Nutrition post workout- The Key to a well defined, lean body.

- By: Brett Macpherson, 2008-04-14

Your after training meal is often the most important of your day. This is because when you finish a hard training session, Your body enters a tissue breakdown stage, where your muscles energy stores are low and your bodies stress hormones excessively breakdown your muscle tissue.

This is not a good state to be in for a long period, but it is easily solved by eating an easily digested meal as soon as you can after your training, which then stimulates a repair phase in your body.

An ideal after training meal should contain easy to digest carbs to replace the muscle’s energy stores, as well as some good quality protein to help muscle repair.

The rush of energy from this type of meal allows the nutrients from your meal to go straight into the muscles where it is needed to help with the repair process.

300 to 500 calories is usually ideal for a after training session meal. For example, a 55kg female may only need a 300-calorie meal, whereas a 90kg male may need a 500-calorie after training meal.

Your after training meal may contain more nutritious carbohydrates than you would normally eat as this allows for faster absorption into the muscles.

The other meals in your day should always contain some good fats, however with your after training meal keep the fat to a minimum, as fat slows down the absorption of the meal, which is not ideal after a workout.

When you choose what you will make for your after training meal, it is important to know that you often do not need the expensive post training supplements, advertised in the magazines, who often also sell them, with nutrition eating natural real food is always preferred.

Good sources of quickly absorbed carbs include:

- Frozen bananas
- Pineapples
- Raisins
- Honey

These are all great for ushering the fuel into your muscles and for starting the repair process.

As for good protein sources look for a good quality whey protein and/or some good quality yogurt. Here are some ideas for great after training smoothies that will start your recovery process:

Chocolate Banana – mix together 1 cup water, ½ cup skim milk, one and a half frozen bananas, 2 tbsp of organic maple syrup, and 30 grams of chocolate whey protein powder – 38 g prot, 72 g carb, 0.5 g fat, 440 calories.

Pineapple Vanilla - blend together 1 cup water, ½ cup vanilla yogurt, one cup of frozen pineapples, 2 tbsp honey (ideally raw and organic), and 30 grams of vanilla whey protein powder – 35 g prot, 71 g carb, 0.5 g fat, 425 calories.

If your looking to burn fat, know that your after training meals should be very different from your other meals over the day.

Your after training meal should have quickly absorbed carbohydrates, easily digested protein and only a small amount of fat, on the other hand all of your other meals throughout the day should be comprised of low glycemic index, slowly absorbed carbohydrates, slow release proteins, and more good fats. These are powerful strategies for creating a lean body with minimal body fat.

Another benefit of the after training meal is this is when you can satisfy your sweet cravings, by eating good quality sweet carbohydrates without it going straight to your belly. Instead, it all goes straight to the muscles!

Enjoy!

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Tips for Designing a High Calorie Diet to Build Muscle - By: Robert Thomson, 2008-04-07

Adding weight that is all or mostly muscle can be a tricky thing if you aren’t too sure how to approach it. We’ll just assume that most people know that to add weight to your frame you are going to need to consume more calories and to lose weight you need to consume less calories, but the process of adding muscle weight is just a tiny bit more complex than that simple equation.

When people are trying to drop pounds, they often look to eliminate empty calorie foods that are high in fats – desserts, cookies, whole milk, fried foods, etc., so a simple assumption would be to gain weight by adding these things to your diet. Well you could gain all of the weight that you wanted by wolfing down bags of cookies and buckets of fried chicken, but it’s not going to be the type of weight gain that you are looking for.

It isn’t really as difficult as it sounds, but too many people stop listening after they hear “eat more food,” and end up eating too much of the wrong things.

So what do you do when you are attempting to pile on muscle mass?

If you’ve been on the standard diet consisting of three meals, it’s time to start stepping up your numbers. You want to consume anywhere from four to six moderately sized meals a day. Don’t get too excited, I’m not suggesting that you sit down to six steak dinners a day, there are some very simple ways to get the extra calories and protein that you’ll need to help your muscles grow.

Restructure your three normal meals so that each one contains a good lean source of protein if it hadn’t already – your breakfast could be built around eggs, lunch could be chicken breast and dinner could focus on fish – that will most likely add some of the necessary protein without having to do any extra work at all. For the three additional meals you can keep it super simple: a meal could consist of cottage cheese and some fruit, your favorite yogurt and a couple handfuls of trail mix or if you could even have a couple peanut butter sandwiches.

Protein drinks and meal replacement shakes are also excellent ways to tack on extra high quality calories. Many people don’t like to eat right before bed because it can disrupt their sleep pattern, which can also affect the rate of recovery – a great way to combat this is by drinking a protein shake shortly before you turn in. The shake shouldn’t overload your stomach or make you feel like you’ve just eaten a full meal before laying down, but it will provide just as many calories and, chances are, even more protein than a small meal. There are even some people that drink a shake before bed, then set their alarm clocks for about half way through the night to get up and have another shake before going back to sleep.

And just because you’ve upped your meal anti to five or six a day, that doesn’t mean that you should necessarily cut out the snacks. A glass of milk and a handful of mixed nuts will add even more protein, vitamins and essential fats as will carrot or celery sticks with peanut butter or a few hard boiled eggs.

The simple fact is, no matter what your body type, even if you see yourself as a so called “hard gainer” – If you approach your training intelligently, always using proper form and high intensity; allow your body plenty of time for recovery, and increase your calorie intake with good lean sources of protein while maintaining a well balanced diet, your muscles will grow.

Aaron is a former “skinny guy” who managed to pack on over 20 lbs of muscle. He attributes most of his success to the information about how to gain weight he learned from http://fastmusclegain.com

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Using Whey Protein Bodybuilding shakes

Bodybuilding is popular among many different people. Both men and women take part in bodybuilding. Also, bodybuilding is becoming more popular among teenagers. Most bodybuilders take supplements along with a certain diet an exercise to get the results they desire. One of the most common supplements found in bodybuilding is protein. Protein is primarily used in building muscle. The most popular protein supplements are whey protein shakes.

Whey protein is very popular among bodybuilders as well as those that work out on a regular basis. Whey protein is usually found as a powder. The powder is mixed into a drink or shake. Protein shakes come in many different flavors. Most bodybuilders drink a protein shake several times each day. Most commonly they are consumed in the morning and after they are finished working out. Also, there are protein bars available.

Whey protein supplements are preferred by both beginners and experienced bodybuilders. There are other options to whey protein. These include soy protein, egg protein, and casein. However, most bodybuilders tend to use the whey protein supplement more so than the other types of supplements. Bodybuilders prefer whey to the other protein supplements because it is digested the quickest. Typically, whey protein is digested in less than thirty minutes. On the other hand, casein requires anywhere from two to seven hours to digest. Egg protein digests in usually one to three hours. Soy protein is preferred by most women bodybuilders.

Whey protein supplements contain whey protein. Whey is, what most call, a by-product of cheese. Whey protein contains amino acids that are crucial to a bodybuilder’s muscles. As a matter of fact, amino acids are considered the building blocks of your muscles. Supplying the muscles with whey protein allows them to grow and rebuild faster. This is done by speeding up the recovery process of the muscles that have been used during weight lifting, exercising, and other workouts. Bodybuilder’s need the most protein immediately following a strenuous workout. For this reason, protein supplements are consumed after a bodybuilder works his muscles.

Almost all of the nutritional stores sell whey protein. Stores carry it in both powder form for shakes and drinks and also as a protein bar. When deciding which whey protein product to purchase it is recommended that you speak with someone that is very knowledgeable. Choosing the right protein supplement will help you achieve better results faster.

Many people choose to create their own protein shake supplement at their convenience. It is not difficult to do and only takes a quick trip to the grocery store, a blender, and a couple of minutes for preparation. The bodybuilders that choose to make their own protein shake have many different ways of doing it. The most common home made protein shakes will contain several dairy products that contain protein.

However you choose to get your daily dose of protein, be sure to not take it in overly excessive amounts. Overall, whey protein supplements will be very helpful to bodybuilders and those that enjoy working out.

Ciaran Quigley is author of this article on protein powder. Find more information about wholesale protein here.

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