Nutrition before and after exercise
You already know that sports nutrition has a huge impact on your results. The abdominal press is formed in the kitchen, we are what we eat, and so on, and so on. "Yes, of course," you mutter. "I've heard it all before."
It is not enough just to hear it, it is necessary to understand, accept and apply it. During a workout, you can level the gym to the ground, but the result will largely depend on what you ate before and immediately after the workout. Research shows that it is often nutrition that determines the difference between achieving a goal and falling dead a step away from it.
We must learn to channel all the strength and energy of sports nutrition that enters the body before, during and after training, to improve performance and recovery, and then our muscles will grow faster than a weed in the garden.
Pre-workout nutrition
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates ... few elements of the bodybuilding universe are so fiercely contested and endlessly debated. Do they lead to obesity? Do we need them at all? If so, which ones? And when? And these questions will never end. The suggested answers may contradict each other, but if you are going to make the most of your training and want to train to the limit, the quality of fuel matters.
Carbohydrates are our body's" favorite " fuel. No, I do not encourage you to eat plates of mashed potatoes and eat chocolate bars all day, but before a grueling workout, you still have to fuel your body.
You need every gram of carbohydrates you eat to be used as an instant energy source or stored as glycogen, but you don't want them to turn into fat? Then don't eat more carbohydrates than you need and don't worry too much about how to distribute them evenly throughout the day. Just eat the lion's share of carbohydrates before and immediately after your workout.
I approve of those who manage to eat at least twice before training.
These meals should contain complex carbohydrates, the source of which can be oatmeal or sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes). The first meal gives carbohydrates a couple of hours to digest and start working — raising blood sugar levels and filling glycogen stores to the brim.
The second meal should take place about 30-60 minutes before the workout, most of you will be enough 40 g of carbohydrates. Don't try too hard to calculate the minutes and seconds. Five minutes earlier or five minutes later-the diameter of your biceps does not depend on these details. Eat when you are comfortable, but try to choose the time so that your stomach is not full when you start training.
Fast protein
The intake of whey protein is due to the pronounced anti-catabolic and anabolic action of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), which are contained in whey protein, and leucine is of the greatest importance. In whey protein, the concentration of BCAA is much higher than in other types of protein.
It was experimentally proved that protein intake before training increased the level of energy metabolism at rest by 6-6. 5% over the next 48 hours. Pre-workout protein also reduced cortisol levels throughout the day, which did not occur in the control group, whose representatives received nothing or took only carbohydrates.
Protein and amino acids help preserve carbohydrates. People think that if the body has run out of carbohydrate fuel, it immediately switches to fat use mode. In fact, this process is too slow and cannot provide us with energy during intensive training. And to get fuel here and now, our cells take amino acids and convert them into glucose in the process of gluconeogenesis. If these amino acids are not in the blood, guess where they can be removed from? Correctly, from your biceps or "buttocks")). For those who are on a diet, a small portion of amino acids will help maintain muscle mass.
Those who use protein before training with caution or prejudice, especially if they are in the drying phase, are recommended to take 10-15 g of BCAA instead of protein.
Amino acids have the same effect and ultimately contribute to protein synthesis. And for those on a low-carb diet, pre-workout BCAAs will help burn more fat.
Creatine monohydrate
If your goal is to increase the strength and volume of muscle tissue, try adding creatine monohydrate to your diet. Now the market is literally flooded with a variety of creatine preparations, but I prefer micronized creatine monohydrate, because it is a well-studied, clean and time-tested drug.
Why is it needed? Our body uses three main ways to synthesize ATP-the final product of energy metabolism. Which method is used in a particular situation depends on the intensity of the load. During the most intense loads, which include weightlifting, the body uses creatine phosphate as an energy source.
Adding 2-5 g of creatine to the daily diet will create good reserves of creatine phosphate, which the body can turn to during training. And this will allow you to give your best. In short, creatine helps to lift more weights and perform more repetitions, in addition, it attracts water to the muscles, which visually increases their volume. The timing of creatine intake does not matter — before a workout, after a workout, or at any other time of the day.
Beta-Alanine
The main task of beta-alanine is to maintain muscle performance at a high level. The main cause of fatigue is intramuscular acidosis. In the process of synthesis of ATP through the breakdown of glucose and substrate phosphorylation formation of by-products of metabolism, including hydrogen ions. If the hydrogen ions are not removed from the cell in time, they will interact with pyruvic acid salts, which will lead to the formation of lactic acid. An increase in the concentration of this metabolite is accompanied by a drop in performance and a violation of the consistency of muscle contractions.
To correct this imbalance, our body uses L-carnosine, which not only acts as an intracellular buffer and removes excess hydrogen ions, but also takes on the role of an antioxidant. L-carnosine is a dipeptide that is synthesized from the amino acids L-histidine and beta-alanine, and the limiting factor in this synthesis reaction is beta-alanine. Studies have shown that adding beta-alanine to the diet increases the concentration of carnosine in muscle tissue, which allows athletes who train for wear to improve their results. Beta-alanine is also useful for those who work on endurance.
The results of recent studies suggest that the optimal daily dose of beta-alanine is 4-5 g. Ideally, it should be evenly distributed over several doses throughout the day, but 800 mg should be taken immediately before training.Nutrition during training
As a rule, people do not work out so intensively that they need to be energized during training, especially if they do not skip the pre-workout intake of nutrients. But those who are on a strict diet (for example, in the process of preparing for competitions) may need additional fuel. One of the main problems of bodybuilding athletes is the loss of muscle mass during the grueling drying process, which aims to eliminate all fat deposits. During drying, protein breakdown increases, and the depleted body's need for protein is even higher than during the period of gaining muscle mass.
In this situation, the ideal preparation for use during training can be branched-chain amino acids, which in a difficult moment will protect athletes from catabolism. Perhaps, an additional influx of amino acids throughout the day will not prevent weightlifters. Increasing the concentration of amino acids in the blood during training allows you to increase protein synthesis "at the exit".
Recharge during a training session can also be useful for athletes who work out for a very long time or burn out all internal energy reserves with exhausting loads. But, believe me, there are not many of them. Most guys sipping an energy drink at the gym don't really need extra fuel. For a five-minute warm-up and a routine session on six simulators, it is not necessary. Additional fuel is needed only if the grueling workout lasts much longer than sixty minutes.
The cocktail that athletes should take during training should contain water, electrolytes, BCAA (or protein hydrolysate), and carbohydrates. Of course, you can diversify the composition, but it is these ingredients that should form the basis of it.
Nutrition after training
Protein
The processes of recovery and growth of muscle tissue without protein are not feasible. And since the body is constantly breaking down protein molecules, our diet should fully compensate for these losses. The recommended protein intake varies widely and depends on body weight and physical activity. But what you can be sure of is that post-workout protein shake is a universal tool for starting the processes of recovery and growth of muscle tissue. Whey protein is incredibly popular. This is because it is rich in branched-chain amino acids, is rapidly absorbed, has a high biological availability and an ideal protein digestibility corrected Amino Acid Score (or PDCAAS). But despite the fact that whey protein is a great choice for a post-workout cocktail, research has shown that the ideal combination at this point is a combination of fast and slow protein, such as whey protein and casein.
Most agree that you need at least 20 g of whey protein to start the recovery and growth processes. Hydrolysate will raise the level of amino acids in the blood faster than whey protein, but it will not be able to maintain this rise for a long time. Therefore, to cover your basic needs, use a post-workout shake consisting of 40 g of complex protein (whey protein and casein).
BCAA
When you sit on a low-calorie diet or exercise for a long time and with full efficiency, your blood sugar level decreases, glycogen reserves are insufficient, and catabolism processes are activated, which lead to the breakdown of muscle tissue. The supply of amino acids is of great importance for every athlete. This is especially true for BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine, and valine), which are the favorite fuel for our muscles.
I recommend BCAA in a post-workout complex, they will definitely not harm you, and at the same time will help to raise the level of amino acids in the blood. After a workout, I recommend taking 10 g of BCAA, and I strongly recommend it to those who are experiencing a calorie deficit.
Fast carbs
After a hard workout, your fuel-blood sugar-is running low, and your glycogen stores are depleted. Perhaps, by the end of the workout, you even got to the inviolable reserves of fat (if you are on a diet, you definitely got there). Most of us understand that the body needs protein in this situation, but many underestimate the value of easily digestible carbohydrates.
The main priority for our body is to restore blood sugar levels and replenish glycogen reserves, and not to increase the volume of the biceps. An influx of fast carbohydrates will allow you to save protein, replenish glycogen stores, increase insulin secretion, and speed up recovery. Recommendations regarding the amount of carbohydrates may differ, but for maximum effect, you will need 50-75 g of high-glycemic carbohydrates.
