
Concentrate on the really big ticket items:
1/
Appropriate calorie deficit (smaller the better if you want to have a chance of gaining a little muscle in a deficit, which is entirely possible and not really unusual in an untrained person, don't expect to get hooooooge though!).
2/
Overall diet including a higher than average protein intake. (Protein is particularly muscle sparing.)
3/
Optimise your training with a well designed program appropriate to your experience and goals.

Do the right things and you will be the best version of you when you get to goal, whether those right methods result in a slight gain of muscle or just retaining the maximum amount of muscle in a deficit is irrelevant - still the best that you can have achieved.

livingleanlivingclean

To me, looking toned means losing fat so that the muscle you do have looks more defined, it's not necessarily gaining muscle that will achieve the look you want.

Eat at a deficit, keep training to maintain as much muscle as possible, and when you're closer to your goal, reassess whether you actually want bigger muscles or not.

rybo

You don't need to eat right after. That's bro science. Especially if you ate recently before training. That food is still digesting for a few hours.

crysgabriela

sijomial wrote: »

I've heard that you need to eat right after a workout to gain muscle.
Untrue - muscle protein synthesis is elevated for 24 - 36hrs. Your overall diet is FAR more significant than timing. You have nutrients in your body already remember.

worked on my back and biceps.
If you are a beginer then that sounds like a really inefficient workout. What is your overall routine and why?

Do I need to eat again when I get home?
Not need, but it's not a bad idea to eat something within next couple of hours. You could save some calories from your daily allowance, many people get hungry after a workout.

I'm so conflicted because I do want to lose weight but I also want to tone up.
Concentrate on the really big ticket items:
1/
Appropriate calorie deficit (smaller the better if you want to have a chance of gaining a little muscle in a deficit, which is entirely possible and not really unusual in an untrained person, don't expect to get hooooooge though!).
2/
Overall diet including a higher than average protein intake. (Protein is particularly muscle sparing.)
3/
Optimise your training with a well designed program appropriate to your experience and goals.

Do the right things and you will be the best version of you when you get to goal, whether those right methods result in a slight gain of muscle or just retaining the maximum amount of muscle in a deficit is irrelevant - still the best that you can have achieved.

Thank you guys so much!!! for my back & biceps training I did 3 sets of each for about 10 reps. Dumbbell Hammer curls, Preacher curls, Cable Lat Pulldown (2 variations), Seated Row (2 variations), & Hyperextension.

quiksylver296

The order of importance for training...

jgnatca

The two things I would focus on after a weight lifting routine would be stretches and RICE (if there were any aches or pains).

sijomial

You probably want to build your workout routine around the big compound lifts - isolation lifts (such as your curls) are very inefficient way to train. It takes ages to hit every muscle and people often miss the ideal weekly frequency to train muscles unless they spend hours and hours in the gym. Also if you do them first you are also compromising your bigger lifts (lat pull down, rows).
You didn't say what your overall weekly routine is or your experience but most people are better off sticking to an established plan suited for their training status and goals rather than make their own plan.
Body part splits (like you are doing) aren't what I would personally recommend for beginners (if that's what you are).

But of course any lifting is immeasurably better than no lifting and the simple enjoyment of a workout and how it fits in your schedule are also factors.

heybales

crysgabriela wrote: »

sijomial wrote: »

I've heard that you need to eat right after a workout to gain muscle.
Untrue - muscle protein synthesis is elevated for 24 - 36hrs. Your overall diet is FAR more significant than timing. You have nutrients in your body already remember.

worked on my back and biceps.
If you are a beginer then that sounds like a really inefficient workout. What is your overall routine and why?

Do I need to eat again when I get home?
Not need, but it's not a bad idea to eat something within next couple of hours. You could save some calories from your daily allowance, many people get hungry after a workout.

I'm so conflicted because I do want to lose weight but I also want to tone up.
Concentrate on the really big ticket items:
1/
Appropriate calorie deficit (smaller the better if you want to have a chance of gaining a little muscle in a deficit, which is entirely possible and not really unusual in an untrained person, don't expect to get hooooooge though!).
2/
Overall diet including a higher than average protein intake. (Protein is particularly muscle sparing.)
3/
Optimise your training with a well designed program appropriate to your experience and goals.

Do the right things and you will be the best version of you when you get to goal, whether those right methods result in a slight gain of muscle or just retaining the maximum amount of muscle in a deficit is irrelevant - still the best that you can have achieved.

Thank you guys so much!!! for my back & biceps training I did 3 sets of each for about 10 reps. Dumbbell Hammer curls, Preacher curls, Cable Lat Pulldown (2 variations), Seated Row (2 variations), & Hyperextension.

Overall routine - like doing the fad method of 1 or 2 body parts each day, only 1x weekly?

Because as @sijomial mentioned - most those back pulls are going to work the biceps automatically, so to spend times on curls is just taking time away from ability to hit something else better.

If this is a matter of limited chunks of time - then a split routine hitting same muscles at least 3x weekly will see better results.
And that can be accomplished with compound moves.
Most pushes involve the triceps, most pulls involve the biceps.

SDpanda619

Lots of info here. I know it’s cliche but try to not put too much stock in the scale or how much you weight. There’s studies that support every situation in this case. Do what works best for you. I love training! Eat clean... get those nutrients... keep it simple...and train your *kitten* off or on!