Eating after Workout

Lyadeia

HAHAHA you will still see results from your workout if you eat later in the day, the difference is nearly insignificant and unless you're a professional athlete you wouldn't even notice the differences.

Research refutes your point. Studies have shown that the current international recommendations for protein levels are insufficient for people who are exercising intensely - not just professional athletes.

"It seems reasonable to conclude that the lowered rate of whole-body and perhaps muscle protein turnover that appears to occur in healthy adult subjects when intakes of indispensable amino acids approximate the current international figures, would probably diminish the individuals capacity to withstand successfully a major stressful stimulus. Again, for those reasons, we view the significant reduction in the rate of body protein turnover in healthy adults, which permits them to more closely approach or even achieve amino acid balance at currently accepted amino acid requirement intakes, as an accommodation. Thus we further conclude that these international requirement intakes are probably not sufficient to maintain a desirable or adapted state." Young VR., Marchini JS. Mechanisms and nutritional significance of metabolic responses to altered intakes of protein and amino acids, with reference to nutritional adaptation in humans. Am J Clin Nutr 1990;51:270-89

Lower levels of amino acids cause a drop in skeletal muscle protein synthesis. This negatively impacts the ability of the body to deal with tissue damage from intense exercise.

As well, another consideration is the quality of the protein you are eating. If you are only consuming 40 grams of protein a day, it better be a protein that is very digestible and has a high amino acid profile.

+1

Just to add my personal experience...late 2007 I did P90X without protein post-workout. Mid 2008 I did P90X again with protein post-workout. In the first go round, I was sore nearly everyday except for "rest day." I did NOT see as great muscle strength gains as I wanted. In fact, basic bicep curls stayed at 15 pounds for a 12 rep failure the whole 90 days!!! Second time around, on the other hand, I was stronger all over and not only did my numbers on paper show it, but the mirror showed me. I looked better and felt better, and was certainly stronger. And the soreness was greatly reduced, and actually went away after the first week other than the normal burn you feel while working out. Since then, I have always had a protein shake directly after working out. I also push myself extremely hard in my cardio sessions, and have the protein drink after them as well.

I may not be a professional athlete, but I saw and felt real results much much faster with more protein than what MFP says I should have...and drinking a protein shake right after my intense workouts.

And as a side note...if you are exercising, why NOT train as though you are an athlete??? You owe it to yourself to get in the best shape of your life!!!

shawnnshinta

it is essential to eat after a workout!
you have just depleted your body of the energy it had in store already, and now you want to not give it some energy for restoration of that energy?
If you don't give your body the energy it just depleted from the storehouse, your workout was essentially in vain!

But mix up your after work-out meal with carbs and protein, the quick absorbing kind like drinks, and the more slower kind like solid foods.

Work out hard and fast ( don't drag it out), and feed your body accordingly.

TateFTW

it is essential to eat after a workout!
you have just depleted your body of the energy it had in store already, and now you want to not give it some energy for restoration of that energy?
If you don't give your body the energy it just depleted from the storehouse, your workout was essentially in vain!

But mix up your after work-out meal with carbs and protein, the quick absorbing kind like drinks, and the more slower kind like solid foods.

Work out hard and fast ( don't drag it out), and feed your body accordingly.

Uh, I'm sorry, but I can't let that misinformation stand. The fact that nutrition is in liquid or solid form has very little to do with how quickly it's absorbed. There are a number of factors such as macronutrient content and type that have much more effect on speed of absorption. In fact, our digestive systems are not really designed to efficiently take in nutrients from liquid sources.

I think you're combining a couple different concepts in your statement. It's much easier to take in nutrients from liquids when someone is nauseous and can't stomach solid food, or simply isn't hungry, which is why so many people go for protein shakes right after a workout.

Many have theorized that it's best to combine both simple and complex carbs post workout to optimize how quickly then how long the body will have carbs to stimulate the insulin response, which is the whole idea behind taking in carbs post workout. I tend to not worry about getting both complex and simple carbs together, but rather allow myself to not worry about carb type after a workout, where as other times I would never choose simple carbs if I had the choice to make.

edorice

For the average person it's actually not necessary to eat immediately following a workout. The protein/carb thing after a workout for recovery is more for athletes. If you're not training to be an athlete then just eat when you're ready. In fact for HIIT sessions I've heard athletes shouldn't eat immediately following. Anyway the bottom line is unless you are trying to be a tenth of a second faster in a race or, in your sport of choice it doesn't matter if you eat directly following a workout.

No desire to be average.