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After workout
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Ingestion of protein before and after workouts and throughout the day is crucial, but complex carbs should be the foundation of your diet
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After you lift weights, what happens next? You crawl through the gym and then hurry home to see your muscles grow.
What should happen ideally is that after you train, you grow.
You'll only grow like a proverbial weed, if you devote full attention to recovery. An intelligent approach to training and recovery requires that you address six fundamental issues: restoration of water and electrolyte balance; rapid replenishment of glycogen stores; rebuilding of muscle protein and prevention of catabolism, reduction of oxidative and muscle stress, restoration of hormone levels and replenishment of cellular energy between workouts.
Most bodybuilders overlook the need for adequate hydration. Adequate water is needed before, during and after exercise, to control body temperature and maintain cardiovasular efficiency.
The key electrolytes are sodium, potassium and magnesium. Carbohydrate is the preferred fuel for bodybuilding. The amount you need to consume is largely a function of your training goal. In all situations, carbohydrates help maximise increase in muscle mass and provide the fuel needed for your next workout. Many bodybuilders feel the need to shift the emphasis from carbohydrates to proteins when cutting and defining in an attempt to maintain their lean body mass.
Adequate carbohydrate intake is the best insurance policy against losing muscle while dieting. When carbohydrate stores in the muscles and liver are reduced by dieting or through vigorous exercise, the body must use protein to synthesise glucose. Unfortunately, when protein is used for energy, it comes primarily from muscle tissue.
To prevent this breakdown of muscle and strength, you must refill your muscles and liver with glycogen, in the form of carbohydrates, as quickly as possible after exercising, and definitely no later than three hours after completing your workout. In addition to regulating muscle-glycogen replenishment, insulin stimulates the transport of amino acids into the muscle, thereby promoting protein synthesis and blunts the rise in cortisol that would otherwise follow exercise. The latter action is important because cortisol suppresses the rate of protein synthesis and stimulates protein catabolism. Inducing muscle growth therefore becomes easier whenever cortisol secretion is under control.
A catch-22 situation here is that while it is important to eat high-carb meal as quickly as possible after vigorous training, that same often suppresses your post-workout appetite. If that is the case, homemade high-carb drinks are useful and easy to consume. Over the ensuing 12-24 hours, you can begin to eat normally, ingesting the carbs needed to replenish glycogen stores in muscle and liver.
Successful bodybuilding requires that you maintain a positive nitrogen balance, a state of affairs indicating that the body is receiving the protein needed for muscle growth and that protein catabolism is in check. Immediately after exercising, your body begins repairing damaged muscle protein. This synthesis is facilitated by insulin, which increases the transport of amino acids into muscle tissue.
Increasing muscle mass through weight training requires a higher-than-normal protein intake. Researchers typically recommend downing 0.81-1.77 gm protein per pound of body weight per day. The timing of protein supplementation or dietary intake is key and concurrent carbohydrate consumption is necessary for optimal synthesis. Protein should be ingested as soon as possible after training. Overall protein intake should be distributed throughout the day over a series of 4-6 small meals.
The immediate post-exercise intake should include 20-40 gm protein and 60-120 gm carbohydrates, whether from whole foods or commercial sports drinks (now available in the Indian market).
The ingestion of protein before and after workouts and throughout the day is crucial, but remember that complex carbs should be the foundation of your diet, with some protein and fat for supporting the anabolic state. This leads to more favourite nitrogen balance and an optimal glycogen balance between training sessions, resulting in increase in muscle mass, strength and energy reserves.
Although recovery from hard training isn't rocket science, it does require that you use your head to plan ahead. As the three recovery strategies presented here suggest, the prudent bodybuilder drinks plenty of water, uses carbohydrates in particular post-workout to enhance protein synthesis and supplements protein at levels higher than those recommended by the `Food and Drugs Department.'
Following these three relatively simple steps will put you on the road to more muscle mass, greater strength and an enhanced ability to train.
ZAREER PATELL
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