Proper Post Workout Nutrition: Capitalize on the Golden Hour

Stop wasting the most crucial hour of your day!

The window of opportunity post workout is crucial when determining the success someone will have reaching thfeir goal. It does not matter if this goal is to lose weight, increase size, gain strength, or build muscle. Now, this day in age when you want to know something you might google search it with phrases like “supplements that work,” “weight loss supplements,” or “muscle building supplements.” Depending on what you type in the search bar on the web, you will get about a million different “theories” on how to do post workout. But there is only one way to do it properly to get the maximum benefits from the effort you put in … and science stands behind it. This is why my routine has not and will not change … science and proven facts haven’t changed, so why would my post workout routine?

Just a warning here … This blog on the 2nd tier of beneficial supplements is longer than normal. It might take you 5 minutes to read … but I promise you it will be 5 minutes well worth your time (and your results!). Now when you are doing any sort of resistance training (weight lifting, machines, Crossfit, bodyweight workouts, TRX, etc.) you are doing two things to your body:

1) You are depleting your glycogen stores. (Glycogen is glucose that is stored in your muscle cells to be used as fuel during bouts of intense activity.)

2) You are breaking down your muscle tissue and creating micro-traumas on your muscle fiber.

Proper post workout nutrition will address both of these issues as your body has a set of order of operations it must go through to replenish, repair, and recover. If you do this part right, you will recover faster, reduce soreness, and grow muscle more quickly & efficiently. If you don’t…. you will continually miss out on maximizing the results from your hard work.

Your body is genetically built for survival and will always replenish your glycogen stores first and foremost. It does this by refilling the energy tanks with glucose. So, if your body needs glucose – simply, give it glucose. Companies will use different forms of glucose or sneak in other carbohydrate sources (always read the ingredient label! No matter what the bottle says, always read the label!), but the best is a pure dexanhydrous glucose. What this means is that it is a mono-saccaride with water extracted from it, that assimilates rapidly and requires little to no work on the part of your body to break it down and shuttle it in to the muscle cell to replenish glycogen stores. This makes it the most rapid assimilating carbohydrate available and it also gives your body one heck of an insulin spike! Oh no, I said insulin spike! Isn’t that a no-no? Not for this specific time of the day.

Maximize your results in 1 hour.

Insulin is an anabolic storage hormone. Spiking insulin at the right time makes your body more prone to nutrient absorption, essentially opening up the door to your muscles to allow more protein and nutrients to enter. Which means pairing a dexanhydrous glucose alongside a rapid assimilating protein, a hydrolyzed whey protein isolate, you are giving your body everything it needs to begin recovery immediately!

Why do we want a hydrolyzed whey protein isolate for our rapid assimilating protein? Glad you asked! A whey protein isolate is whey protein that has lactose and fat (two things from dairy that slow down digestion) removed from it. What will be left is a powder that is 90% protein or higher! Now, if you take that protein and hydrolyze it, you are making it even more rapid assimilating. When a product is hydrolyzed, natural enzymes are used to break down the protein strands, essentially pre-digesting them. That way when you drink it along side your dexanhydrous glucose, everything is on the same time table for digestion.

It wouldn’t be beneficial to spike insulin… open the door to your muscles… then amino acids from protein not showing up until after the door is closed would it? This is why taking a dexanhydrous glucose and hydrolyzed whey protein isolate together post workout is the most beneficial and effective pair.

Now that you are into recovery, your nutrition will take over and dictate if you reach your goals or not. I told you this log was a bit longer than my normal ones, and I don’t want to run on much more. Let’s dive into tier three and learn how to stop bad habits by using a protein shake. If you are one of the individuals who missed tier one, no worries you can go back and learn the importance of micronutrients for the best results. Three paramount tiers to go!

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