Understanding and Improving Your Post Workout Nutrition & Supplements

Optimising post workout nutrition is a key component of any athletes nutrition protocol as it is your chance to refuel & recharge. 

Many people still don't perceive training as what it truely is, a stress to your body mainly because people look at training as a stress relief without taking into consideration it's impact ! 

Intense exercise will cause your body to shift into a sympathetic (fight/catabolic) state. Blood insulin is low,cortisol and other catabolic hormones are elevated, muscle and liver glycogen levels are reduced or depleted, muscle protein breakdown is elevated, and substrate availability is low.

This state will remain until food is consumed. Your body is in a primed state for nutrient delivery and the glucose and amino acids consumed from protein & carbs will get to work on initiating a shift to an anabolic state  by raising insulin, which will lower cortisol, lowering other catabolic hormones and increase substrate availability.

Muscles are insulin sensitive post intense exercise and will quickly uptake your recently ingested glucose and amino acids promoting muscle protein synthesis and glycogen synthesis which will reduce protein breakdown and also shift us back to our parasympathetic (anabolic/rest & digest) state. 

 

A good rule of thumb for post workout nutrition is around .5-.6g/kg of carbohydrates in a close 30-60minute window post workout as a 2:1 ration with protein. 

e.g. someone who weights 80kg 

will want around 40-50g carbohydrates & 25-30g protein post intense exercise. 

 

You can consume this a number of ways either via food such as a protein source like chicken breast and a carb source like white rice. 

Alternatively you could utilise a protein carb blend like a whey protein & cyclic dextrin like 

Rule 1 Whey & Redcon 1 Cluster bomb. 

or my personal favourite to cover all my bases cyborg sport reboot. 

 

Both of these combinations contain high amino acid content protein sources with fast absorbing easily digestible carbohydrate sources.