What would you recommend for a post-workout supplement?

[Xaero]

Currently I take whey protein with water after lifting, but I read that your muscles need more to recover properly after a workout, not just protein but also sugar. Anyone have any supplement recommendations?

[antlers]

dextrose...and oats
its all in the stickies in the nutrition forum ya dig.

[HighRevinSi]

Currently I take whey protein with water after lifting, but I read that your muscles need more to recover properly after a workout, not just protein but also sugar. Anyone have any supplement recommendations?

Oatmeal is indeed a good idea and at least 90 grams of carbs which you can get from dextrose, but I recommend taking Vitargo CGL for fast digesting carbohydrates, vitargo is the carbohydrate. It is also fortified with creatine monohydrate

[runningback666]

N-large 2 kicks a$$ for post workout

[BringnIt]

At least 90 grams? Care to share where you came up with that number?

[Xaero]

Think I'm gonna go with N-Large 2, heading out to the store pretty soon

[Budhaka]

N large 2 has fructose in it.

[pu12en12g]

Preworkout:

Carbs
Protein
Creatine

Postworkout:

Carbs
Protein
Creatine

[Breath Cancer]

yeah i take crea blast, methoxy pro and i mix it with a scoop of gatoraide. i also try to grub down within an hour of my last rep. With this routine i have seen a big change in a little time.

[fatpharmboy]

I always add glutamine peptides to my protein post-workout. Please don't tell me I've been wasting my money all this time...............

[Dia-Tribe]

Preworkout & Postworkout
Carbs
Protein
Creatine

Sweet and simple for me too.

[Calstar]

At least 90 grams? Care to share where you came up with that number?

This comes from Alan Aragon's sticky in the Nutrition section. This is where I get my numbers anyway.


POSTWORKOUT

OBJECTIVE

the objective here is to raise insulin concentrations & get a head start on recovery by antagonizing cortisol & other catabolic elements, replenish water & glygogen, and restore levels of circulating amino acids. this is mistakenly viewed as the most important meal of the day, which is BS. why? because if you're not properly fueled prior to this point, your workout will suck. thus, it's equally important in the large scheme of things.

COMPOSITION

i'm not biased towards a shake-only postworkout philosophy, as long as either type contains a liquid component. 2 equally effective scenarios are:

scenario one: as soon as possible postworkout - or even at the tail end of the workout, say, 10-20 minutes before it's over. i start chugging my postworkout shake 60 minutes into my workout, regardless of how long my workout takes.
---- 30-60g protein (0.25g/lb target BW). whey again is pretty cheap & works great here. research shows that postworkout protein doesn't inhibit glycogen synthesis, and can improve protein synthesis. this means that you can hedge your anabolic & anticatabolic bets by taking in a sizable amount of protein postworkout. whey happens to be a highly insulinogenic protein, so this is ideal at this point.
---- 60-120g of high-GI carbs (0.5g/lb target BW), or a combination of types that ultimately averages to a high-GI rating (70 or above). dextrose & maltodextrin have traditionally been emphasized as ideal for postworkout because of their high-GI. however, i have issues with going pure dex for postworkout for a couple of reasons - and they have nothing to do with the threat of insulin resistance, because that whole scenario applies to a completely different population. first off, you can get some default dex within fruit or milk. secondly, pure dex has no micronutrient density, and i've said it before, antioxidant micronutrition is grossly under-emphasized whenever postworkout nutrition is discussed. dex is a fine addition to your postworkout carb arsenal, but to go pure dex for the largest carb hit of your day doesn't make sense from a micronutrient density standpoint - especially when dex is contained in other foods that are more nutrient dense and are still either high-GI or highly insulinemic.

thinly rolled non-prepacketed oats (which many don't realize have a GI of appx 65-75 as opposed to the low-GI the steel-cut or old-fashioned type) plus dex is achieving the best of both worlds, but that's theoretical ground. NOTE: old fashioned/slow-cooked oats + dex in a 1:1 still yields a GI that crosses the threshold of high. adding fruit to your postworkout mix of carbs can potentially benefit folks who train with a high volume & do a lot of cardio (ie, precontest). the protection of liver glycogen status under such conditions can maintain the centrally neurologic signaling of the "fed state" and hence prevent lean tissue catabolism -- especially during hypocaloric balance.

okay, so to be practical, simple examples are: 1/2-1 cup dry oats + 30-50g dex (OR) 1/2 cup dry oats + 40g dex + 1 banana. these are just 2 examples out of many possibilities. i see nothing wrong with using high-moderate to high-GI carbs other than dex/malto, as long as the average GI of the combo is near or greater than 70. nitpicky theoretics aside, anything 65 or above on the GI scale (like the thinly rolled plain oats which people mistakenly think is in the low GI category) will likely have very similar real-world effectiveness as higher-GI choices. but remember, this is a discussion of optima, thus, we are scrutinizing the minutia and elucidating what might provide the edge.