pre-post workout nutritional needs

[bri87]

Just to throw this in I am a a.m. gym goer. What are needed as far as nutrition? *pre- do you need ample carbs and pro... why? what are the significance of each? how do they play a role in your workout? Same as *post workout nutrition. Then to take it one step further... what types of food are we talking about? i.e. post w/o, I understand many people use whey and bananas, some people use them as a pre aswell. But why those foods? What are their importance of your workouts? What nutritional values do I need to keep my body going throughout the workout and why? What should be comsumed after the workout and why? Any advise would be "wonderfull". I seem to be reading and reading and instead of the answers I'm searching for, I keep running into examples of food. Rather than the whys? and hows? of the nurtitional importance.

[nunu713]

this might be more information than you're looking for, but check out Alan Aragon's article on supplementation (see link below)

http://user210805.websitewizard.com/...R-Jan-2008.pdf

There's also been a lot of discussions about this in the female/nutrition forum. You could try doing a few keyword searches in there (I'm drawing a blank on specific threads ATM)

[Beesting23]

You need carbs preworkout (low GI) to fuel your training session, together with whey protein. If you dont fuel your workout, your body can't train at its optimum and all that happens is that you go catabolic (you end up breaking down muscle mass to provide an energy source). The whey protein is used to make free amino acids available during your training which will also prevent muscle catabolism. Post workout you want whey as well as high gi carbs, the high gi carbs will spike insulin so that muscles take up the amino acids required for muscle recovery. About an hour after that, you should have your usual meal

[bri87]

thanks to both of you. I have read the link and all contents as a whole, only to come out confused. I don't speak quite the same language as what was written in the article, (too many words and statements that I didn't understand) lol. But I'm going to try again. And thank you for breaking it down into (laymans terms). Can't believe I just said that, lol.

[bri87]

Another question... if hi GI foods are to be consumed post workout... why do i see so many people eating foods such as fruit, and/or dairy mixed with their whey? Just something that I noticed. I have been doing some digging and it seems to be that these foods are Lo GI... not even at a mod level. Just another thing that I dont understand...

[kimm4]

The most important part of an eating plan is getting in the right amount of calories. Most people don't even have this figured out. Focus on getting in a healthy balance of protein, carbs and healthy fats through out your day. Things like meal timing, should be the least of a persons worries.

[bri87]

I have pretty much gotten down the nutrient needs, and let me tell you... I havnt done that much math in years. But I'm super excited about it. My main reason for asking about pre and post nutrition was due to wanting to understand and recongnize importance. My day is very hectic and I have a very very minimal time frame in the am to get the nurtional timing down just right for optimun results. So timing to me is VERY much a big deal, I can't afford to not have my day planned out. But I have done some further investigating on the subject and I AM STARTING TO THIN, JUST LIKE EVERYTHING else. It depends on how my body reacts. Trial and error... Eventually I will figure it out. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to help me gain a little more knowledge.