What does your body need after working out?

Laceyrae

I posted this once before and something wierd happened, I got some topic related to a frozen drink and no one posted, so i'll try again..

.I wanted to know what i should be taking in before and after a workout, and also does it change if your doing cardio vs strength training? I've heard everything from chocolate milk to cottage cheese , is there a simple, low calorie, way to repair my body? What is your take on working out first thing in the morning on empty stomach vs I get up have a few cups of coffee, breakfast, and then hydrate for a few hours, when the kids are down for the count i excercise..What do you think? I will be checking in through out the day for input. Thanks so much for your time.

marissa4354

Chocolate milk is the best recovery!

padigirl

bump

CricketKate

bump

karlenasmith

This is a good question, I too would be interested in the answer. BTW, what does "bump" mean?

MrsFoster18

bump.

bump is when you want to be able to find this thread again and read it. It shows up on your home page.

HotMomma86

I prefer to workout first thing in the morning. If I eat before I workout, I get nauseous, even if I wait 2 hours. I take a protein shake an hour before working out and then again half an hour after.

I take water, add a scoop of whey protein, a tsp of glutamine, a tsp of creatine, and some flaxseed oil. UDO oil is very good also. It was recommended to me by a cousin who is quite knowledgeable about health and fitness. It doesn't taste the greatest, but it works great.

heatherhart

You should drink or eat protein within 30 mins after working out. Yogurt is great or drink a protein shake if you trying to lose weight look for the highest amount of protein for the least amount of calories. Hope this helps

Pups22

bump

LilSweetie785

It also keeps the post active so it stays toward the top of the message board.

exacerbe

After a workout, I normally drink water and a protein shake. I eat a typical meal about an hour after the shake.

neebelung

Chocolate milk is the best recovery!

Bingo! And it FEELS like a guilty pleasure, which makes it that much better!

Fieldsy

A shower

bethvandenberg

I drink 1-2 protein drinks a day. Usually one before I work out in the am and one in the afternoon after I workout on days I do double workouts.

I use the Pure Protein with JM on the cover. It's not loaded with carbs and it's pretty decent.

It's my understanding that you need protein to rebuild/repair the muscles you just worked.

ahbach2005

My wife and I work out early in the am. We eat within an hour after and if we are starving we do a whey based protien shake. On the weekend we eat a protein rich breakfast once the kids are up.

I would agee with most of the posts that after moderate cardio or strenght protein is enough. If you are training hard for a triatholon or a marathon I would add something to the protein to get electrolytes back in my system.

Goal_Seeker_1988

check out this site.

http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2010/02/16/what-you-eat-after-exercise-matters.aspx

305muscle

I SAY whey protein

Ben2118

You can get recovery drinks, they contain everything your body needs after a workout, but a lot of them contain creatine so if you are just wanting a boost a decent protein shake would be great. Best way to judge protein shakes is the more grams of protein per scoop the better, eg, a protein shake with 50g scoop containing 25g protein is not as good as one with a 50g scoop containing 30g for instance.

Ben.

Amy62575

Everyone believes something different. Here's a good website to get alot of good info.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/women.htm

Good luck!

brookeybaby_00

Chocolate milk is the best recovery!

That's what I use too!

TrainingWithTonya

First of all, I don't recommend working out on an empty stomach. When you exercise, you have to breakdown glucose first in order to have pyruvate to be able to burn body fat. When you go overnight without food, your natural glycogen stores are used to fuel the brain because it only uses glycose/glycogen for fuel. After a while of fasting where you don't have intake of more carbs to replenish the glycogen stores, your natural body process is to produce cortisol to tell the body to breakdown protein to make glucose to fuel the brain. This is fine if you aren't trying to maintain muscle and burn body fat. For those of us trying to lose body fat, however, its not a good thing because it actually slows the metabolism from the muscle breakdown. If you exercise first thing in the morning, without replacing that glucose/glycogen, then the cortisol level stays elevated and you keep breaking down muscle to produce the glucose/glycogen needed to fuel the exercise. You will burn some fat, too, because the breakdown of the protein produced glucose provides the pyruvate just like breaking down carbs so you can go into fat burning. But the glycogen is provided by breaking down your hard earned muscle mass which slows the metabolism in the long run. Muscle burns calories just to maintain itself so you want to keep that muscle to be able to consume more food in the long run. Not to mention the benefits of having the added muscle in increasing bone density (decreasing osteoporosis risk), increasing strength, decreasing risk of injury, etc.

Now, for fueling exercise and recovery, you need a mix of carbs and protein. Before exercise you need mostly carbohydrates. Like I said earlier, you breakdown carbs for fuel to provide the pyruvate for fat burning. If you are doing a short, high intensity workout, simple carbs are sufficient because they are available almost immediately. If you are doing a longer, lower intensity activity, complex carbs with a little simple carbs are the way to go because the simple carbs are available for the beginning of the workout and the complex carbs are available for the end of the workout. The protein that you consume before the workout isn't actually available until after the workout, but that is good because that is when they are needed to repair and rebuild the muscle from the microscopic damage that exercise causes. After the activity, you need a mix of carbs and protein with more focus on protein. The carbs are to help replace any glycogen stores the body used (in addition to the carbs you consumed beforehand) to fuel the activity and the protein is to help continue the repair and rebuild process throughout the next 24-48 hours because you actually gain strength in those muscles during the repair and rebuild process.

Because you need carbs and protein, that is why chocolate milk is recommended because it has both. I prefer a sandwich, but that is just a personal preference. Anything that provides both protein and carbs is fine.

corina19

bump!

Laceyrae

wow, thank you for all the advice, i wonder do you have to drink chocolate milk or is it just the milk that is good? Why chocolate?

TrainingWithTonya

wow, thank you for all the advice, i wonder do you have to drink chocolate milk or is it just the milk that is good? Why chocolate?

It's the added simple sugars in chocolate milk that is helping replenish the glycogen stores immediately. If you don't like chocolate milk, though, something else with a mix of simple sugars (glucose and fructose) and more complex (lactose from milk is actually a disaccharide) sugars with some protein is fine. I like a turkey (protein) sandwich on whole wheat (complex carb) with a piece of fruit (simple carb) personally.

Amajoy

Ultimately you need protein after a workout. Your muscles obsorb protein like crazy right after a workout. Sooo during the week I typically WO in the evenings, around 5 or 6 depending on the day. I eat my after noon snack around 4 PM which usually consists of 1oz of raw almonds cause its easy, I do my workout and I drink a whey protein shake (water + protein powder) with a scoop of BCAA + Glutemine (vitamine Shoppe). The BCAA helps to repair your muscles after a workout. There is a ton of whey protein powders out there and I did a ton of research, I ended up with Optimal Nutritions, low calories with 24 grams of protein.

If I workout on the weekends its usually in the morning so I will make my "Breakfast Protein Shake" or eat something such as a 100 cal. english muffin with peanut butter and a banana. The breakfast shake consists of a scoop of protein, 4oz water, 4oz skim milk, half a banana, fresh or frozen berries (I like frozen cause it makes it thick and cold like a shake), then I blend in a bullet till smooth. I eat or drink no more then an hour before my workout. Then After my morning workout I will do the Protein shake (protein + water) with BCAA, then and hour or so later eat lunch.

Thats how I do it, but if you have time/feel like eating after a WO real food is the best option. You need to be able to get protein in you within 30 mins of your WO, so for me downing a protein shake is the easiest way.

zakkthebear

Ideally you'd have a protein shake with 25 or so grams of protein along with about the same in simple carbs as soon as you're done and no more than 30 minutes after. about an hour after that it would be lean meats (chicken, tuna fish) and complex carbs.

I also use Optimum Nutrition whey, its a great value and a solid product. BCCA's are fine and all, they didn't seem to do much for me, but every body is different. They whey+carbs is about as universal as it gets for rushing nutrients to your body after a hard workout.

there is better stuff out there for you than chocolate milk.

Spitfirex007

I use Body Fortress - Super Advanced Whey Protein - Strawberry. I do half a scoop before my workout. Then a full scoop after. It has 140 calories and 26 g of protein per full scoop. And it only cost about 17 dollars at wal mart. I also do 2 scoops of beach body recovery formula.

But as others said, protein is the best thing for after your workout. Anyway you get it is fine. But protein shakes are quick and easy.

patricac

bump

SamanthaAnne

You have to eat something within the first 30 minutes of waking up or your metabolism slows for the day. Even if you just eat a banana you will boost your metabolism by 30%. Then, after you work out, you should eat protein. The best thing is greek yogurt. And remember, your metabolism is fastest about an hour after you work out!

danielled6875

bump

i drink muscle milk light. Its only 100 calories, 2.5 fat, 6 carbs and 15 g of protein.
It tastes good too. I was told to drink it after cardio and strength because with cardio even tho your not lifting
weights, your still working your muscles. If anyone thinks differently, please let me know.

pyro13g

First of all, I don't recommend working out on an empty stomach. When you exercise, you have to breakdown glucose first in order to have pyruvate to be able to burn body fat. When you go overnight without food, your natural glycogen stores are used to fuel the brain because it only uses glycose/glycogen for fuel. After a while of fasting where you don't have intake of more carbs to replenish the glycogen stores, your natural body process is to produce cortisol to tell the body to breakdown protein to make glucose to fuel the brain. This is fine if you aren't trying to maintain muscle and burn body fat. For those of us trying to lose body fat, however, its not a good thing because it actually slows the metabolism from the muscle breakdown. If you exercise first thing in the morning, without replacing that glucose/glycogen, then the cortisol level stays elevated and you keep breaking down muscle to produce the glucose/glycogen needed to fuel the exercise. You will burn some fat, too, because the breakdown of the protein produced glucose provides the pyruvate just like breaking down carbs so you can go into fat burning. But the glycogen is provided by breaking down your hard earned muscle mass which slows the metabolism in the long run. Muscle burns calories just to maintain itself so you want to keep that muscle to be able to consume more food in the long run. Not to mention the benefits of having the added muscle in increasing bone density (decreasing osteoporosis risk), increasing strength, decreasing risk of injury, etc.

Now, for fueling exercise and recovery, you need a mix of carbs and protein. Before exercise you need mostly carbohydrates. Like I said earlier, you breakdown carbs for fuel to provide the pyruvate for fat burning. If you are doing a short, high intensity workout, simple carbs are sufficient because they are available almost immediately. If you are doing a longer, lower intensity activity, complex carbs with a little simple carbs are the way to go because the simple carbs are available for the beginning of the workout and the complex carbs are available for the end of the workout. The protein that you consume before the workout isn't actually available until after the workout, but that is good because that is when they are needed to repair and rebuild the muscle from the microscopic damage that exercise causes. After the activity, you need a mix of carbs and protein with more focus on protein. The carbs are to help replace any glycogen stores the body used (in addition to the carbs you consumed beforehand) to fuel the activity and the protein is to help continue the repair and rebuild process throughout the next 24-48 hours because you actually gain strength in those muscles during the repair and rebuild process.

Because you need carbs and protein, that is why chocolate milk is recommended because it has both. I prefer a sandwich, but that is just a personal preference. Anything that provides both protein and carbs is fine.

All that needs added is that this needs tweaked based on intensity and duration. There are times you really need to pre-fuel, fuel during, and get much more recovery nutrition,3-4 times more in that 30-60minute post workout window.

Brief intense weight training usually doesn't call for glycogen replacement, but a protein shake 20-30gr protein within 30-60 minutes is a good idea, and then a balanced meal within another 2-3 hours.


If you are doing any intense activity, workouts, or training, it's in your best interest to ask how to practice optimal nutrition for it if you do not know. You can trigger over training problems quickly if you screw up the nutrition. And trust me, you do not want to know what severe over training feels like. Isn't there something in the new past couple days about some Idaho athletes?