Does it matter what I eat after a workout

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So I am doing the be fit in 90 challenge on you tube, just did day one. Couldn't quite keep up, but sweated buckets, so I guess I did something! My question is, what should I eat now for lunch? Does it really matter? Can I have the peanut butter sandwich and carrots sticks that I was planning? Or should I stay away from PB? Let me know ASAP, because i am hungry!
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Replies

  • Ivana331
    Ivana331 Posts: 230
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    PB is actually great for the protein. As long as it's not junk food, you can eat what you like. Drink plenty of water and include some good protein after a workout.
  • Pandasarecool
    Pandasarecool Posts: 508 Member
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    PB is actually great for the protein. As long as it's not junk food, you can eat what you like. Drink plenty of water and include some good protein after a workout.
    Thanks!
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    Assuming over the course of the day you are getting adequate calories and appropriate macronutrients for your goals, it does not matter what you eat after a workout. Whatever is your preference and makes you feel best.
  • fitQueenbeast
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    It DOES matter what you eat after working out:

    http://www.intense-workout.com/post_workout.html

    The most critical time to restock your body with critical nutrients is within one hour....preferably within the first 30 minutes. Pay close attention to the PROTEIN section. You need a liquid source, not solids. It's all about how quickly things can be absorbed by the body.

    I drink Endurox R4 during and after working out because I work out for up to 2 hours very intensely, five-six days a week. Low-fat chocolate milk has been known to be a good source to drink right after working out, as well, but it's not the first choice.

    Erica
  • Pandasarecool
    Pandasarecool Posts: 508 Member
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    I work out for up to 2 hours very intensely, five-six days a week.

    That's crazy! What do you do??
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    It DOES matter what you eat after working out:

    http://www.intense-workout.com/post_workout.html

    The most critical time to restock your body with critical nutrients is within one hour....preferably within the first 30 minutes. Pay close attention to the PROTEIN section. You need a liquid source, not solids. It's all about how quickly things can be absorbed by the body.

    I drink Endurox R4 during and after working out because I work out for up to 2 hours very intensely, five-six days a week. Low-fat chocolate milk has been known to be a good source to drink right after working out, as well, but it's not the first choice.

    Erica

    Just for the record, that site is just one of thousands of sites that is put up by some trainer as part of thier marketing schtick. There are no citations of legitimate studies that back up their contention.

    Thier line of thinking was a common one in the fitness industry for years and has since been disproven. The anabolic window for protein intake for workout recovery which was once thought to be fairly short is now believed to be 24 hours. Additionally, you did not workout in a vacuumn did you?? Had you not ingested nutrients including protein in the 24 hours before the workout? Where did they go? Also, how long will it take for the protein ingested within an hour take to digest, breakdown and be available for use for muscle repair? (I'll give you hint, it won't all be available within the hour).

    Try a google search on the anabolic window and you may find some interesting info. The trainer is just repeating what I'm sure they were once taught. But, the fact that they are would make me skeptical of them based on the fact that they have not kept abreast of more current research regarding this subject.
  • Pandasarecool
    Pandasarecool Posts: 508 Member
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    It DOES matter what you eat after working out:

    http://www.intense-workout.com/post_workout.html

    The most critical time to restock your body with critical nutrients is within one hour....preferably within the first 30 minutes. Pay close attention to the PROTEIN section. You need a liquid source, not solids. It's all about how quickly things can be absorbed by the body.

    I drink Endurox R4 during and after working out because I work out for up to 2 hours very intensely, five-six days a week. Low-fat chocolate milk has been known to be a good source to drink right after working out, as well, but it's not the first choice.

    Erica

    Just for the record, that site is just one of thousands of sites that is put up by some trainer as part of thier marketing schtick. There are no citations of legitimate studies that back up their contention.

    Thier line of thinking was a common one in the fitness industry for years and has since been disproven. The anabolic window for protein intake for workout recovery which was once thought to be fairly short is now believed to be 24 hours. Additionally, you did not workout in a vacuumn did you?? Had you not ingested nutrients including protein in the 24 hours before the workout? Where did they go? Also, how long will it take for the protein ingested within an hour take to digest, breakdown and be available for use for muscle repair? (I'll give you hint, it won't all be available within the hour).

    Try a google search on the anabolic window and you may find some interesting info. The trainer is just repeating what I'm sure they were once taught. But, the fact that they are would make me skeptical of them based on the fact that they have not kept abreast of more current research regarding this subject.

    Thanks for the info!
  • fitQueenbeast
    Options
    It DOES matter what you eat after working out:

    http://www.intense-workout.com/post_workout.html

    The most critical time to restock your body with critical nutrients is within one hour....preferably within the first 30 minutes. Pay close attention to the PROTEIN section. You need a liquid source, not solids. It's all about how quickly things can be absorbed by the body.

    I drink Endurox R4 during and after working out because I work out for up to 2 hours very intensely, five-six days a week. Low-fat chocolate milk has been known to be a good source to drink right after working out, as well, but it's not the first choice.

    Erica

    Just for the record, that site is just one of thousands of sites that is put up by some trainer as part of thier marketing schtick. There are no citations of legitimate studies that back up their contention.

    Thier line of thinking was a common one in the fitness industry for years and has since been disproven. The anabolic window for protein intake for workout recovery which was once thought to be fairly short is now believed to be 24 hours. Additionally, you did not workout in a vacuumn did you?? Had you not ingested nutrients including protein in the 24 hours before the workout? Where did they go? Also, how long will it take for the protein ingested within an hour take to digest, breakdown and be available for use for muscle repair? (I'll give you hint, it won't all be available within the hour).

    Try a google search on the anabolic window and you may find some interesting info. The trainer is just repeating what I'm sure they were once taught. But, the fact that they are would make me skeptical of them based on the fact that they have not kept abreast of more current research regarding this subject.

    That's just one of many articles stating the same thing. You can pull up any article (and they don't have to be written by a fitness trainer...try a specialist) and they all will tell you about the one hour window. That's why they all suggest LIQUID form and not solids. For the record, everything that I have read about post-workouts suggests getting the required 4:1 nutrients back into the body within one hour. (I did another search on anabolic windows and some of the articles are actually pushing for 30 minutes. Show me one where it says 24 hours.)

    Question was presented to several fitness professionals with degrees in sports nutrition and they all agreed with the one hour window.

    I work out 5-6 days a week for up to 2 hours of high-intensity and resistance training and will be training for a half marathon in December. What works for me might not be a good fit for others. However, I do know it is critical to get that 4:1 ratio taken care of as soon as I am done working out.

    So, you stick to "eating whatever you want" and I'll stick to replenishing my body with nutrients that it needs, based on how hard I work out.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    Options
    It DOES matter what you eat after working out:

    http://www.intense-workout.com/post_workout.html

    The most critical time to restock your body with critical nutrients is within one hour....preferably within the first 30 minutes. Pay close attention to the PROTEIN section. You need a liquid source, not solids. It's all about how quickly things can be absorbed by the body.

    I drink Endurox R4 during and after working out because I work out for up to 2 hours very intensely, five-six days a week. Low-fat chocolate milk has been known to be a good source to drink right after working out, as well, but it's not the first choice.

    Erica

    Just for the record, that site is just one of thousands of sites that is put up by some trainer as part of thier marketing schtick. There are no citations of legitimate studies that back up their contention.

    Thier line of thinking was a common one in the fitness industry for years and has since been disproven. The anabolic window for protein intake for workout recovery which was once thought to be fairly short is now believed to be 24 hours. Additionally, you did not workout in a vacuumn did you?? Had you not ingested nutrients including protein in the 24 hours before the workout? Where did they go? Also, how long will it take for the protein ingested within an hour take to digest, breakdown and be available for use for muscle repair? (I'll give you hint, it won't all be available within the hour).

    Try a google search on the anabolic window and you may find some interesting info. The trainer is just repeating what I'm sure they were once taught. But, the fact that they are would make me skeptical of them based on the fact that they have not kept abreast of more current research regarding this subject.

    That's just one of many articles stating the same thing. You can pull up any article (and they don't have to be written by a fitness trainer...try a specialist) and they all will tell you about the one hour window. That's why they all suggest LIQUID form and not solids. For the record, everything that I have read about post-workouts suggests getting the required 4:1 nutrients back into the body within one hour. (I did another search on anabolic windows and some of the articles are actually pushing for 30 minutes. Show me one where it says 24 hours.)

    Question was presented to several fitness professionals with degrees in sports nutrition and they all agreed with the one hour window.

    I work out 5-6 days a week for up to 2 hours of high-intensity and resistance training and will be training for a half marathon in December. What works for me might not be a good fit for others. However, I do know it is critical to get that 4:1 ratio taken care of as soon as I am done working out.

    So, you stick to "eating whatever you want" and I'll stick to replenishing my body with nutrients that it needs, based on how hard I work out.


    You mad?? lol Believe what you chose. Just don't stunt your growth.
  • JasonDetwiler
    JasonDetwiler Posts: 364 Member
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    Post workout is a great time to trigger an insulin response and depending on the time of day there are different ways to go about doing that.

    Early AM - Whey Isolates, Whey Hydrolosates, Casein Hydrolosates, 20-40g dextrose, 10g Leucine, 5g Creatine.

    Lunch - Same

    5PM or later - Same, but 40-60g dextrose followed by a high-carb (high GI) meal (this should be nearly all of your non-fiber carbs for the day).

    Good luck!
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    Came across another thread on this subject that I thought the OP might find helpful as well as a quote from Alan Aragon, one of the top nutrition and fitness professionals in the industry.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/758371-pre-workout-and-post-workout

    To quote Alan Aragon:

    Alan: The post-exercise “anabolic window” is a highly misused & abused concept. Preworkout nutrition all but cancels the urgency, unless you’re an endurance athlete with multiple glycogen-depleting events in a single day. Getting down to brass tacks, a relatively recent study (Power et al. 2009) showed that a 45g dose of whey protein isolate takes appx. 50 minutes to cause blood AA levels to peak. Resulting insulin levels, which peaked at 40 minutes after ingestion, remained at elevations known to max out the inhibition of muscle protein breakdown (15-30 mU/L) for 120 minutes after ingestion. This dose takes 3 hours for insulin & AA levels to return to baseline from the point of ingestion. The inclusion of carbs to this dose would cause AA & insulin levels to peak higher & stay elevated above baseline even longer.

    So much for the anabolic peephole & the urgency to down AAs during your weight training workout; they are already seeping into circulation (& will continue to do so after your training bout is done). Even in the event that a preworkout meal is skipped, the anabolic effect of the postworkout meal is increased as a supercompensatory response (Deldicque et al, 2010). Moving on, another recent study (Staples et al, 2010) found that a substantial dose of carbohydrate (50g maltodextrin) added to 25g whey protein was unable to further increase post-exercise net muscle protein balance compared to the protein dose without carbs. Again, this is not to say that adding carbs at this point is counterproductive, but it certainly doesn’t support the idea that you must get your lightning-fast post-exercise carb orgy for optimal results.

    Something that people don’t realize is that there’s no “magic anabolic window” that’s open for a short period of time near the workout & then rapidly disappears. As a result of a single training bout, the receptivity of muscle to protein dosing can persist for at least 24 hours (Burd et al, 2011).
  • mama040506
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    Fat Free Organic Chocolate Milk is what we have after an intense workout! It has the right protein to carb ratio.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    5PM or later - Same, but 40-60g dextrose followed by a high-carb (high GI) meal (this should be nearly all of your non-fiber carbs for the day).


    Why would you spend calories on dextrose?
  • danasings
    danasings Posts: 8,218 Member
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    Came across another thread on this subject that I thought the OP might find helpful as well as a quote from Alan Aragon, one of the top nutrition and fitness professionals in the industry.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/758371-pre-workout-and-post-workout

    To quote Alan Aragon:

    Alan: The post-exercise “anabolic window” is a highly misused & abused concept. Preworkout nutrition all but cancels the urgency, unless you’re an endurance athlete with multiple glycogen-depleting events in a single day. Getting down to brass tacks, a relatively recent study (Power et al. 2009) showed that a 45g dose of whey protein isolate takes appx. 50 minutes to cause blood AA levels to peak. Resulting insulin levels, which peaked at 40 minutes after ingestion, remained at elevations known to max out the inhibition of muscle protein breakdown (15-30 mU/L) for 120 minutes after ingestion. This dose takes 3 hours for insulin & AA levels to return to baseline from the point of ingestion. The inclusion of carbs to this dose would cause AA & insulin levels to peak higher & stay elevated above baseline even longer.

    So much for the anabolic peephole & the urgency to down AAs during your weight training workout; they are already seeping into circulation (& will continue to do so after your training bout is done). Even in the event that a preworkout meal is skipped, the anabolic effect of the postworkout meal is increased as a supercompensatory response (Deldicque et al, 2010). Moving on, another recent study (Staples et al, 2010) found that a substantial dose of carbohydrate (50g maltodextrin) added to 25g whey protein was unable to further increase post-exercise net muscle protein balance compared to the protein dose without carbs. Again, this is not to say that adding carbs at this point is counterproductive, but it certainly doesn’t support the idea that you must get your lightning-fast post-exercise carb orgy for optimal results.

    Something that people don’t realize is that there’s no “magic anabolic window” that’s open for a short period of time near the workout & then rapidly disappears. As a result of a single training bout, the receptivity of muscle to protein dosing can persist for at least 24 hours (Burd et al, 2011).

    Alan Aragon is the MAN!!
  • Fozzi43
    Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
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    I always have a protein shake after my workouts ..helps the muscles :wink:
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    I always have a protein shake after my workouts ..helps the muscles :wink:

    That's great that you prefer that. Me too. But the question is how critical is the timing. See posts above.
  • Pandasarecool
    Pandasarecool Posts: 508 Member
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    so, would you consider this an intense workout? http://www.youtube.com/user/BeFitin90 I do one each day... I am only on day 4 though...
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    so, would you consider this an intense workout? http://www.youtube.com/user/BeFitin90 I do one each day... I am only on day 4 though...

    Intensity of a workout is relative
  • Tilran
    Tilran Posts: 626 Member
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    I'm still curious about this window. I can never find a clear answer...It was always my belief and understanding that the window is quite large to get your workout protein in...8 hours or so.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    638c0fc3-9a34-4739-a352-249c008a0c07.jpg