FEED THE MACHINE

I want to talk about post-workout nutrition. So often do I find that people train hard, yet ignore good nutrition. Your body doesn't improve WHILE you workout, it improves when you recover. Post-workout nutrition is the primary step to that recovery (ina ddition to adequate sleep, sunlight, and eating well). Also, you WILL NOT "gain back what you just lost" if you eat immediately after working out. Your body doesn't work like that, sorry:) E-mail me if you want a rant on why that just isn't so.



So, you've trained hard for the past hour, you are finished cooling down, and now you need to eat. Notice I didn't say WANT to eat, I said NEED. You may not have the best appetite after training, but it is essential that you find SOMETHING that you can stomach within the first 30-60 minutes after training. Why 30-60 minutes? Because thats when your insulin sensitivity is at its peak (after about 90 minutes they are almost back to normal levels). Why is this important? Because insulin is responsible for shuttling all that post-workout nutrition right into your muscles. Insulin grabs onto glucose (from your bloodstream) and packs it away into the muscles that you just trained. Oh yea, it also carries amino-acids with it, allowing your cells to start building new proteins (i.e. - NEW MUSCLE). This is important even if you are not training to build big muscles, because this process allows your muscles to adapt to the training you just performed, to give you new capacity (i.e. - MORE ENDURANCE).


Ok, now that you know the basic science behind it, lets apply it. Ideally, and this goes for endurance athletes as well as strength athletes, you want a 1:4 ration of protein:carbohydrates in your post-workout meal. This ratio applies to the number of grams of each (they have the same caloric value per gram). So, if you eat 20 grams of protein, you want 100 grams of carbs. Get it? Good.



Now, the TYPE of carbs and protein should be considered. You want a FAST-DIGESTING carbohydrate, and an EASILY-ASSIMILATED protein. This basically means sugar and whey protein (I suggest whey because it is easily found as a supplement and in most dairy products). You could also use egg whites if you have a whey allergy. If you are allergic to both, then do some research and find something you can eat after training (any supplement store should have some options for you).
As for the carbs, any carb with a high GI value will work. Some of the best are bananas, pineapple, white bread, etc. You can work out the amount of each of these foods that you eat based on the above ratio and your specific caloric needs.

Some ideal post-workout meals that I like to use) are:

- A banana and a cup of milk
- A cup or two of CHOCOLATE MILK (yes, it is one of the BEST post-workout meals, even for a serious athlete, and no, it will not make you fat)
- Ricotta cheese and Jelly on white bread

Let me know if you have any other suggestions / input. Hope you enjoy;)