Post-Workout - Meal or Shake?

[PhxJosh]

Hello! I am new to the forums and I am wondering after I workout if I should eat a meal, or if I should drink a protein shake and eat about an 45mins when I am hungry again?

Or would it be better to drink a shake RIGHT-AFTER the gym, then by the time I get home and cook I might be able to eat more by then?

What would you guys suggest

[Patrok]

protein + glutamine immediatly post workout
big meal 1h after your workout

[SoWise]

I use to dump tons of money on pre post workout shakes/formulas and honestly i have had the BEST results with a protein such as ON whey, powdered Gatorade (sucrose/dextrose), Glutamine powder, and Amino acids.

Usually consume right after i workout and within 1 hour to 2 hours have a regular meal..

[Patrok]

I use to dump tons of money on pre post workout shakes/formulas and honestly i have had the BEST results with a protein such as ON whey, powdered Gatorade (sucrose/dextrose), Glutamine powder, and Amino acids.

Usually consume right after i workout and within 1 hour to 2 hours have a regular meal..

listen to the mannnnn, what would you suggest for a good PWO meal, i like to have carbs, ex: whole wheat spag + meat sauce

i read that pwo, your body is primed to absorb and 'use' carbs instead of simply storing them as fat

[SoWise]

yes but whole wheat isnt best for right after you work out.. when you want something absorbed fast why go with slow digesting carbs? white rice is a favorite of mine or a white bagel, banana and a whey shake..

but as far as a protein source instead of whey? try basic ole chicken, but keep it lean.. fats also slow digestion not so good right after your workout

i used to cook my rice and bring it with me to the gym, but damn i love those bagels!.. otherwise the rest of the day your insulin doesnt need the spike from carbs.. hell, right now i only eat carbs right in the morning and right after i workout..

[Patrok]

yes but whole wheat isnt best for right after you work out.. when you want something absorbed fast why go with slow digesting carbs? white rice is a favorite of mine or a white bagel, banana and a whey shake..

but as far as a protein source instead of whey? try basic ole chicken, but keep it lean.. fats also slow digestion not so good right after your workout

i used to cook my rice and bring it with me to the gym, but damn i love those bagels!.. otherwise the rest of the day your insulin doesnt need the spike from carbs.. hell, right now i only eat carbs right in the morning and right after i workout..

i sea, what about white pasta instead of whole wheat pasta for PWO ?

We are of course talking about the 'real' meal, comsumed 1-2h after workout/pwo-shake

thanks for the help man

[blkwidow]

I use to dump tons of money on pre post workout shakes/formulas and honestly i have had the BEST results with a protein such as ON whey, powdered Gatorade (sucrose/dextrose), Glutamine powder, and Amino acids.

Usually consume right after i workout and within 1 hour to 2 hours have a regular meal..

Damn this is what I'm currently doing. I guess if you come to think of it, I'm actually consuming a gallon worth of gas by buying a protein drink after every workout.

So for my post workout shake, I should just throw ON whey, glutamine, and amino acids into a Gatorade bottle and take that? Sounds a lot cheaper. And then a post workout meal is basically your next scheduled meal?

[tomjones42]

i have whey, currently 4 ever fit fruit blast, and dextrose. an hour later i eat a solid food meal.

[aitormi]

What works for me is a shake right after (whey, EAAs, BCAAs), kool aid and 1/2 of oats since I am cutting. An hour later I have lean meat with veggies...Is there a major difference between powdered Gatorade and Kool Aid??

[footbag_man]

40g protein shake / 5g creatine ..... then 70g simple carbs shake eg. glucose

eat 1 hour after

[SoWise]

i sea, what about white pasta instead of whole wheat pasta for PWO ?

We are of course talking about the 'real' meal, comsumed 1-2h after workout/pwo-shake

thanks for the help man

I only get simple carbs right after workout (rarely i eat a white bagel with sugar free jelly in the am to spike my glucose but thats VERY RARE).. Then i usually wait two hours to eat a whole grain pasta and protein meal. Although right now i go four straight days of low carb followed by a high carb up day. I do however still consume my simple carbs right after workout regardless of low carb day or not. Whole grain pasta is not a great post workout meal obviously because of the slower digestion rate of the grains, however i dont like to wait a long time to refeed myself, so i usually give myself that 2 hour timetable from post workout carbs to complex carb meal so my body absorbs my nutrients from my postworkout shake.

I eventually as my diet progress's start adding no carb days to my diet, which will almost always be on days i do not workout, for obvious reasons.

Honestly i have seen people get away with eating white pasta for there 'real meals' but those are the hargainer types who really need all the cals and carbs they can get so theres not much of a concern.

[SoWise]

Damn this is what I'm currently doing. I guess if you come to think of it, I'm actually consuming a gallon worth of gas by buying a protein drink after every workout.

So for my post workout shake, I should just throw ON whey, glutamine, and amino acids into a Gatorade bottle and take that? Sounds a lot cheaper. And then a post workout meal is basically your next scheduled meal?

well i see a lot of muscle mags advertise on their nutrient sections about the convience of bottled gatorade, but look at the ingredients.. High fructose corn syrup.. now granted if you consume post workout it shouldnt be too big of a deal, but im UBER strict with my diet and thats the sugar i avoid at ALL costs.

Powdered gatorade contains the sucrose/dextrose mixture that will spike your insulin to the same effect to the bottled version minus the HFCS. but be careful because i have noticed some powdered flavors of gatorade containing partially hydrogenated oils.. I usually buy either fruit punch or a glacier freeze kind.... I bought my aminos and bcaa from another website (i cannot name) but basically a two months supply for 20 bucks and its very high quality. I dont use creatine much anymore because of kidney problems but normally i would cycle on and off of that... i bought the banana cream flavor of on whey and use fruit punch gatorade and it really tastes like a float!...

P.s. i use about 4 tablespoons of the gatorade powder = about 60 g of simple carbs, 1 scoop of whey= 27 g of protein.

[yummiyoshi]

2 cups of oats + 1 scoop of whey

[davielawson]

To explain the science/ research behind the PWO and pre workout - heres the basics...
BCAA's - most of the studies carried out focus on apx 5g-6g for a 70kg male, which shows optimum quantities - your ON Whey contains 5.5g/serving which is perfect.
Glutamine is similar to the BCAA and anywhere from 3-8gms of Glutamine can be consumed..
HI GI carbs are best PWO such as Dextrose Monohydrate (Glucose) or Maltodextrin anywhere from 50g-140g/70kg male - depending on phase of traing, intensity etc. Its recommended to start at a lower dose and work it up until you see a slight gain in bodyfat (at that point your consuming too much) and you drop the quantity slightly. I wouldnt recommend this if your over 10% BF (by skinfold).. If thats the case stick to the L-Glutamine.

As far a preworkout (pwo) some people are responders to pwo better than PWO, but the nutrient type is essential... Rather than whole protein sources, EAA's provide the optimum gains when coupled with a moderate GI carb such as sucrose (table sugar). This is consumed 30min prior to workout and believe me, the difference it makes can be huge! The best product ive found is "Purple Wrath" for pwo, and as far as i know its sold here..

On the High Fructose Cons Syrup... i dont think thats good any time of the day! Lucozade sport is the stuff we use over here... Top ingredients and its available anywhere!! Its excellent stuff!

The best thing to do is to try it all and see what works and scrap the rest!! Everyone is slightly different due to metabolism and BF% so what works for me may not work for you....

[belairdfence99]

Your body is extremely sensitive after a workout for nutrients. Take a shake preferably because its faster absorbing and doesn't need as much digestion. If you have no shake available eat something. Make sure you have high GI carbs and protein. This will raise your insulin so that it will increase blood flow and transportation of nutrients to the muscle. Then one hour after or more of your workout have a decent meal with some fat and complex carbs with your protein to slow the absorbtion so that your muscles stay fed.

[belairdfence99]

2 cups of oats + 1 scoop of whey

Oats are complex carbs and you do not want them directly after a workout because they will slow the absorbtion. Have them later as a meal.

[Marius_Ursus]

I do both. I have the shake immediately after and then eat food within the hour.

It works for me.