There's a good chance you are using the New Year to continue your fitness journey ... or start a new journey all together.
That brings many questions about what it takes to see the best results.
We tend to spend a lot of time worrying about certain factors that don't matter as much as we may think.
Asking questions about a specific vitamin, a new popular diet trend ... or which pre-workout has the most caffeine.
Not that those are bad questions and we're always happy to answer them, but you may be putting too much weight into things that aren't necessarily going to get you the best results ... which we know is your ultimate goal.
There are simple, fundamental concepts that have been proven over the years to guarantee you see better results.
One of these fundamental principles is proper post workout nutrition.
It's nothing new or groundbreaking ... but it's 100% proven to work, and most people are doing it wrong.
What's Actually Happening When You Workout?
If you have the goal of burning fat and/or building muscle, which most of you do ... you have to resistance train.
You don't need to be a bodybuilder or the ultimate workout warrior, but you have to lift some weights.
It's important to understand what happens during resistance training:
1. You are depleting your glycogen stores from your muscles. Glucose ... which is the simplest form of carbohydrates, is stored in your muscles as glycogen. This is the energy your muscles use during a workout. Think of this like the gas tank of your muscles. You deplete your "body's gas tank" during your workouts.
2. You're creating what's called micro-traumas. These are little tears in your muscles that happen during your workout.
You'll notice here that you aren't building muscle when you workout ... you are actually breaking your muscles down.
You don't build muscle in the gym ... you build muscle outside the gym when you're recovering.
The faster your broken down muscles are repaired ... the better results you'll see.
What Is Proper Post Workout Nutrition?
Protein and carbohydrates have proved time and time again to be crucial for your results and recovery ... especially in a post workout setting.
Nothing will make more of an impact on your results than proper post workout nutrition.
Yes ... eating protein and carbs after a workout will help you recover. That's a fact.
Like we said above though, the faster you can repair the damage to your muscles ... the more progress you'll make.
That's why overtime, specific products have been developed to help you accomplish this.
These products are some of the only products that can actually out perform whole food meals.
They breakdown faster than food ... starting that recovery and rebuilding process instantly.
These are referred to as: Post-Workout Glucose and Whey Protein Isolate.
Post Workout Glucose - The quickest way to re-fill your muscles gas tank is by giving it the very thing it uses for gas. Post workout glucose will replenish your glycogen stores faster than any other carbohydrate. It's been pre-digested ... so that it will bypass most of the digestive process and get to your depleted muscles within minutes.
Whey Protein Isolate - Yes this is protein ... but not just any protein. This is protein that has also been pre-digested. It's broken down and stripped of all the ingredients that would make it digest slowly. This allows the amino acids within the protein to get to your damaged muscles as fast as possible ... starting the rebuilding process.
Can I Just Use Protein?
One of the most common questions when discussing post workout supplementation.
While you can just take in protein after your workout ... you'll be missing out on a ton of benefits that lead to better results.
For one ... your body craves the carbohydrates more so than it craves anything else after a workout.
It's a survival instinct. Your body wants that energy back as soon as possible. Glucose is the quickest way to refill that energy.
It's so important to your body that if you just give it protein after your workout ... it will actually turn a large majority of that protein into glucose to be used as energy. The fancy terminology for this process is called Gluconeogenisis.
That means you'll be using protein as an energy source ... which is not ideal.
This will lead to you missing out on repairing many of those little muscle tears ... because your protein won't be getting used for that job.
Glucose also helps transport protein to your damaged muscles. It does this by creating what's called an insulin spike. Think of this as the way your body delivers protein to your muscle tissue.
You can see ... they work as a team to maximize your recovery and results.
What are the benefits of Post Workout Supplementation?
You're probably thinking about what replenishing the energy to your muscles ... and what repairing muscle tears means for your results.
It means quite a bit more than you may think.
The benefits of proper post workout supplementation include:
- Reducing muscle soreness
- Building more lean muscle
- Burning more body fat
- Reducing post workout fatigue
- Lowering stress levels
- Injury prevention
... And the best part is that many of these benefits you'll notice after just one workout.
There's no other supplements that can provide as immediate of an impact as post workout.
The bottom line ... people tend to get caught up in all the fancy supplement and nutrition information out there.
When this happens, people often neglect the fundamentals that have helped people see results for years.
Some of these fundamentals will literally help see progress faster than anything else ... and they are 100% proven to do so.
Post-workout supplementation is at the top of that list.
Using proper post-workout supplementation after a workout will lead to numerous benefits.
Benefits you'll notice after just one time using them ... guaranteed.
Regardless if you are a beginner or a seasoned gym veteran ... proper post workout supplements should be a staple in your routine.
If you have more questions about post workout supplementation or need any help at all putting together a plan to attack those New Years goals ... stop into your closest S2 location and speak with our Sports Nutrition Specialists.
We will make sure you have the best plan possible.
*This post was written by Andrew Lynn, who has a Bachelor's in Science Nutrition and Dietetics. He is also a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and NASM Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist.
