Let's get started.
By now you may have already heard of the old saying "eat meals this many hours apart for maximum calorie burning"
or "every two hours gets the metabolism firing".
We're here to say this Isn't necessarily the case.
When it comes to "burning calories with frequent meals" this is the thermic effect of digestion which comes from the calories
used to digest food, it is most often (like all the time unless you're eating celery...or water) countered by the amount of calories being ate (so, put the donut down.)
BUT when it comes to food timing around workouts, this is where it gets interesting whether it be for Fat Loss or Muscle Gain.
When we exercise we deplete our body of glycogen (from carbs.... not an excuse to pick up that donut), vitamins and minerals and have torn muscle fibres.
Logically, we should aim to replace (or most of, dependant on goals and calorie allowance) of what we've lost should we want to recover properly with a meal high in Protein & Carbohydrates and in this case lower in fat.
Lets explain the advantages of each macro course and its relevance to post workout recovery.
Now, let me say first, how much of these you require is totally dependant on your goal, if you're unsure with how much to have, please hit up your closest Nutrition Capital Store and ask for help :)
The Choice we make does indeed make a difference to how we process, digest and the physiological response to the food.
Protein, this beautiful little macro is essesntially what our muscles are made of and as we tear muscle fibres via strenous effort, we should aim to provide our body with sufficient protein to
repair and grow new muscle tissue.
Carbohydrates, everyones favourite macro (I know you're thinking of that donut right now), Carbs should be added in post workout in two forms, Simple & Complex, Sugar & Starch.
Why? Complex carbs are rich in vitamins and minerals and will provide a sustained release of glucose to replenish used glycogen (carbohydrate) stores, so that we can return back to training hard and optimally quicker.
Simple Carbs, sugars, are known as a high GI source and help secrete a higher amount of a hormone to shuttle nutrients to where they're needed to go.
This effective and beautiful little hormone is more susceptible to being secreted after exercise to help shuttle ALL these nutrients (Protein(amino acids), Glucose, Creatine etc) to where they're needed and in this case it our muscle cells!
Fats, while an extremely important macro nutrient, best implemented in other meals as having fats in a meal with carbs not only increase the calories BUT can also inhibit the amount of this hormone secreted.
An ideal post workout would like one of two examples:
Protein Powder (Protein) +
Oats (Complex Carb) +
Honey (Simple Carb) +
Berries (Vitamins & Minerals)
= Absolutely delicious and now your favourite meal.
or
Chicken Breast (Protein) +
Basmati Rice (Complex Carb) +
Fruit (Simple Carb) +
Veg (vitamins & Minerals
.... Yes, we know how fun that sounds....
*Insert product plug here*
If you're after a supplement that will make it easy and address all aspects of recovery post workout (Nutritionally & Hormonally).
Try Cyborg Sport Reboot for what we would call the most complete recovery product available on the market.
Hope this is helpful! If you're stuck for help feel free to hit up any of our Nutrition Capital Stores!