Before you go, and more importantly, when you come back...

I'm talking about pre- and post training nutrition. The most under-valued nutrition of your day. The stuff that is gonna make the difference between working your ass off and getting frustrated at lack of progress, and working your ass off and getting the kind of size and strength gains you deserve.

Surrounding your workout, you have a key time period in which you can make or break your results by what building blocks you give your muscles to work with. How many times have you gone in to the gym, had a mediocre session because you don't have enough energy to complete your full sets and reps, and then felt crappy afterwards for longer than you really have any right to given your poor session?

It should never happen.

A little knowledge, a little planning and a smidgen of consistency will keep you progressing nicely.

The Knowledge.

Before you train, you need to fuel your session appropriately. Protein and complex carbs are gonna be what you need. Complex carbs release their energy slowly, drip feeding your muscles a steady source of energy allowing you to maintain your intensity throughout the full duration of your session. The protein will help minimise the muscle breakdown throughout your training.

Immediately after your session ends, you have an amazing anabolic (growth) window, within which you can take advantage to maximise your bodies potential to create muscle and burn fat. While slow release carbs are great before you start, their use is limited afterwards where fast replenishment of muscle glycogen is key. Fast, simple carbs are what you want here. Along with a quickly absorbed protein such as whey protein (casein protein is too slowly absorbed to be use in this period.)

Ideally you should be consuming a liquid protein and carb drink. I usually aim for around 1g per kg of bodyweight of carbs and 0.5g of protein per kg of bodyweight. Since I'm currently around 100kg, that equates to 100 g of carbs and 50 g of protein, all chugged down within 15 to 20 mins of training finishing. (The shake I typically make is at the end of this post)

If you were to wait just a couple of hours to get your post workout nutrition in instead of immediately post trianing, glycogen synthesis is as much as 3 times less. Glycogen synthesis, the method by which the carbs you consume are turned into glycogen, the energy stored in the muscles and liver, is controlled by providing adequate volumes of carbohydrate, and by stimulating the production of insulin (the hormone that basically pushes the glycogen into the muscles).

The Planning.

You know when you're gonna be training. So there is no excuse to miss out on your pre- and post-workout nutrition. There are loads of ready to shake proteins out there that will give you the ratios you need in order to maximise your results. before you leave, get a shake down you, then pack one in your bag to make sure you get your nutrition asap afterwards.

The Consistency.

This is tied in with the planning, plans are only good if you follow them through. You need to get the post workout shake into you after Every. Single. Workout.

No more to it!

My shake:

400ml of semi skimmed milk
2 medium bananas
2 scoops of protein powder
squirt of honey

This gives 750 kcals, 66g protein, 99 g of carbs. I also take 2 caps of BCAAs.

Now you may not be my size, so you can scale it for your own requirements. Remembering the 1g carb and 0.5g of protein per kg of bodyweight.

Any questions/ comments are always welcome.

Stay healthy.