Health Habits

improve your health, habit by habit

Posts Tagged ‘amino acids’

Peri-Workout Nutrition

December 15th, 2009

gatorade shower Back in the olden days, workout nutrition consisted of a quick run to the water fountain between exercises.

Then came Gatorade.

Then, we were introduced to the magic 20 minute post-workout window of time.

We were told that if we chugged down a carb/protein shake immediately after working out, we would:

Shift our metabolism from a catabolic state (muscle damaging) to an anabolic state (muscle building) .
Reduce post exercise muscle soreness
Get bigger, stronger, leaner, faster, etc…

And there was (and still is) a lot of scientific research to back up this belief.

As a result, every gym put in a “smoothie bar” and we all chugged down some pretty gross post-workout protein shakes.

But wait, it doesn’t end there, we’re just getting started.

Researchers began to study whether pre-workout carb/pro nutrition might be even more efficient than post-workout carb/pro nutrition.

And their research showed that it was.

mango-shake As a result, instead of one post-workout shake, I was now drinking half my shake pre-workout and finishing the rest post-workout.

I thought I had it all figured out.

Not quite.

The next scientific breakthrough discovered that while a combined carb/pro shake pre-workout worked wonders, a carb free protein meal didn’t work near as well.

And that was fine with me. Those heavy pre-workout protein shakes were sloshing around in my stomach and slowing down my workouts.

RECAP

At this point:

Carbs before workout – GOOD
Carbs & pro before workout good, but made Doug’s tummy upset
Carbs during workout – GOOD
Carbs & Pro (Amino Acids) immediately post workout – GOOD

In a nutshell, the theory is that:

Carbs raise your insulin levels, increasing the efficiency of nutrient absorption.
Your workout inflicts micro-damage on your muscles.
Your muscles are now screaming for nutrition to re-synthesize newer/stronger/faster muscles.
Then you throw a bunch of protein/amino acids into the mix

And voila, your body recovers faster & more efficiently from your workouts.

End of story, right?

Not yet.

In the past few years, I have been reading more about improving anaerobic endurance during workouts by supplementing with beta alanine or bicarbonates. And while the research shows mixed results, I have personally and professionally seen impressive gains in endurance during some pretty intense HIIT & HIRT workouts.

Since adding these supplements into the mix, I have been able to push some very intense workouts well past the dreaded 45 minute mark.

.

So, what does all of this mean?

.

It means that for best results, I recommend:

Eating a combined pro/carb meal (real food) 1 to 2 hours before working out
Drinking a mid-workout beverage containing…a high GI carb like maltodextrin, BCAAs, creatine, bicarbonates and/or beta alanine.
Drinking a post-workout shake containing carbs and a fast digesting protein (whey isolate).

Keep in mind this is a best case scenario type of peri-workout nutrition program.

Most of you aren’t going to want to spend the money on all of this stuff.

So, if cost is an issue, I would recommend

Eat the pre-workout meal as described above.
Drink watered down orange juice during your workout. BCAAs & Creatine if you can afford them.
Post-workout shake as described above.

Personally, I have tried 3 different workout beverages with sugar/BCAAs/Beta Alanine/Bicarb and have found that Biotest’s Surge Workout Fuel to be the most effective. It costs approximately $1.10 per serving.

.

BTW – peri means around or about…so in this case peri-workout nutrition means nutrition around your workout

.

I look forward to hearing your feedback. Workout nutrition is a hotly debated topic amongst all of the “experts” out there on the interweb.

My skin is thick, don’t hold back.

.

If you like what you see here, click here for updates or Share

.

Turn Back the Clock with Leucine

October 3rd, 2008

Leucine is an essential amino acid.

It’s designation as essential means that is it an amino acid that cannot be made by humans and so is essential to the human diet.

But according to a growing body of scientific research, leucine may be essential to preventing age related muscle loss.

Age Related Muscle Loss

Muscle in adults is constantly being built and broken down.

When we are young, our bodies keep these two processes in balance. But as we age, the balance starts to shift towards the breakdown side of the equation.

This process is similar to the situation that many women face with osteoporosis.

However, numerous studies are showing that the addition of the amino acid leucine to the diet of aging individuals can reverse this condition.

The Science

According to the research:

Leucine stimulates new muscle growth
Leucine is the major amino acid responsible for the muscle producing capability of food
Adding leucine to a meal increases muscle growth by 50 to 70 percent
Leucine works best when taken with a mixed carb / protein meal. This is due to:
The insulin surge that comes from the carbohydrates in the meal, and…
The other essential amino acids are present.
Leucine does not work as well with carb-only or protein-only meals
The change in leucine levels in the blood seems to be more important than the overall amount. Therefore, it is better to take a small serving of leucine with a meal (level of leucine increases), wait a few hours (let the leucine levels drop), and then take another serving with some food (levels increase again).

Leucine supplementation has also shown to be effective as a supplement for athletes interested in adding functional muscle mass.

.

Conclusion

I am usually very hesitant to recommend any form of supplements. In most cases, I feel that our nutritional needs can be met with whole foods.

However, in this case, the upside of leucine supplementation is very strong and, to this point, there doesn’t seem to be any downside.

I will be “guinea-pigging” this supplement on myself and a few of my clients. I will report back with the results.

.

If you like what you see here, click here for updates or Share this Post with the rest of the world.

Thanks in Advance.

.