Build Muscle and Increase Fat Loss After Workouts to Sculpt a Better Body

As you might already now, the most important meal of the day is after your workout. With the best post workout meal nutrition, you can sculpt a better body you deserve!

After an intense calorie-burning,

blood-pumping, sweat-till-you-drop workout, your muscles have been depleted of glycogen, your cortisol levels are high and your muscle tissues are breaking down. This post workout condition, known as a catabolic state, is not good.  You want to reverse the catabolic state to become an anabolic state (muscle building), which is done by consuming a quickly digestive post workout meal (shake or smoothie).

As soon as you can after training, choose a meal:

  • With easily digestible quick carbs to replenish muscle glycogen
  • With quickly digestible protein to provide the amino acids needed to jump start muscular repair

This perfect combination of carbohydrates and amino acids an insulin spike from the pancreas, which shuttles nutrients into the muscle cells.

The post workout meal should generally contain between 300-500 calories to get the best muscle building response. For example,

  • A 120-lb female may only need a 300-calorie meal.
  • A 200-lb male may need a 500-calorie post workout meal.

The proper ratio of carbs to protein can be anywhere between 2:1 and 4:1 (carbs:protein).  But when it comes to fat, keep your post workout meal low in fat. Usually, healthy fat slows the absorption of your meal (include daily with your regular meals), but you want the opposite after your killer workout!

Carb Ingredients for Post Workout Meal

When deciding on what to eat for your post workout meal, don’t give in to the fancy ads for special supplement formulas – which tend to be expensive.  A simple workout shake with natural ingredients is far superior than commercial mixtures – which tend to be low quality.

But if you are looking for ease and speed, I recommend a brand that has just the right ratio of carbs to protein and uses quality ingredients.  It is also a brand that I trust:  http://natural.getprograde.com/workout

For the shakes that I make myself, here are some things to keep in mind if you try it…

You want quickly digestible carbs so that the insulin generates muscle glycogen replenishment and general anabolic state. The following carbs are great for a post workout meal shake:

  • Frozen bananas
  • Pineapples
  • Honey
  • Organic maple syrup

The more you can assist the muscle repair process, the more you increase your metabolic rate and can help your fat loss, as well.

Protein Ingredients for Post Workout Meal

The best source of quickly digestible protein is a quality non-denatured whey protein and/or some fat-free or low-fat yogurt. Here are a couple ideas for delicious post workout smoothies that will kick start your recovery process:

Chocolate Banana – Blend together 1 cup water, ½ cup milk (I prefer raw grass-fed milk for max health benefits), one and a half frozen bananas, 2 tbsp organic maple syrup, and 30 grams chocolate whey protein powder – 38 g prot, 72 g carb, 1.5 g fat, 450 calories.

Pineapple Vanilla – Blend together 1 cup water, ½ cup vanilla yogurt, one cup frozen pineapples, 2 tbsp honey (preferably raw), and 30 grams vanilla whey protein powder – 35 g prot, 71 g carb, 1 g fat, 430 calories.

Again, commercial whey protein vastly differs between brand and types.  Most whey proteins available in your grocery store are processed under high heat, which destroys some of the nutritional components of the whey.

I have found the best whey to use for post workout smoothies is new grass-fed RAW whey protein. Because this whey is from grass-fed cows, it contains higher levels of  muscle–building and fat-burning CLA (conjugated linoleic acid).

Post Workout Meals to Lose Body Fat

If your goal is to lose body fat, then your post workout meal should be the opposite of all your other meals during the day. For example, post workout meals should have a quick high glycemic index carbs and quickly digested proteins. But for fat loss, the rest of your meals should be comprised of low glycemic index, slowly digested carbs and slow release proteins. These are powerful strategies towards developing a lean muscular body with a low body fat percentage.

Got a sweet tooth? The wonderful thing about  post workout meals is that it affords eating extra sugars without adding to your gut. It all goes straight to the muscles!  So, you can satisfy your sugar craving during this time of the day!  But ONLY if your workout was super-high intensity and involved resistance training for large portions of the body.  If all you did was some low intensity cardio, forget about doing this type of post workout shake.

Enjoy!

A more detailed and comprehensive nutritional analysis with more of these various powerful dietary strategies are found in our best-selling #1 rated fitness ebook in the world, The Truth About Six Pack Abs.

 

Related Articles

Get a Six Pack with These Top 7 Tips

Healthy Chocolate Pudding to Burn Fat

Cardio for Fat Loss

 

 

by Mike Geary, Certified Personal Trainer, Certified Nutrition Specialist
Author of the best-seller:  The Truth About Six Pack Abs


Comments

comments