pre workout and post workout

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jloew05
jloew05 Posts: 14
in Food and Nutrition
Just read an article that says you should take protein before and after your workout. i have been taking c4 before and then 2 scoops of protein after the workout as a post workout drink. i was wandering if i took the pre workout with one scoop of my protein before the workout and the one scoop of the protein after if that is something i should look into. And maybe even getting some form of post workout drink to mix with my protein like maybe some dextrose and creatine.
If anyone has anywhere i can look to see what i should be doing or if i should keep up what i am doing now it would be appreciate just looking at some pointers thanks everyone.
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  • FoodandFitness
    FoodandFitness Posts: 502 Member
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    If you are reaching your overall calorie and macro goal for the day, a pre and post workout meal really isn't necessary unless you're doing a lot of aerobic activity for over an hour. If you're weightlifting, just hit your macros for the day.
  • jloew05
    jloew05 Posts: 14
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    Would it be beneficial to mix creatine with my protein for my post workout?
  • Tilran
    Tilran Posts: 626 Member
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    Protein is not that time sensative. Just make sure you hit your macros for the day and you'll be fine...dont sweat the pre and post so much.
  • laddyboy
    laddyboy Posts: 1,565 Member
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    If you are reaching your overall calorie and macro goal for the day, a pre and post workout meal really isn't necessary unless you're doing a lot of aerobic activity for over an hour. If you're weightlifting, just hit your macros for the day.

    Sorry, the most important meal of the day is your Post Workout Meal. Your muscles are primed and ready...feed them.
  • laddyboy
    laddyboy Posts: 1,565 Member
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    I cycle my creatine but it's always post workout.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    If you are reaching your overall calorie and macro goal for the day, a pre and post workout meal really isn't necessary unless you're doing a lot of aerobic activity for over an hour. If you're weightlifting, just hit your macros for the day.

    Sorry, the most important meal of the day is your Post Workout Meal. Your muscles are primed and ready...feed them.

    This is context dependent to a degree.
  • karrielynn80
    karrielynn80 Posts: 395 Member
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    Protein is not that time sensative. Just make sure you hit your macros for the day and you'll be fine...dont sweat the pre and post so much.

    Protiein isn't body your body is... after a workout is the best time to take in protein - within the first 20 minutes if possible. I am starting a pre workout shot next wk but it's mostly just to prime my body for better workouts - not for additional protien - i already get 40% of my intake from protein.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
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    I don't think it's a good idea to see how far away from the training bout you can take in your protein, but the notion that you have a short anabolic window to consume protein has been pretty well refuted by now.

    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).
  • jloew05
    jloew05 Posts: 14
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    Ya i read that it doesnt really matter when you take it i still take mine pretty much right after. I was just wandering if i should be mixing anything with it for better results such as creatine?
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Before worrying about supplementation, I'd worry about my overall diet and workout routine being in check
  • PinkHurricane88
    PinkHurricane88 Posts: 156 Member
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    I'm interested in this topic, I usually have breakfast before I workout, but on days where I am up earlier than breakfast I usually have something like a banana to get me through. Post workout, particularly on strength training days, I am going to start having a small protein shake/drink because I see how essential it is to provide that for my muscles.
  • jloew05
    jloew05 Posts: 14
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    Well ive been keeping track of my diet on here which has helped a lot. And my exercise routine is to days in the gym i start with a twenty minute run on an elliptical then lift for about 40 minutes and the other 4 days i do an insanity workout at home. I take c4 before and then take my protein mixed with milk and usually a banana or apple as a sort of meal replacement for my lunch as i usually workout around 11 which is the only time i can get this in.
    Im just interested to know if i should be taking anything else to help with the gains. i am trying to lose weight but i know one of the better ways to do this is to gain muscle which is my goal. Im not trying to get ripped or anything like that just lean muscle.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Well ive been keeping track of my diet on here which has helped a lot. And my exercise routine is to days in the gym i start with a twenty minute run on an elliptical then lift for about 40 minutes and the other 4 days i do an insanity workout at home. I take c4 before and then take my protein mixed with milk and usually a banana or apple as a sort of meal replacement for my lunch as i usually workout around 11 which is the only time i can get this in.
    Im just interested to know if i should be taking anything else to help with the gains. i am trying to lose weight but i know one of the better ways to do this is to gain muscle which is my goal. Im not trying to get ripped or anything like that just lean muscle.

    While you can get some "newbie gains" while in a deficit, pick 1 goal (lose fat/gain muscle) and focus on that.
  • jloew05
    jloew05 Posts: 14
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    well then losing weight right now would be my main goal so im assuming taking creatine wouldnt be beneficial or would it?
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    well then losing weight right now would be my main goal so im assuming taking creatine wouldnt be beneficial or would it?

    If you are a responder to creatine in can add some benefit regardless of if your main focus is fat loss
  • jloew05
    jloew05 Posts: 14
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    Ok i might give it a try i was just trying to come up with a good postworkout shake using my protein and adding in some other things like creatine to benefit me. And i read creatine is one of those things.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Ok i might give it a try i was just trying to come up with a good postworkout shake using my protein and adding in some other things like creatine to benefit me. And i read creatine is one of those things.

    You need to saturate your muscles to get the benefit of creatine, generally 20g/day for a week or 5g/day for a month will do it, then you can cut back to 3-5g a day 4x a week to stay saturated
  • jloew05
    jloew05 Posts: 14
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    OK so for the first week take 20 grams a day then take it down to 5 grams a day from then on.is there anything else that would be good to mix in there
  • jloew05
    jloew05 Posts: 14
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    What about taking something during the workout is there benefits to that and if so what should I take?
  • jloew05
    jloew05 Posts: 14
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    ok so im thinking it would be a good idea to add creatine to my post workout since my pre workout already has it just not sure which kind and im also thinking that i should get a vitapack such as ON's multivitamin is this a good idea?

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