WHAT TO EAT BEFORE AND AFTER A WORKOUT

From building muscle to surviving your endurance runs, the rules of workout nutrition have completely changed. But, there’s one big problem: few people are aware of what really helps you fuel before a workout and recover afterward.

Which is why this is both your warning and a sigh of relief. The latest breakthroughs have rewritten the script, and that’s good news for anyone who likes to exercise. Gone are the days of carb-loading or rushing to have protein within 30 minutes of finishing your workout.

In fact, both nutrient timing and workout nutrition needs have liberating truth: Neither matters as much as we once believed.

So, while you might look at the past as wasted, it’s best to view these new rules for what they are: a serious fitness upgrade that makes it easier than ever to eat the right way to fuel performance, strip away fat, or even build extra muscle without all the extra, unnecessary eating.

Do You Have To Eat DirectlyAfter Your Workout?

Let’s set one thing clear: What food you put into your body is still very important and determines how hard you can exercise and how well you recover.

The bigger issue is exactly what you should be eating, or maybe, more importantly, when you should be eating it.

The idea of the “anabolic window” or that you need to eat as soon as possible after finishing your workouts is one of the most misleading pieces of fitness advice that has persevered for decades.

It’s based on a fear-driven, scientifically-debunked mentality that your muscles live in an hourglass, and with each passing second of eating before or after a workout you were losing out on improvement.

For the past 20 years, the prevailing idea was that you had about 30 to 60 minutes to eat something after your workout. If not, your body would become catabolic (a state of stress) and you would lose muscle, not recover fast enough, and fail to see the benefits from all your hard work and time invested.

When you think about it, the theory seems crazy. How could the human body have such a small window for recovery?

That was the question exercise physiologist Dr. Brad Schoenfeld aimed to solve.

He reviewed a large number of studies that examined nutrient timing and set out to answer a simple question: Is there such thing as the “anabolic window?”

Turns out there is—but it’s much bigger than anyone ever suggested. And the timing of your meals after a workout isn’t even the biggest indicator of your success. (More on that in a moment.)

When Should You Eat After Your Workout?

After you exercise you burn up your main energy store of carbohydrates, also known as glycogen. So, it only makes sense that you need to refuel glycogen by eating lots of carbs to replace what was lost.

But, when food was consumed in a shorter window of time after a workout there was no significant difference than when it was consumed after a long delay.

In fact, the research would go as far as suggesting that your post-workout window is actually the entire 24 hours after you train, with the key time to eat ideally occurring anywhere within 4 hours after you finish your last set, stop your run, or end your athletic event.

Not exactly the same message as slug your protein shake before your muscles shrink.

How to Fuel Your Workouts The Right Way

Just because the timing of your post-workout meal has been reduced from urgent to “apply on your time,” doesn’t mean the entire concept of nutrient timing is dead.

In fact, it’s just the opposite. There’s never been a clearer idea of exactly what you should be eating to help your body. And the biggest breakthrough is clear. Protein is the new carbs.

It used to be that you needed to fuel up with carbs prior to your workout and then replenish after your workout. This all ties back to glycogen as a primary source of energy and fuel for your body. Most research tested the benefits of using carbohydrates as fuel and then tested different amounts of carbs.

But, even that rationale was a bit flawed. Nutrient timing should focus on three aspects that help improve your performance and appearance.

Glycogen replenishment: Glycogen is your fuel. The more you have the harder you can push your body for longer periods of time.

Protein breakdown: If you want to gain muscle, protein synthesis (anabolism) has to be greater than protein breakdown (catabolism).

Protein Building – Protein Breakdown = Muscle Growth or Loss

So, it only makes sense that you want to slow the breakdown process.

Protein synthesis: Eating protein after a workout is supposed to optimize the other side of the same equation by increasing muscle protein synthesis, the process that helps you repair and rebuild muscle.

Combined, all three of these factors influence how hard you can train (endurance, strength, work capacity), how well you recover, and your ability to build muscle and burn fat. So it only makes sense that what you eat should target any or all of these goals.

Do Carbs Help Your Workouts?

Carbs are a great source of fuel for your body. But, eating more carbs doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have more energy. And that’s because depleting glycogen is actually very difficult.

For example, let’s say you did a full-body workout of 9 exercises, performed 3 sets of each exercise (so 27 sets total), and pushed at a high intensity of 80 percent of your 1 rep max. That’d be a grueling workout, but when researchers tested this exact protocol, they found that it only depleted about one-third of total glycogen stores.

The Best Pre- and Post- Workout Nutrition Plan

Timing nutrition around your workout is a good idea for both fueling your performance and helping recovery. But, you don’t need to stress the timing as much as we once thought. Instead, the urgency of nutrition depends more on the activity you perform and whether you eat something before you exercise.

When you enjoy a pre-workout meal, that will determine what you need after a workout. That’s because eating before your workout ensures that your insulin, amino acid, and glucose levels are still going to be high several hours after the workout.

Most mixed meals will keep your insulin levels high enough to stop protein breakdown for 4-6 hours. A 45-gram dose of whey protein will do the same for about two hours. Most studies have shown that if you eat protein before, immediately after, or several hours after your workout, your muscle protein synthesis will be about the same.

Translation: choose a pre- and post-workout nutrition approach that works for you.

The Ultimate Guide to Workout Nutrition

Your Goal: Endurance Sports

Examples: Long-distance track and cycling events, marathons, football, rugby.

What to eat: Carbohydrates for replenishing muscle glycogen, maintaining stamina, and maintaining energy during your event.

What to remember: It’s easy to argue that nutrient timing is most important for endurance athletes because of the duration and demands of the activity. Performance is the main goal, therefore making carbohydrates more important as a fuel source during the activity and after for recovery. Protein, while useful for minimizing protein loss, is not as essential in the moment for these athletes, but is still important for recovery and retention of muscle.

Your Nutrition Plan

The Focus: carbs and protein

The dose: 0.2-0.25 g/lb target bodyweight for both protein and carbs.

During your workout

For every hour of endurance activity, consume 8-15 g protein and about 15-30 grams of carbs. Liquids and gels are usually best for this.

Your Goal: Strength/Power Sports

Examples: Olympic weightlifting, football, powerlifting, bodybuilding, high-intensity intervals

What to eat: Protein for optimizing muscle recovery and growth and minimizing muscle damage

What to remember: Based on the length of time and type of activity, muscle glycogen is not depleted to the extent of endurance sports. Protein is important for supporting strength and muscle growth while minimizing muscle damage and loss. Carbohydrates are important, but less so, and are generally taken care of by meeting total daily calorie and macronutrient goals.

Your Nutrition Plan

A balanced, full meal consisting of carbs and protein, 0.2-0.25 g/lb target bodyweight for both protein and carbs

Your Goal: Weight-Loss

Examples: Any type of activity geared towards losing weight. This is your typical cardiovascular type of activity (walking, treadmill, stairstepper) or weight training. NOTE: This is not high-intensity work or something like CrossFit, which is more likely to fit into the strength or endurance categories.

What to eat: Fewer calories (calorie deficit) and more protein

Want a personalised fat loss plan? Contact me on my website or at Cracknelljack on instagram for more information.

What to remember: The most important thing to keep in mind is you must burn more calories than you bring into your body. Create a calorie deficit first, and then worry about dialling in your pre- and post-workout nutrition.

Your Nutrition Plan

Eat a balanced, full meal consisting of carbs and protein, 0.2-0.25 g/lb target bodyweight for both protein and carbs

Your Next Steps:

Remember that nutrient timing should focus on three core aspects: glycogen replenishment, protein breakdown, and protein synthesis. And rather than stressing over timing, focus on giving your body the proper nutrition based on what type of activity you perform.