Strength Training Question

Well it definatley helps to eat something after a workout. There is a window of 30 mins- to an hour after you workout that is the best time for your muscles that you just torn down to begin their rebuilding phase. Something that is high in protein and nutrients would be ideal, some kidn of grilled chicken breast or somethin along that line, I use a protein shake. As far as eating the exact calories you burn off I'm not so sure that you would need to. It all depends on your golas too. If you want to lose weight then you know you need to burn more than you consume. If your maintaining then I wouldn't think it would hurt anything to eat close to what you burned.

Just so you know, strength training burns relatively few calories compared to cardio. Once you're doing it regularly you'll see yourself burn next to nothing from it - so you shouldn't have to worry about it too much.

I agree... to an extent. If your strength training consists of circuit training and is fairly high intensity, then you do burn a lot of calories. (An example of intense circuit training is going from station to station on a timed routine, doing things like push-ups, lunges, jogging, sit-ups, jump rope, etc. with little or no resting time in between activities.) If you're just lifting weights, I wouldn't reven count them - but DEFINITELY eat something balanced as soon as possible after your workout, whether it's a full meal or just a snack.

Protein takes a long time to digest, so it's not likely it will provide fuel for you during a workout. It certainly won't hurt you... but doing a carb load before a workout is more useful, as carbs are available to use for fuel much quicker than protein or fat. No matter the time of day, try not to eat something that is strictly carbs or strictly protein, but a combination of both. Protein after a workout helps with rebuilding muscle, which actually takes place a couple hours after you finish... but because the protein takes time to digest, you should eat it right after the workout so that it is available when your muscles begin their repair.

it's probably just waiting to be processed after your workout... don't get me wrong, protein can be used as fuel, but it just takes a long time to digest, so it's not giving you energy during your workout...

There's nothing wrong with having your protein shake before your workout... but if you find yourself getting tired or low on energy, or find that your muscles are fatiguing faster, add more carbs to your shake to get you through the workout.

In that case, I believe that if you're comfortable with having your shake beforehand, then keep doing it! Each of us have slightly different needs and different tolerances.... so we all have to find what works best for us! :flowerforyou:

Protein takes a long time to digest, so it's not likely it will provide fuel for you during a workout. It certainly won't hurt you... but doing a carb load before a workout is more useful, as carbs are available to use for fuel much quicker than protein or fat. No matter the time of day, try not to eat something that is strictly carbs or strictly protein, but a combination of both. Protein after a workout helps with rebuilding muscle, which actually takes place a couple hours after you finish... but because the protein takes time to digest, you should eat it right after the workout so that it is available when your muscles begin their repair.

I'm just going to add a bit to this post...

What we eat isn't actually available until a few hours after we eat it. So whether you're eating protein or carbs an hour before you work out, it'll still be in your stomach when you hit the gym. While you work out, certain nervous systems supress digestion severely, so that meal still won't really be available until you've stopped working out. If you really want to 'fuel' your workout, make sure you get in a good meal a few hours before you work out. Afterwards, it's important to eat something easily digestible, like a liquid that's high in protein (i.e., milk, protein shake).