Read the article and learn how professional athletes shape their diet to maximize muscle mass and absolute strength. The question of proper nutrition and its regime during training worries all athletes. Indeed, as you know, training alone without proper nutrition of the body with all the necessary microelements and vitamins is not able to build muscle mass to the required volume, and even vice versa, intense physical activity can partially destroy muscle fibers. Therefore, these two processes, nutrition and sports, are an integral part of each other. Let's try to debunk the main myths about nutrition and bodybuilding.
The first hour after training to eat or not?
In sports, there is such a thing as a "carbohydrate window", this myth has stuck deep in the heads of many athletes. This concept consists in the fact that during the first hour, even less than this time after the end of physical activity, it is necessary to saturate the body with the necessary microelements. For these purposes, protein shakes or liquid carbohydrates with a small portion of protein (gainer) are usually used. A huge number of glossy publications devoted to bodybuilding are full of this method, but is everything really so, as the press writes, about the advertised method? Or are they just marketing gimmicks to boost sales of protein and other supplements?
A group of athletes conducted an experiment in which they gave up taking a gainer immediately after training, and replaced it with regular protein food, consumed an hour later, and sometimes this time was longer after the end of the training. The result of the experiment did not show absolutely no changes for the worse, moreover, they even noted a positive result in building muscle mass, than it was during the period of using the gainer.
In addition to these observations, athletes found that their digestion improved when they ate an hour after exercise. This fact is quite understandable from a medical point of view. After serious physical exertion, the first hour is necessary for the outflow of blood from the stressed muscle tissues to other internal organs, including the gastrointestinal tract, which contributes to better assimilation of food.
Many bodybuilders come to such a regime, but, as a rule, such a decision comes to them intuitively, since it contradicts universal principles and the system imposed by the public.
Glycogen - how to recover the expended energy?
Every athlete knows about glycogen. It is inherently a carbohydrate that is found in the muscles and is consumed as energy during intense exercise. Therefore, most publications, if not almost all, recommend replenishing it immediately after training with a good portion of carbohydrates.
There are too few specific statistics and studies regarding this opinion and they are all contradictory. This fact was found, that it is necessary to replenish the body with carbohydrates as soon as possible for a faster restoration of glycogen, it is necessary when the exercises are of an aerobic nature, that is, for endurance. This group of athletes includes track and field athletes, but not bodybuilders at all.
In one of the statistics, it was indicated that when taking carbohydrates immediately after exercise, the return of glycogen occurs slightly faster, only 16% than, for example, if you just drink water during this period of time. These data suggest that if you skip food altogether for the first few hours after exercise, glycogen will still be restored in muscle tissue.
Here's another observation that happened in this regard, glycogen accumulates in muscle tissue gradually, about a day after the end of physical activity. Here you need to properly formulate a diet during these 24 hours, and not pour carbohydrates into your body immediately after leaving the gym.
All these data are confirmed by one more experiment. It is known that carbohydrates disappear more efficiently when there is an increased sensitivity to insulin, and this happens during the period of strength training. But this is not the main thing, the most interesting moment in all this is the amount of time for which the same sensitivity increases, and it is 24 hours! The bottom line again suggests itself that there is no need for synthesized carbohydrates immediately in the very first minutes after the end of the workout, you can completely come home and eat a portion, for example, potatoes. The result from this will in no way become worse, since the main goal is to replenish the body with carbohydrates within a day, and not in one hour.
Carbohydrates and protein in a post-workout complex: benefit or harm?
Much has been said about the better assimilation of carbohydrates in combination with proteins. Yes, indeed this process is better for carbohydrates, but there is a downside to the coin. Research was conducted at the beginning of this century regarding the assimilation of a gainer immediately after exercise. The result was amazing … It turns out that protein absorption is 30% worse if it was taken immediately after training. This fact has raised doubts about the effectiveness of protein and carbohydrate intake, the same gainers immediately after exercise.
Protein for piles of muscles
A lot has been said about proteins in bodybuilding, about their importance in building muscle mass. Almost every beginner in sports, dreaming of a sculpted body with huge muscles, is ready to take protein in unlimited quantities after exercising in the gym, just to achieve the expected effect. But here, too, the myth about the importance of taking protein immediately after training has been debunked. Since both proteins, as well as carbohydrates, are synthesized faster during the day, and not in a "window" of one hour. In addition, the assimilation of protein will be better by more than a third, even after two days, like this. Therefore, there is absolutely no difference whether you drink the entire dose of protein at once or fill the body with it in parts, thanks to the food consumed during the day.
The only thing is if you are of retirement age and you are over 60 years old, in this case a "narrow window" will be relevant for you, in which you should consume a mega norm of protein and protein. This process is associated with age-related changes in the structure of the body and other metabolism of trace elements. But if you are still far from the specified age, you can safely fill the body with protein gradually, throughout the day.
Protein as a second meal after exercise
Another observation reassures us about the benefits of a protein shake as a second meal after exercise. Based on the data that the saturation of the body with proteins and carbohydrates occurs according to the cumulative scheme, the significant difference in the intake of protein in the second meal is not entirely justified. But if you adhere to the scheme when carbohydrates are consumed immediately, and later proteins, it is quite possible to use this method. After 60-90 minutes, eat, for example, rice with fish, and after the same amount, drink a protein shake, this will definitely not worsen the situation.
What to eat for a bodybuilder at night?
Before going to bed, you should eat a "long-playing" protein, for example, it can be cottage cheese or it can be replaced with casein protein. Protein food at the time of night rest enhances the anabolic activity of muscle tissue. For the same purpose, you can take protein just at night. For example, if you woke up to get up because of need or for some other reason, drink a protein shake. Alternatively, try experimenting and setting the alarm to ring four hours after starting sleep for protein intake. Perhaps it is not very convenient at first, but then you get used to such a rhythm, especially when you start to feel the result. And the effect of this action is definitely there, you can check it for yourself.
A few words about pre-workout nutrition
The morning starts with breakfast. This meal is considered the most important, both just for a healthy lifestyle, and for professional athletes. Its importance for the bodybuilder lies in the fact that you have not received any nutrients for about eight hours and now the body is deficient in micronutrients. But before you fill your stomach with solid food in the form of proteins and proteins, let it enter the rhythm of the day. To do this, drink a little water or liquid carbohydrate and let the stomach start all its processes, and after that, have breakfast to your health.
Regarding eating just before the actual sports. Here the opinion is twofold, it is not officially recommended, to eat before starting a workout, since there is an outflow of blood from the muscle tissue to the stomach. This is partly true, but there is another side of this issue, when food enters the body, it stimulates the production of insulin, and he, in turn, increases blood flow to the muscles and, accordingly, increases protein synthesis, creating a kind of circulation. Here the question arises, so to eat before training or not? The answer is yes, but only liquid food. Solid, protein food, taken an hour before exercise, will prevent you from fully exercising, but liquid carbohydrate food, on the contrary, will help improve your performance.
That seems to be all the main points regarding nutrition that athletes should pay attention to in order to achieve better results during and after training. Remember that an optimized intake of protein and carbohydrates is much more important than a single dose of it, and breakfast is much healthier than food after exercise. Also, do not forget about protein before bed and the second meal after workout in the form of a protein shake. By adhering to these simple rules, it will be much easier for you to achieve your goal. Within a short period of time, you will be able to feel the changes that will begin to happen to you. Good luck and effective training for you!
Video with Denis Borisov's advice about post-workout nutrition:
