Post Workout thoughts on carbs?

mustgetmuscles1

Glycogenz....they...are....depleted.



Seriously it doesnt matter for most of us that do a normal workout. Eat if you want to, before or after. It more important to make sure you hit your calorie and macro goals for the day and not so much when you take them.

Doodlewhopper

Eating is not complicated. Heck, even the cavemen could do it. I dont share same dietary needs as a young woman or the hypoglycemic; so why could anyone expect us to eat the same way? Fueling the body must be tailored to the individual.

One of the most important things that should be mentioned here is hydration, pre & post workout...... Need to help the kidneys clean up all the shredded tissue!

Personally I have to be careful with pre workout meals or I get sick. I generally snack while running, even short distances. Raisins, 'naners, Fig Newtons, Gu, etc. Makes a noticeable difference with me. Not so much for my buddy.

Post workout Im generally not real hungry until 2-3 hours afterwards. My preference includes a snack of carbs and protein; carbs for the "pick me up" and protein for satiety and a few amino acids. I agree with the following quotes from previous posters....keep it simple and listen to your body.

Myself I run at lunch time I eat 2 servings of steel cut oats and 1 serving 2 percent fage yogurt and lately a apple about 1 hour before (I am hungry at this time) I go running 8 miles then I eat again about 2 hours later becouse I am hungry. This seems to work great for me. I dont pay too much attention the all the ratio ect ect ect. I try to eat a balanced diet and I dont get hungry. I pay attention to my body. Every thing else seems to fall into place.

So, as I said, it is driven by personal preference and training. Most people are intelligent enough to find out what makes them feel best and gives them the best gym performance without some unessesary set of rules to follow.

If you want a few ideas and thoughts on eating, keep it general as per the Mayo Clinic until you find your own preferences .....http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ00594_D

BTW Tune out the jaw flapping "experts"

CoachReddy

You'll hear plenty of different opinions on this, but I believe Carbs are very important. Serious strength training is best followed by a good post workout meal which includes Carbs to replenish glycogen.

Why? Do you believe you deplete glycogen in a single strength training session? According to Alan Aragon, nutritional timing within a 24 hour window is immaterial.
"Preworkout nutrition all but cancels the urgency, unless you’re an endurance athlete with multiple glycogen-depleting events in a single day."

As someone else stated, unless you have a second workout planned within a couple of hours, meal timing and frequency should be primarily driven by personal preference based on overall performance and well being. So basically, if you eat a balanced diet during the course of the day, there is no need for any "post workout meal" with any special macronutrient compostiion other than that which would hit your overall targets for the day. The nutritional timing myth dies hard.

why is Aragon some god to you 24-hour window-aholics?


OP, after a workout your insulin levels are low, thus why you feel nauseous, spent, exhausted, etc, etc. A quick shot of simple carbs can help your insulin level rebound to normal levels and get you feeling better faster. Carbs post workout = very useful

Why would insulin levels have anything to do with it? Insulin is a shuttle hormone for nutrients.

All trainees do not feel nauseous, spent, exausted after a workout. Even one of high intensity. If they do, then their perference and how they feel drives their nutritional timing.

So, as I said, it is driven by personal preference and training. Most people are intelligent enough to find out what makes them feel best and gives them the best gym performance without some unessesary set of rules to follow.

1) Insulin is a shuttle for nutrients. don't you think, then, if you were to introduce a concoction of simple carbs and quick-absorbing protein into your body post workout, that by spiking the insulin (a nutrient shuttle) you would be suttling said proteins to the muscles that are looking for it? I'm just curious why that isn't correct.

2) Agree that it's personal preference. Give me a post of mine where I didn't say that at the end of the day, all of this is personal preference.

The OP said she feels spent after a workout and that her body feels like it needs a carb recovery boost... so... then... seems like her personal preference would be to have a recovery drink of some kind OR a 3-5:1 simple carb/protein recovery meal.

right?

RedHeadDevotchka

You'll hear plenty of different opinions on this, but I believe Carbs are very important. Serious strength training is best followed by a good post workout meal which includes Carbs to replenish glycogen.

Why? Do you believe you deplete glycogen in a single strength training session? According to Alan Aragon, nutritional timing within a 24 hour window is immaterial.
"Preworkout nutrition all but cancels the urgency, unless you’re an endurance athlete with multiple glycogen-depleting events in a single day."

As someone else stated, unless you have a second workout planned within a couple of hours, meal timing and frequency should be primarily driven by personal preference based on overall performance and well being. So basically, if you eat a balanced diet during the course of the day, there is no need for any "post workout meal" with any special macronutrient compostiion other than that which would hit your overall targets for the day. The nutritional timing myth dies hard.

Well, I've done some reading of my own, and no not muscle magazines real textbooks and books about this stuff, and what I got from all of that is Carbs post workout is a good idea because you've used some of the glycogen. I have also put this into practice when I train and it works great for me. Also there are many times I train on an empty stomach in the morning, so surely it wouldn't hurt to give your body what it wants. As I said this was my opinion so to answer your question, no I don't think you bankrupt your supply of glycogen but if the workout I'd intense enough then you definitely put a dent in it and what better way to replace it than with some carbs?

arcticfox04

Personally. I just buy the cheap 1 gallon store brand chocolate milk. Pour 2 cups and add 1 scoop of chocolate flavored whey powder to bump up the protein some.

Seems to work pretty good factoring that I can leave in my car and its plenty cold outside.

SteveJWatson

Glass of milk.

Banana.

End.

joel3736

Intense training can be a resistance training program for say 45 mins to an hour, taking 1-2 mins of rest between sets. It could also be say a long 30-60 min or longer run on the treadmill or outside. It could be a combination of the 2. Perhaps a zumba class where you are constantly moving and sweating and getting the heart rate up. Pretty much if you feel like you got a pretty good workout, loading up on carbs and protein immediately afterwards could prove beneficial. The carbs also help to return your blood sugar levels to a normal range which varies depending on the time of day.

Acg67

1) Insulin is a shuttle for nutrients. don't you think, then, if you were to introduce a concoction of simple carbs and quick-absorbing protein into your body post workout, that by spiking the insulin (a nutrient shuttle) you would be suttling said proteins to the muscles that are looking for it? I'm just curious why that isn't correct.

Good thing protein isn't insulinogenic at all

joel3736

One good book that talks about this in great detail is a book called Nutrient Timing. It completely advocates taking both protein and simple carbs within 30-45 mins of finishing your workout as this is when your muscles reap the most benefits since they are most insulin sensitive around this time and receive up to 100% of the carbs to store as glycogen. 2 hours later that number goes down to something like 40%. So as you can see that 30-45 min window is very important. I also have put this into practice over the years and it definitely works. Also many scientific experiments have corroborated this as well.

joel3736

Also the carbs shuttle the amino acids to the muscles at a much quicker rate, as long as you don't add much fat to your post workout meal, as that will slow down this process.

Acg67

One good book that talks about this in great detail is a book called Nutrient Timing. It completely advocates taking both protein and simple carbs within 30-45 mins of finishing your workout as this is when your muscles reap the most benefits since they are most insulin sensitive around this time and receive up to 100% of the carbs to store as glycogen. 2 hours later that number goes down to something like 40%. So as you can see that 30-45 min window is very important. I also have put this into practice over the years and it definitely works. Also many scientific experiments have corroborated this as well.

I'd reread those studies

mmapags

You'll hear plenty of different opinions on this, but I believe Carbs are very important. Serious strength training is best followed by a good post workout meal which includes Carbs to replenish glycogen.

Why? Do you believe you deplete glycogen in a single strength training session? According to Alan Aragon, nutritional timing within a 24 hour window is immaterial.
"Preworkout nutrition all but cancels the urgency, unless you’re an endurance athlete with multiple glycogen-depleting events in a single day."

As someone else stated, unless you have a second workout planned within a couple of hours, meal timing and frequency should be primarily driven by personal preference based on overall performance and well being. So basically, if you eat a balanced diet during the course of the day, there is no need for any "post workout meal" with any special macronutrient compostiion other than that which would hit your overall targets for the day. The nutritional timing myth dies hard.

why is Aragon some god to you 24-hour window-aholics?


OP, after a workout your insulin levels are low, thus why you feel nauseous, spent, exhausted, etc, etc. A quick shot of simple carbs can help your insulin level rebound to normal levels and get you feeling better faster. Carbs post workout = very useful

Why would insulin levels have anything to do with it? Insulin is a shuttle hormone for nutrients.

All trainees do not feel nauseous, spent, exausted after a workout. Even one of high intensity. If they do, then their perference and how they feel drives their nutritional timing.

So, as I said, it is driven by personal preference and training. Most people are intelligent enough to find out what makes them feel best and gives them the best gym performance without some unessesary set of rules to follow.

1) Insulin is a shuttle for nutrients. don't you think, then, if you were to introduce a concoction of simple carbs and quick-absorbing protein into your body post workout, that by spiking the insulin (a nutrient shuttle) you would be suttling said proteins to the muscles that are looking for it? I'm just curious why that isn't correct.

Here is the point you miss. This is already happening if someone ate anything within several hours of working out. There is no need for creating some insulinogenic event right after workout.

If someone want to, that's up to them but you stated "Serious strength training is best followed by a good post workout meal which includes Carbs to replenish glycogen." That is nonsensed and totally driven by preference and performance.

How long does it take for pwo nutrients to become available? What happened to the nutrients already in the person's system? And as I already asked and you haven't responded to, does a strength session deplete glycogen such that immediate repelenishment is needed?

Do your research. Get a clue. FTR, I'm done responding to your nonsense. I'm not going to be a party to you derailing another thread with your foolishness. People can read what's been posted. Intelligent people can decipher for themselves what information is most uselful.

I'll take the info from studies and Alan Aragon over a musical theatre actor who moonlights as a Beachbody coach all day long.

SideSteel

You'll hear plenty of different opinions on this, but I believe Carbs are very important. Serious strength training is best followed by a good post workout meal which includes Carbs to replenish glycogen.

Why? Do you believe you deplete glycogen in a single strength training session? According to Alan Aragon, nutritional timing within a 24 hour window is immaterial.
"Preworkout nutrition all but cancels the urgency, unless you’re an endurance athlete with multiple glycogen-depleting events in a single day."

As someone else stated, unless you have a second workout planned within a couple of hours, meal timing and frequency should be primarily driven by personal preference based on overall performance and well being. So basically, if you eat a balanced diet during the course of the day, there is no need for any "post workout meal" with any special macronutrient compostiion other than that which would hit your overall targets for the day. The nutritional timing myth dies hard.

why is Aragon some god to you 24-hour window-aholics?


OP, after a workout your insulin levels are low, thus why you feel nauseous, spent, exhausted, etc, etc. A quick shot of simple carbs can help your insulin level rebound to normal levels and get you feeling better faster. Carbs post workout = very useful

Why would insulin levels have anything to do with it? Insulin is a shuttle hormone for nutrients.

All trainees do not feel nauseous, spent, exausted after a workout. Even one of high intensity. If they do, then their perference and how they feel drives their nutritional timing.

So, as I said, it is driven by personal preference and training. Most people are intelligent enough to find out what makes them feel best and gives them the best gym performance without some unessesary set of rules to follow.

1) Insulin is a shuttle for nutrients. don't you think, then, if you were to introduce a concoction of simple carbs and quick-absorbing protein into your body post workout, that by spiking the insulin (a nutrient shuttle) you would be suttling said proteins to the muscles that are looking for it? I'm just curious why that isn't correct.

Here is the point you miss. This is already happening if someone ate anything within several hours of working out. There is no need for creating some insulinogenic event right after workout.

^ Correct in most contexts.

I believe this is relevant:

http://www.carbery.com/documents/21527 Carbery Posters LoRes V2.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18679613

ninerbuff

1) Insulin is a shuttle for nutrients. don't you think, then, if you were to introduce a concoction of simple carbs and quick-absorbing protein into your body post workout, that by spiking the insulin (a nutrient shuttle) you would be suttling said proteins to the muscles that are looking for it? I'm just curious why that isn't correct.

First off, after training your muscle becomes temporarily insulin resistant. That’s due to tissue micro-injuries which impair the mechanism that utilizes glucose in your muscle. Putting a high glycemic fuel in your muscle right after exercise will jeopardize energy utilization and disrupt your insulin sensitivity. High glycemic fuel includes all kinds of sugars, dried fruits and refined flour.
One of the biggest misconceptions is the idea that an insulin spike is necessary for boosting protein synthesis in the muscle. The truth is quite different. The real factor is not insulin spike but rather insulin sensitivity.
It has been proven that as long as insulin sensitivity is high, even low (fasting) insulin levels along with amino acids will be sufficient to trigger mTOR/AKT – the cellular pathway that deposits protein in the muscle towards repair and growth.
Overly spiking insulin with simple carbs immediately after exercise impairs insulin sensitivity and diminishes your capacity to sustain a healthy metabolism and a lean, strong physique.

Metabolic Research Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital (J.D.W., R.C.C.), Brisbane 4102, Australia; Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney (R.B.), Sydney 2065, Australia; the Department of Endocrinology, Aarhus Community Hospital (H.Ø., R.D., J.O.J., J.S.C.), Aarhus, Denmark; the Department of Endocrinology, St. Thomas’s Hospital (N.K., C.P., P.H.S.), London, United Kingdom se1 7EH; the Research Center for Endocrinology and Metabolism, Sahlgrenska Hospital (T.R., B.-Å.B.), S-41345 Göteborg, Sweden; and the Department of Endocrinology, Frederico II Hospital (A.C., L.S.), 80131 Napoli, Italy

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ninerbuff

Also the carbs shuttle the amino acids to the muscles at a much quicker rate, as long as you don't add much fat to your post workout meal, as that will slow down this process.

There is clinical study evidence that actually refutes this.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

mmapags

Also the carbs shuttle the amino acids to the muscles at a much quicker rate, as long as you don't add much fat to your post workout meal, as that will slow down this process.

There is clinical study evidence that actually refutes this.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Both awesome posts with excellent info. As always! Thanks Niner.