What do you eat after a workout?

[Smacky021]

Thanks for all the responses guys. Especially yours Smacky.

I was just wondering what you guys ate after a workout? Oh and I ABHORR tuna but need to start eating more,how can I make it nice and tasty?

It depends on your goal. Are you cutting, maintaining, or growing?

I'll outline the common things that go into every one of the goals. The best thing you can do is to have a fast acting protein, either whey concentrate or isolate. This along with your BCAA's, Glutamine, and if you choose Creatine. Although Creatine loading is a whole different topic, i can elaborate on that if you wish too. Whole foods ARE NOT a good idea directly after training. They take too long to be broken down and used to repair and replenish all resouces used during training.

During training your hormone levels of Adrenaline, Norepinephrine, Epinephrine, Testostrone, Human Growth Hormone, and Insulin like Growth Factor and Cortisol are increased. Increased levels of Adrenaline, Norepinephrine, and Epinephrine are all part of humans response to the Flight-or-Fight scenario. Increased Testosterone helps build/repair broken down muscles, tendons, and ligaments. This is a response to stimuli, training, and the apdaptation, repair, is so that next time you body doesn't have to tax it's system and deplete it of vital resources. HGH and IGF are more or a long term repair modality of the body. HGH and IGF help build/repair muscle but have a greater impact on tendons and ligaments.

Cortisol is the worst thing in this group to be elevated. Cortisol is released in response to energy output, it's role in the body is to breakdown carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in the body and use them for energy. When your body releases cortisol your are in a catabolic(wasting) state not an anabolic(building) state. Now since cortisol levels are in an inverse relationship with insulin levels we need to eat accordingly.

Insulin is produced in the pancreas. Think of insulin as "The spoon that feeds your muscles, tendons, and ligaments". Low levels of insulin is a bad thing because that means cortisol levels are high. High levels are bad because that means you are storing food for later use as energy. You body stores food in the form of fat. Every athlete wants a balanced insulin level at all times. This can be easily accomplished through diet.

Focusing on a post training diet, one would need a High Glycemic Index carbohydrate in small amounts (20 - 40g) to help spike insuling but not through the roof. Just enough to shutdown the cortisol feedback loop. At this time you are bringing insulin levels up enough to utilize their role in the body as carriers of food to muscles. The fast acting protein, BCAA's, and Glutamine are used to stop the damage that you have done to yourself during training.

Protein is made of long stands of aminos acids, therefore the replacing of lost amino acids is vital. Leucine, Isoleucine, and Valine should have special attention because they in combination are proactive in protein synthesis. Glutamine is also important because during training an athlete can easily deplete 85% of their storage. The reason for such a large percentage is because Glutamine is stored in muscles.



I know this was a little long but wanted to get the point across.

If you have any questions inregards to what your second meal 1 hr after your post shake should be or the 3rd meal, both of which are slightly less important, but still important enough to dedicate time to, ask me. Or if you are trying to cut, bulk, or maintain lemme know. i can help out. Grocery list i got that to.



Dan

That was amazing. I'd like to see the grocery list please!

Thank you, for your kind words


Here's the Grocery List

Whole Eggs
Cartons of Egg Whites - I love em, I just drink em straight out the box.
Chicken Breast
Turkey Breast
Canned Tuna
Lean Red Meat
Ground Beef
Beef Jerky (Low Sodium)
Whey Protein
Mixed Nuts
All Natural Peanut Butter
Every Kind of Bean
Broccoli
Spinach
All Peppers
Carrots
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Celery
Lettuce
Avocados
Whole Wheat Breads
Whole Wheat Pasta
Oatmeal, Oatmeal, Oatmeal!!!
Bananas
Apples
Grapefruit
Cranberries
Blueberries
Oranges
Flax Seed Oil
Olive Oil
Skim Milk
Water
Pomegranite Juice

I think that is all i'll post anymore if i can think of it.


As I asked before it depends on what you are trying to do. Bulk, Cut, or Maintain? The big thing with the grocery list is that it doesn't change at all!!! You should be eating the same exact food whether you are bulking, cutting, or maintaining. The part that does change is the frequency and quantity of food, not the quality. As an athlete you always want quality so therefore it should be constant.

Dieting and eating clean are 90% of losing weight. Cardio and training are a close second. Cardio must be done religiously. I found that running first thing in the morning yields the quickest and most effecient way in dropping weight. Normally i get up drive straight to the gym on an EMPTY STOMACH. Yes, empty stomach. Since your body is in a catabolic state from not eating while you were sleeping, you are primed for utiliing fat as your main energy source. Since your body doesn't have any food in it's stomach to use for energy it starts to deplete your glycogen storages in your muscles. At this time your liver releases glucagon and more blood into your circulatory system. Glucose is the main energy source until it runs out, this takes about 20 minutes to achieve. Glucagon is used in the same fashion while the extra blood that is released is used to carry more oxygen to your cells. Once you have sucessfully made it through your glucose storage you body begins to breakdown fats for energy. The usage of fat as energy must come(for me atleast) in the form of long slow cardio, not the conditioning i'm use to for boxing. A typical day for me is 20 - 35 minutes of the StairMaster followed by 30 - 45 minutes of the elliptical.

The dieting frequency is every 2 hrs so that you metabolism is high at all times. Running in the morning on an empty stomach also raises your metabolism without the presence of food. Meal portions are considerable smaller while you are cutting. An good rule of thumb is to always put out more energy than what is taken in. Calculate your daily caloric requirements and then goto www.Fitday.com. It is a free site where u can find out what your daily caloric intake by plugging in the food you eat and how you can ration out your meals so that they are equivalent throughout the day. Another trick that i use is to not have any carbohydrates after 4pm. Eating the majority of your carbs early in the day helps so that they are burn off throughout the day and not stored as fat later in the day. Around mid day you can switch from protein/carb meals to protein/fat meals. Now i know this is a basic and has worked for me. This might not work for you. Everyone's body is different. Every individual has to experiment on what works best for them and then tweak from there. I hope that i have given everyone a good enough based from which you can plan and attack against dropping weight.



I'll have more on maintaing and gaining quality weight a little bit later i'm at work now and it's picking up!!




Dan