You know that you had a great workout when you are starving before you’re done. Your body has been given a straight-up ass kicking, courtesy of the barbells and dumbbells. And you’ve left it all on the gym floor – the way it should be. Now it’s time to make sure that it was all worth it, and that starts with your post-workout meal.
This is by far and large the most important meal of the day, the one that will determine how much muscle growth and fat loss will come out of all of that lifting and cardio. Yeah, that’s right – you will actually help burn fat by eating. The key is to make sure that you eat the right things after training and stay away from that shit that will not burn fat, but add to it.
WHEN TO EAT THE POST-WORKOUT MEAL
In a perfect world, you would attack the meal within 30 minutes after finishing your workout. But that isn’t always possible, so try and get it in no later than an hour after finishing up at the gym.
PROTEIN – BUT WHAT KIND?
You want to include some muscle building protein in your post-workout but that doesn’t mean that just any source is a good choice. You want it to be of the fast digesting variety and solid foods such as chicken, meat or fish do not fit that description.
What you want to do is use some whey protein powder, as it is digested fast by the body for two different reasons: the fact that it is not a solid food and the type of protein it is. (The exact opposite is casein protein, which is a slower digesting type and perfect for using in a shake at bedtime.) Consider a protein shake a no-brainer as part of your post-workout meal.
CARBOHYDRATES WILL MAKE OR BREAK YOUR POST-WORKOUT MEAL
People hear the word ‘carbs’ and immediately connect it with a negative connotation. But they have received a bad rap and are really essential to the recovery – and ultimately – growth process.
Here’s the boring scientific-sounding bullshit that everyone hates to read, but it will make more sense to you if you follow this part: muscle glycogen becomes depleted while you are training and carbs will help your body restore them. If they are not present, then your body resorts to breaking down muscle to do so. Another positive effect of post-workout carbs is the insulin spike that will feed your muscles with nutrients.
Now the million-dollar question is what kind of carbs to eat. While the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ carbs conversation has been said time and time again, it is actually recommended to eat a faster digesting (or simple) carb for this meal. We’re not telling you to scarf down four slices of pizza, but rather vegetables, white rice, white potatoes or another starchy carb.
Your best bet is to eat some fruit if you want to keep it a healthy meal and be sure to not include much – if any – fat here. That will just slow down the entire process and undo all of the good intentions.