There’s a commonly held belief that the most important meal for a bodybuilder is the post workout one. Eating Post Workout is a super training session during which you’ve shredded a ton of muscle fiber, it’s critical to get the repair process underway as soon as possible, right? Not really, as it turns out.
Yes, you do need to dose up on carbs & proteins to keep fuelling your body, but you don’t have to race back home and gorge within 30 minutes for your body’s sake.
The important thing to consider is your overall energy balance in any 24 hour period – the relationship between the total amount of carbohydrates, fats and proteins you put into your body, and the amount of them you use in the same 24 hour cycle.
Managing this balance is key in achieving your exercise goals, no matter if you are trying to build muscle or shed excess fat. It’s a simple equation – if you consume more calories than you burn off each day, then you will be adding mass, which in turn will assist you build muscle tissue. If you calorie use is higher than your intake in a day, you will lose weight – the best way to get rid of fat.
Post Workout Bodybuilder Meal
I said earlier that there’s no urgent rush for bodybuilders to have a post workout meal immediately after Eating Post is Important finishing their routine for the day, but of course you still need to eat after working out.
In an ideal situation, you should refuel with a combination of some sources of both carbohydrates and protein. Contrary to common belief, you don’t need “fast-acting” carbohydrates – it’s just another popular misconception prevalent in the fitness industry.
Let me explain – no matter how fast the “fast-acting” carbohydrate is supposed to act, your rate of digestion means that you won’t derive any extra benefit while your body is still processing previous meals.
You don’t need to bulk up on new carbs straightaway to ensure you keep all those great muscles you’ve just built at the gym – what you ate before your workout will take care of that, because its yet to be fully digested and absorbed by your system.
Instead of worrying about these “fast-acting” carbohydrates, your post workout bodybuilder meal can consist of whatever carbohydrate you prefer, or whatever is most convenient.
Good sources of carbohydrate to consider are pastas (spaghetti etc), oat meal or rice. You might think you deserve a treat like a pop tart or some gummy bears, and that’s okay too – the choice is yours!
Post Workout Bodybuilder Meal: Protein Source
The same applies to making your choice of protein source as it does to your choice of carbohydrate. There’s no ideal protein source; a simple whey protein shake is as adequate as a serving of grilled meat. In fact, many people prefer a shake because for the convenience and mobility it provides.
There are some folks who don’t enjoy the flavor of some protein shakes, and there are some who like to eat their nutrients for various reasons rather than drink them.
It’s all a matter of personal preference, and if this applies to you then you might include beef, chicken or fish in your post workout bodybuilder meal. It’s good practice to vary the ingredients of your diet to avoid boredom, however; again, this is entirely up to the individual as some people develop a real enjoyment for the same kind of protein source every day.
You may have heard that spaghetti is an adequate source of protein as well, and you might be one of those who think you can get a ‘double hit’ by simply choosing spaghetti as your post workout bodybuilder meal.
However, you only get about 21 grams of protein after eating six serves of spaghetti! It’s a great carbohydrate provider, but doesn’t stack up against something like whey protein which has a really impressive BCAA profile. Make sure you choose a high quality protein source to maximize your replenishment levels.
Conclusion
So now you can see that while your post workout bodybuilder meal is still very important, you do not need to make an extra effort to eat something rapidly in the immediate period following your workout.
Remember, the key is balancing the amount of calories you take in per 24 hour period against your calorie expenditure in the same window of time. In theory, you could even eat all of your calories per day in one big serving, but that’s generally impractical. It takes a lot of food to generate the 4000 calories you’re looking for each day, and once you’ve assimilated that huge meal, you may get hungry later in the day and eat again, tipping the calorie balance the wrong way.
Don’t be fooled into believing that any meal is the “most important one” of the day, including your post workout meal. As long as you are meeting your macro nutrient requirements each day, the timing is not critical.
You’ll probably find, though, that you can utilize your post workout bodybuilder meal to really load up the calories, simply because that’s when your body should be hungriest. That’s assuming you are trying to bulk up to convert mass into muscle, of course. If you’re aiming to lose weight, just tough it out and keep your chin up!
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