How long should i wait to eat after a workout?

[darrenwks]

Any clues?

[kidsheart]

Any clues?

post shake immediatly after, eat an hour after that.
if your not having a post shake, just eat as soon as you can.

[AlwaysTryin]

post shake immediatly after, eat an hour after that.
if your not having a post shake, just eat as soon as you can.

Why must you immediately

[darrenwks]

Can i eat meals within 30 mins after shake?

[JasonDB]

According to all available research no specifically funded and cheery picked by supplement companies... my advice would be to consume a high carb and high protein meal less than 24 hours after an intense lifting session. Ideally you should probably get this within 8-12 hours of your session though... if you did a very high volume glycogen depleting workout I would recommend consuming it even sooner.

Can i eat meals within 30 mins after shake?

Post workout shakes have only show benefits to individuals who trained fasted for close to 24 hours prior to training and/or who did extreme endurance training. The supp companies don't tell you that. Getting the shake in doesn't really benefit you outside of the carbs and protein it adds to your daily intake, at least meaningfully.

[VIsland]

Makes no difference. I do however feel I'm missing something if I don't eat protein and carb big soon after a good session. That is strictly superstition but I can't seem to break the habit.

[kidsheart]

Why must you immediately

The point of my reply was that there is no amount time you "should" or must wait after training to eat.
You can have a post shake the second you finish training, you can also eat as soon as you please.
Personally i feel i NEED to eat close to finishing training, and i would always advise eating soon after training.

[Mrricco]

I've found its half and half on this website. Many will tell you it does not matter to get a post workout meal, many will say you need that post workout meal. The people that say it does not matter tend to say meal timing is irrelevant as long as you hit your daily macros you'll be fine. The people who say post workout meal is a must, say this because your muscles are repairing theirs and its the perfect time to get that insulin boost and protein in to repair. Me my self tend to shoot for the meal after workout cause I revolve around this idea more, but never freak out when I dont do a meal afterwards.

[Stephen109]

I think it's easy to get sucked into all the intricacies of bodybuilding real or imagined.

What is most important in my opinion is having the fundamentals (basics) of nutrition dialed in, get 8 hours sleep & move weight regularly with good form. Keep it basic & you can't go wrong I say.

[JasonDB]

I think it's easy to get sucked into all the intricacies of bodybuilding real or imagined.

What is most important in my opinion is having the fundamentals (basics) of nutrition dialed in, get 8 hours sleep & move weight regularly with good form. Keep it basic & you can't go wrong I say.

Often times people, through chains of logic either of their own doing or some expert in a magazine, come up with ideas, rules and details that phisiologically are flat wrong and hinder their progress by overthinking. One of the big red flag words for me is recovery. Massively overused... if you are following the following rules, you probably never need to consider the subject of recovery and time spent concerned about it is wasted minutes of your life:
1) you give each muscle a 48 hour break... meaning you don't hammer it more than 3-4 times a week.
2) your training sessions are no more than 2-3 hours.
3) you don't train to failure continually and on most sets or do extended sets.
4) you sleep 8 hours most nights.
5) you aren't in a caloric deficit, get enough nutrition for health, performance and growth.

People not following the above rules will need to pay more attention to the topic of recovery. However for 95% of lifters if all 5 rules currently apply to them, the odds of them needing to be concerned with the phrase "recovery" is useless for practical purposes. Yet the word is thrown around non-stop in this industry.

[MAGnitude]

The point of my reply was that there is no amount time you "should" or must wait after training to eat.
You can have a post shake the second you finish training, you can also eat as soon as you please.
Personally i feel i NEED to eat close to finishing training, and i would always advise eating soon after training.

why would you advise something that is irrelevant and has no benefits in regards to body composition, provided macro targets are hit in a 24 hr period.

also, why do you feel you NEED to eat directly after training?

[Bonuman]

post shake immediatly after, eat an hour after that.
if your not having a post shake, just eat as soon as you can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKI-tD0L18A

[kidsheart]

why would you advise something that is irrelevant and has no benefits in regards to body composition, provided macro targets are hit in a 24 hr period.

also, why do you feel you NEED to eat directly after training?

i would advise that because it has been tried and proven to work many times over. i would also advise it because its what has worked best for me and many people around me.

how long would you advise i wait post training to eat?
because i know i expend a hell of a lot of energy training, deplete alot of nutrient stores and feel floaty and light headed if i dont eat in the hr or two after i train?

[myjohnson]

Often times people, through chains of logic either of their own doing or some expert in a magazine, come up with ideas, rules and details that phisiologically are flat wrong and hinder their progress by overthinking. One of the big red flag words for me is recovery. Massively overused... if you are following the following rules, you probably never need to consider the subject of recovery and time spent concerned about it is wasted minutes of your life:
1) you give each muscle a 48 hour break... meaning you don't hammer it more than 3-4 times a week.
2) your training sessions are no more than 2-3 hours.
3) you don't train to failure continually and on most sets or do extended sets.
4) you sleep 8 hours most nights.
5) you aren't in a caloric deficit, get enough nutrition for health, performance and growth.

People not following the above rules will need to pay more attention to the topic of recovery. However for 95% of lifters if all 5 rules currently apply to them, the odds of them needing to be concerned with the phrase "recovery" is useless for practical purposes. Yet the word is thrown around non-stop in this industry.

Repped for truth!

[JasonDB]

i would advise that because it has been tried and proven to work many times over. i would also advise it because its what has worked best for me and many people around me.

how long would you advise i wait post training to eat?
because i know i expend a hell of a lot of energy training, deplete alot of nutrient stores and feel floaty and light headed if i dont eat in the hr or two after i train?

Your later is personal energy levels and preference. When we say meal timing does not matter for body composition that does not mean individual people do not have meal timings that fit into their lifestyle, their energy levels, the way they feel etc. This is where the confusion happens because what we are saying is there is no need to stress it or actually put thought into meal timing. Eat at times that work for your lifestyle, mood, energy, appetite etc. There are no rules on that which apply universally to any one. What we are saying is that if you ate one meal in the morning then one more after your workout and no more that day, or 2-3 meals all in the evening and fasted the first half of the day, or ate 8 meals spread evenly through out the day, it wouldn't meaningfully impact your body composition as a bodybuilder or strength athlete as long as the nutritional content for the day is the same regardless of meal timing.

In your case if you feel physically better to eat immediately after a long intense training session, then by all means do so, in fact for you personally I would advise doing so. If you think it actually improves your gains, I'm sorry but you are misinformed on the science. Nor are those of us trying to explain it does not impact body composition directly telling you that you shoudl not eat at certain times either... we are simply saying stop thinking you must eat at certain times for frequencies in order to influence body composition (fat gains/losses, muscle gains etc) becuase scientifically there is no reason to think you can influence it in this manner.

[myjohnson]

why would you advise something that is irrelevant and has no benefits in regards to body composition, provided macro targets are hit in a 24 hr period.

also, why do you feel you NEED to eat directly after training?

+1!

Feeding bro science....

[kidsheart]

Your later is personal energy levels and preference. When we say meal timing does not matter for body composition that does not mean individual people do not have meal timings that fit into their lifestyle, their energy levels, the way they feel etc. This is where the confusion happens because what we are saying is there is no need to stress it or actually put thought into meal timing. Eat at times that work for your lifestyle, mood, energy, appetite etc. There are no rules on that which apply universally to any one. What we are saying is that if you ate one meal in the morning then one more after your workout and no more that day, or 2-3 meals all in the evening and fasted the first half of the day, or ate 8 meals spread evenly through out the day, it wouldn't meaningfully impact your body composition as a bodybuilder or strength athlete as long as the nutritional content for the day is the same regardless of meal timing.

In your case if you feel physically better to eat immediately after a long intense training session, then by all means do so, in fact for you personally I would advise doing so. If you think it actually improves your gains, I'm sorry but you are misinformed on the science. Nor are those of us trying to explain it does not impact body composition directly telling you that you shoudl not eat at certain times either... we are simply saying stop thinking you must eat at certain times for frequencies in order to influence body composition (fat gains/losses, muscle gains etc) becuase scientifically there is no reason to think you can influence it in this manner.

schooled. haha
Guess there are alot of contridicting studies and ive been reading older ones, perhaps.

[jstndvs]

I usually eat afterwards cause I'm frigging hungry as crap. But I am hungry about every 2-3 hours also.... so I eat every 2-3 hours too. But like said before. That's my personal preference. Some people choose to eat 2 large meals I choose to consume my calories spread out throughout the day. Not sure that it really matters.

[JasonDB]

I usually eat afterwards cause I'm frigging hungry as crap. But I am hungry about every 2-3 hours also.... so I eat every 2-3 hours too. But like said before. That's my personal preference. Some people choose to eat 2 large meals I choose to consume my calories spread out throughout the day. Not sure that it really matters.

You are doing it right. Eating makes me hungry. Once I eat something unless it is 2-3k cals in one sitting I stay hungry after. So I train fasted and fast until the afternoon and eat about 3 big meals at night, and I don't get hungry during the first half of the day often as I've not stimulated my appetite with food and don't think about it much. Appetite control of the individual is a great model to work meal timing around.

[MAGnitude]

i would advise that because it has been tried and proven to work many times over. i would also advise it because its what has worked best for me and many people around me.

how long would you advise i wait post training to eat?
because i know i expend a hell of a lot of energy training, deplete alot of nutrient stores and feel floaty and light headed if i dont eat in the hr or two after i train?

what a load of BS. you have no idea about nutrition, only broscience. i bet your one of those guys who ingests supplements like they are going out of style, and think they are the be all and end all.

yes this may be specific to you, but not necessarily everyone. you need to stop feeding yourself full of broscience (and stop preaching it,) and instead understand the truths about nutrient timing and it's relevance and irrelevance. a lot of people on this forum are becoming more and more aware of what are myths and what are not, so those who get on here and talk broscience are just making themselves look stupid.

[kidsheart]

what a load of BS. you have no idea about nutrition, only broscience. i bet your one of those guys who ingests supplements like they are going out of style, and think they are the be all and end all.

yes this may be specific to you, but not necessarily everyone. you need to stop feeding yourself full of broscience (and stop preaching it,) and instead understand the truths about nutrient timing and it's relevance and irrelevance. a lot of people on this forum are becoming more and more aware of what are myths and what are not, so those who get on here and talk broscience are just making themselves look stupid.

Righto hero.

i think we reached the fact that i was incorrect and accepted that above.
from the word go i was simply stating my advise as to what i have done and has worked well for me, and loads of other bodybuilders/fitness professionals. Is it the only way to go? no, obviously not, as has been pointed out above with information by'JasonDB'. Does it still work? Yes, as it is still "hitting your daily macros". Although as i was un-aware, meal timing is not as important as i (and alot of other people) believed.
The OP asked how long he has to wait after he trains to eat. so the answer would be, as i did state originally, he doesnt have to wait at all. immediatly is fine.
So perhaps instead of just blurting out how incorrect i am, it may have been helpfull to the OP, aswell as myself and im sure many others, if you cleared up why.

[Exile95]

Personally I prefer to eat immediately after I finish my workout. I don't know about anyone else, but once I finish working out, I usually stagger back home, but after 5 to 10 minutes, I'll feel pretty fine and feel like I didn't push myself enough. I know that I did, but I usually end up doing more push ups or sit ups or something. So to avoid that, I always eat/drink after a workout.

Also, I have breakfast at 7.30am and don't eat till my workout ends at 2pm, so I'm usually pretty hungry. I find that working out blunts my hunger though.

[MAGnitude]

Righto hero.

i think we reached the fact that i was incorrect and accepted that above.
from the word go i was simply stating my advise as to what i have done and has worked well for me, and loads of other bodybuilders/fitness professionals. Is it the only way to go? no, obviously not, as has been pointed out above with information by'JasonDB'. Does it still work? Yes, as it is still "hitting your daily macros". Although as i was un-aware, meal timing is not as important as i (and alot of other people) believed.
The OP asked how long he has to wait after he trains to eat. so the answer would be, as i did state originally, he doesnt have to wait at all. immediatly is fine.
So perhaps instead of just blurting out how incorrect i am, it may have been helpfull to the OP, aswell as myself and im sure many others, if you cleared up why.

i am no hero, far from it.

in saying that, glad to educate you to an extent.