If you are starting a bodybuilding program, it is going to be essential that you get a smart pre and post workout meal plan. If you do not feed your body during these two critical times, you are basically limiting the amount of muscle gains you see since this is the time when your body needs food the most.
Below is a description of exactly what you need to be doing in order to gain weight optimally.
What A Pre And Post Workout Meal Does
The meal beforehand is what is going to help provide your muscles with the fuel they need to perform vigorous exercise, as well as help offset any muscle losses that may occur during the workout (since weight lifting is a catabolic (breakdown process) in itself.
The meal after the workout is then going to supply your body with new energy; energy that it will use to either refill its muscle glycogen stores or else energy it needs in order to repair the damaged muscle tissues. If you skip out on this important meal you are drastically going to jeopardize the results you could be seeing from your workout otherwise.
What These Meals Should Be Composed Of
So, what should you be eating at each of these times? For both cases, you'll want to be including plenty of carbs and protein while limiting fat intake.
The problem with consuming a high quantity of fat in these meals is that fat takes a lot longer to digest by the body than either protein or carbohydrates. When you are preparing yourself for exercise, the last thing you want is a stomach full of food there is high fat meals are definitely not ideal.
A big part of the meal is going to come from carbohydrates sources (more on types and quantities below), as this macronutrient is what fuels your body most efficiently during activity. It supplies your muscles with a product called ATP, which is the primary energy molecule. Once ATP stores run out or are not being produced fast enough by the body to meet the demand, that's when you start seeing issues with fatigue and are forced to stop exercising.
Protein on the other hand, is going to give your muscles building blocks called amino acids. Without having these in your blood stream, your muscles will not be able to maintain their integrity and so will be broken down by your workouts. This will result in you simply losing muscle rather than gaining it. It is definitely not the ideal circumstance you want to be creating.
The Preworkout Meal
The main purpose of the preworkout meal is to fuel the muscles for the upcoming activity. What you choose to consume during this meal is largely going to depend on the time of the day that you workout. For those who are working out first thing in the morning, it's likely that they are going to want to have a liquid meal as they are not going to have a lot of time to digest the food before they hit the gym. Others may simply have a hard time tolerating solid food first thing in the morning, so they do better with a meal replacement shake.
If this is the situation you are in, you will want to have a liquid shake that is finished 15-30 minutes before you begin working out. This will provide you with just enough time to get the glucose into your blood stream and energy delivered.
For this shake, aim to include about 0.15-0.2 grams / lb of bodyweight in protein. So if you are a 150 pound person, this would equate to be 22-30 grams of protein total. On the carbohydrates side of things, you will want to try to consume 0.33 grams per pound of body weight, so using our same 150 pound person, this would equate out to 49.5 grams.
An example of such a meal would be one scoop of whey protein powder blended with 1 banana and one cup of orange juice. You could also choose a slightly slower burning form of carbohydrates that are ate along with the whey protein shake if you do not have too big issues with a small amount of food beforehand.
For individuals who have slightly more time between their pre-workout meal and the start of their exercise session, they should reasonably choose a solid food source meal as this will slowly digestion slowly to ensure they have a lasting source of energy.
In this situation, the meal should be taken in about 60-90 minutes before exercise should begin and should again consist of carbohydrates and protein, in the form of 0.2-0.22 grams of protein per pound and 0.33 grams of carbohydrates per pound. The small amount of extra protein will help to provide the amino acids to your muscles until the end of your workout since the duration from meal time until end will be longer.
For this type of meal you likely want to try for a low to moderate GI starchy carbohydrates such as a sweet potato or oatmeal. You can also supplement this with a moderate amount of vegetables, just try and keep the volume controlled so that the additional fiber does not cause stomach distress later on.
By following the above guidelines you will help to maximize the effort level you can put into your workouts, therefore seeing the best possible results.
As you learned above, the post-workout meal is going to serve to replenish muscular glycogen stores as well as help provide the amino acids your muscles need to repair and rebuild themselves after being broken down through strength training activities.
It is always best for you to try and consume this meal as soon as possible after your workout as there is a critical window of opportunity when the muscles are more receptive to taking in the nutrients.
Many people choose to also take a shake for this meal as it is easily transported to the gym so you can have it on your way out. Solid meals can work too, however it is really going to be a matter of personal preference. Some studies suggest that whey protein powder may be taken in by the muscles slightly sooner, therefor providing an advantage, but on the whole it is much more important that you just get some food into your body than the particular type of protein.
Your protein intake here will be slightly higher, at around 0.25 grams of protein per pound of body weight and then 0.5 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight. Notice the higher carbohydrate recommendation. This is to not only replace the energy you just expended but also to provide your body with the energy required to synthesize new muscle tissue. Shorting yourself at this point will be very detrimental to your results so it is of utmost importance that you do not skimp on carbohydrates during this meal.
So to sum up, you should consume a lean protein source, from meat or from protein powder depending on your needs and preferences and then a simple carbohydrates source. Options here would be dextrose (purchased at any health food store), thinly rolled oatmeal, fruit, sugary cereal, bagels or white rice.
So before your next workout, make sure you have your pre and post workout meals in line. They are just about as critical as the actual work you do in the gym in terms of the progress you are going to see, so looking after this is not something to take lightly.
Original article and pictures take www.healthnfitnessnews.com site
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