During a workout you deplete your body of all of its remaining nutrients. All the nutrients your body has are used for repairing itself from the workout you just gave it. It is extremely important to replenish your body of all of the nutrients it needs to recover and rebuild new muscle tissue.
Many athletes and novice bodybuilders believe that all you need after a workout is a protein shake. This is simply not enough for your body to completely rebuild all of the muscle you have just destroyed. You need to replace muscle glycogen, creatine, and give your body protein to get the most out of a post workout shake.
A proper post workout shake is important not only if you are weight training but also if you are doing any kind of physical exercise. By the end of your workouts your body will be screaming for nutrients so this is the best time to give it what it wants.
Studies have shown that the best time to replenish your body of its nutrients is within the first 45 minutes after you workout. This means that you should try to have your post workout shake within this time period.
The post-workout shake
The post workout shake should be filled with a combination of simple carbohydrates and quality protein. You will want around 50-60 grams of simple carbohydrates which I usually get through dextrose sugar and around 30-40 grams of an easily digestible protein, this is usually whey. The final ingredient is creatine. If you are an athlete who wants larger and stronger muscles you need to incorporate this into your shake. You want to get about 5-10 grams of creatine right after your workout.
Dextrose sugar is one of the simplest forms of carbohydrates. Dextrose is a form of sugar that comes from corn. The purpose of it in your post workout shake is to force your body to have an insulin burst which is extremely anabolic. This means that when your body gets the sugar it forces it into your muscles and along with it goes the creatine. This also reduced the amount of creatine that is broken down during digestion. Your body will replenish all of the glycogen that has been burned off during your workout and at the same time replenish your creatine levels. The same goes for protein your body needs that to repair muscles.
Final Recap of Ingredients
* 30-40 grams of whey protein
* 50-60 grams of dextrose sugar
* 5-10 grams of creatine
With all of these ingredients you will start to see that your body is rebuilding muscle much quicker than every before. The ingredients in this shake are exactly what your body has been waiting for to repair itself so try to get them with in 40 minutes. I hope you also see the gains I have seen from implementing this into my workout routine.
If you want to learn more about Nutrition For Athletes check out the article on collegebodybuilding.net that covers much more information!
I am currently a student at the University of Minnesota Duluth. I am studying Business Management and Psychology. As much as I love studying these subjects, my true passion is really weight lifting. I have been lifting weights for 7 years now and I hate to miss a day. I started College Bodybuilding because I wanted to share my passion and knowledge of weight lifting with the world.