What is your goal?
This is the first important question that I want you to ask yourself before reading this post. What am I trying to get out of this challenge. Do I want to lose weight? Do I want to win the upcoming sectionals and represent OneWorld at regionals? Do I want to gain weight and look stronger? Do I just want to lift heavy, heavy weights and not concern myself with any aesthetics? Do I want to live, diabetic, hypertensive and pharmaceutical free?
Some of you might want to lift heavier, run faster, but gaining weight is not an option because it might affect how you surf, or fight. Some of you don't care about being strong, you are just tired of taking one pill for blood pressure in the morning and three pills at night for cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes.
We are all different and this is why this particular post brings so much confusion.
The question...... What should I eat post work out?
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Those trying to lose weight should consume a high protein shake in the absence of milk or fruit. The enemy in our opinion is sugar and our plan should focus on avoiding sugar as much as possible. In fact, I hope you understand that even weight lifting, will inhibit your weight loss?
If your plan is to lose the most amount of weight possible then understand that a pound of muscle is equal to a pound of fat. Obviously this means that if you lose a pound of fat and replace it with a pound of muscle you are back to the weight you started. So what people tend to see, is a plateau which brings frustration in the weight loss area. What shows better gains is tape measurement around the chest, thighs, arms, and ass. You'll see the body leaning out, despite what the stupid scale says.
The rule we are going to use for post work-out nutrition to keep things simple is this. If you can't see your abs in the mirror when you get out of the shower than either buy a new mirror, or stay away from the carbohydrates post work-out. Remember that the allowance for carbohydrate intake is 50 grams or less.
If you belong to OneWorld, you are going to get strong; in fact, our wod today is 2 deadlifts at 375, 3 hand stand push ups, 4 power cleans at 185 pounds and 5 C2B pull-ups for five rounds. Expect to see slower weight gains than someone who is not strength training. Expect your jeans to feel a bit tight around the thighs while sagging at the waist. Strong is sexy, and it also leads to a plethora of health advantages so embrace it. While embracing this new found strength and new muscle formation, continue to eat low carbohydrates until you find that desired look.
you need protein post work out
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Those that want to gain weight.
I've told you all how important it is to eat, if you want to gain weight. Equally important, is stimulating a CNS response to release hormonal barrage in order to promote muscle hypertrophy. Well, the best way of doing this, is by squatting heavy ass weight twice, to three times a week, deadlifting, pressing and pulling through the week. If you belong to ONEWORLD you don't have to worry so much on the strength program because it is laid out for you. What you have to do is eat, and eat frequent. We've covered this but what we haven't detailed is what to eat post-work out.
Most of you, who are in search of a bigger frame, can easily display a set of abs, which screams glycogen replacement. Here's where things get really murky. Keeping it simple, I will start off by stating how important eating 1-1.5 grams of protein a day is in strength training. Most of you that are thin are not fighting diabetes II, therefore taking protein shakes after your work outs are encouraged. Hydrolyzed protein, has shown to travel quicker and therefore is considered to be the best option for post workout recovery.
Why is this the case? Well, people who are following the current research base most of their arguments on the fact that consuming protein quickly after a work-out is good because it gets protein into the cells that are starving faster. It makes a lot of sense, but it isn't 100% accurate because a lot of the studies done on this, were done using amino acids. Like comparing a tortoise and a hare. Amino acids are super fast followed by whey then casein. So people that attack your wallet, then claim that using hydrolyzed protein is superior because it is nearly as fast as amino acids and therefore will get the regeneration process faster. When I asked the Progenix vendor why he thought his product was so good at the crossfit games he told me," its pure." So there you go.
Before you go out and buy progenix, please understand that I am not saying progenix is the best protein available. In fact I avoid this product because in the wisdom of hydrolyzing the protein they somehow added fructose to their mix leaving me dumbfounded and my jaw as open as a porn star in her two guy one girl scene. Progenix does have awesome fitting shirts, very comfortable to work out in, so if you see me sporting it remember that it's all about comfort. The point that I am making, is that hydrolyzed protein is the fastest protein available and if you read the research and come to the conclusion that you need protein in your cells quickly, then using a product that contains hydrolyzed protein with dextrose is ideal.
Whey vs Casein is another delightful argument that can take post after post to resolve. What is important, if you are not interested in crushing a 500 pound back squat, is simply understanding why protein after a work out is good. Does it matter what kind you should take? Yes, but there are too many damn variables to make that a constant. So if you decide to buy whey because it is cheaper than who cares. The most important thing is, you are in the gym lifting heavy ass things as fast as you can and then supplementing that. What makes more sense is looking for a product that contains carbohydrates. Carbohydrates in the form of fructose are bad if you buy into the timing argument. Told you this is confusing.
Fat or no fat post work out? This sub-question is one that makes me want to choke myself. Not because someone is confused enough to ask me, but because there is just so many myths out there leaving us normal people so confused. Again who is right? Well I'm going to be honest and say I don't know?
Im using empirical rationale here because the literature that is out there contradicts itself in so many ways. Many people will curse fats, post work because fats slow down the absorption of protein. If you buy into this notion that you need to get the protein into the cell quickly then I see how taking fats is concerning. However I don't buy that story because the more I try to find some clarity in this topic, the more I see that the timing thing ie.. eating 15-45 minutes post work out is a myth.
On the other hand, saturated fats lead to testosterone production and as Barry and Mr.Clemens would admit, 'testosterone is good." Well, they might not admit to that yet, but we rational people know that testosterone is good for muscles. If you are trying to gain weight, why not look for a post work out cocktail that contains not only a good source of protein and carbohydrates, but also, one that contains fats for added calories. 1 gram of fat has 9 calories, so drinking whole milk would make more sense than skim milk. I'm open to any science based research that would constitute a different opinion. If you can't tolerate natures gift to man like I can't then take the synthetic approach.
Timing - As I have stated, the research is cloudy because the studies themselves are contradicting each other. So all those people who are telling the weight gainers to eat immediately after you are done working out, relax! Timing is not as important as actually eating. The most important thing is that you are consuming enough fats, proteins and calories throughout the day as we discussed yesterday. It is also important that you lift heavy ass weight as fast as you can and rest as much as you can.
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This is a very complicated issue that gets into a number of topics. I promise to go over supplements in the upcoming days, in fact how about tomorrow. The bottom line ........
- If you are trying to lose weight, then take a protein shake, post work out that is mainly derived of water and protein, if you are too nauseated to eat a steak or fish in the gym.
- If you are fighting off diabetes II, then avoid the protein shake if possible and just go home and hit a steak and some grilled veggies. Robb Wolf does not promote protein shakes in fighting insulin sensitivity and I can see his reasoning. I also can see the convenience of hitting a protein shake so if you must, make sure it is a low carbohydrate mix!!!!!!!
- If you are trying to gain weight, find a post work out supplement that has at least 40 grams of protein, 30 grams of carbohydrates, and some good fats. Like milk. If you can't tolerate milk, find a synthetic mix that you compare and contrast. If you ask me what I take, I will tell you.
The final point is this. The rules we reviewed yesterday apply for a 24 hour day. Your post-workout meal should then reflect a period of this 24 hour. If you are only focussing on the post wod meal and neglecting the rest of the day then your are failing miserably. If you are not hitting the gym, then hypertrophy and lipolysis are not in your favor. Eat well, go to the gym, drink lots of water and sleep plenty and I promise you will be ready for any challenge life throws your way!