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Perfect Workout Nutrition 2013 Please note that GymnasticBodies does not provide any endorsement (official or unofficial) to the contents; and that this is the presentation of my collected knowledge for the purpose of education. It does not represent medical advice and is not a prescription for nutrition. This is specifically for the time period from 30 minutes pre-workout to 4-24 hours post-workout, and is intended for healthy individuals. If you have diabetes, or any other medical condition, please consult with a Registered Dietician. Preferably one that is used to working with athletes. If you have questions, please ask them here: https://www.gymnasticbodies.com/forum/topic/9581-perfect-workout-nutrition-2013-questions-and-answers/ What you must know before you begin: This plan includes drinking a good bit of water. 1 Liter or Quart of Water + 400-600mg sodium (not potassium salt) mixed in. Too much water without sufficient salt is dangerous. 600mg of sodium is a level 1/4 tsp or ~1.25 mL. If you are not used to drinking a lot of water during your workouts, please refer to the second post for instructions on making the transition. Note: As great as this strategy is, it cannot make up for an entire day of crappy eating. What you eat outside of the workout timezone is, in many ways, even more important than what you do peri-workout. While this plan will always give you the best results for your given situation, your absolute best results will only occur when your every-day nutrition is also solid. That is your foundation. This is the fancy house that sits on the foundation, and if you put this on top of the dietary equivalent of quicksand then you should not expect to see the results you want. The precise plan: ~20-30 minutes pre-workout: 30g of whey protein + 10-16 oz (300-500ml) of water or milk. 10-20g Carbs (ideally vegetables or fruit from list, not juice/baked goods/fruit) Oil or butter to cook vegetables in (important fat) Acceptable Fruit List: Whole citrus fruits, small apples (not sweet), pitted fruits (peaches, nectarines, cherries, etc), most berries. Note 1: If you find other carb sources that work well for you, then obviously those are fine too. I simply find that these are the carb sources that give me the most consistently excellent results. Note 2: Some people simply can't make this work, due to scheduling issues. If you can't, you're going to need to experiment with whole food meals to find what works best for you. Daniel Burnham finds that eating a meal with fattier whole food protein (a hamburger or some sausage) and the amount of carbs (with plenty of veggies) he needs for time between the meal and the workout, about 1.5-2 hours before his workout, is his preferred strategy for the pre-workout meal, and he does not follow this particular 20-30 minute pre-workout bit. This does not work well for me, and I perform better with exactly what I have typed in this section. The rest of this post is pretty much identical for everyone, but this initial pre-workout feeding may not be best for all schedules. I personally plan my food so that I can always do this, because it works best for me. Do not dehydrate yourself but do not drink too much water. 5-10 minutes pre-workout mix: Carbs: This is assuming 2-3 minute rest periods and overall sets taking 30-60 seconds. 1) 30% of this right before the workout, drink rest during workout 2) For every 60g of carbs, drink 0.75 to 1 liter (or quart) of water Please refer to the Carb Table for the correct amount of carbohydrate consumption. Please note that these values are specifically for strength training. Read the Carb Table Here. Good Carbs for this: Well baked white potatoes Mashed potatoes Glucose powder Maltodextrin Anything that has a GI of 70-80 or higher. Protein: 10-20g of protein in the workout drink. There is to be no added fat in this drink. Keep in mind that this table is for strength training! That’s fairly intense work with 2-3 minute rests. If your rests are longer than that, you may want to reduce the carbohydrates a bit. For every additional minute of rest between sets, reduce the carbs by 5% for every minute of rest beyond 2 minutes. If you’re doing skill work, only consume half of the carbs Note 1: Make sure you get the protein into this pre-workout drink, as well as 400-600mg of sodium per Liter. (from table or sea salt, not a half potassium salt!) Note 2: It is totally OK to experiment with this. Your diet, and needs, will all vary somewhat from the norm, but the above table is a good starting point! It is also vital that you consume these carbs as a 6%-8% solution: Drink 750 mL(8%) to 1 Liter (6%) of water for every 60g carbs. During the workout: 80-100% of the remainder of the carbs that you did not have immediately pre-workout. Guidelines/Reminder for what needs to be in this drink: 400-600mg of sodium per Liter of water, or per quart. ~10g protein per Liter (or quart) of water Carbs mixed in or solid carbs such as mashed potatoes or white bread Water, salt, and protein must bemixed together. After the workout: PWO shake! Have this as close to instantly as possible. PWO shake components: 60-80g of carbs, regardless of bodyweight up to 200 lbs.Use either glucose powder, fast-acting maltodextrin, or mashed potatoes, especially after intense workouts. 2) 30g of whey or soy protein. Whey IS better protein than soy, and it’s the same price or cheaper. 3) Fats: No fats in the PWO shake or at all until more than 30 minutes post-workout. Coconut oil for this if you must have the fat. After this PWO shake, get back to regular eating! Eat every 30 to 60 minutes for at least 2 hours after this Drink a lot of water with your meal carbs and protein. You are always aiming to make a ~6%-12% solution, so that your body stays well hydrated and the stomach empties fairly rapidly. Fats don’t mix with water, so we don’t calculate them into this. 20-30g protein every 2-3 hours is perfect. The more vegetables, the better. You will pee a lot, most likely, and that is good. If you are not fully hydrated, you will not see anywhere near as much protein synthesis, and that means your results won’t be as good as they should be if you aren’t fully hydrated and peeing nearly clear. Please pay attention to the sodium guidelines, unless you have hyperaldosteronism. Electrolyte balance is a part of proper hydration, and failure to pay attention to this can cause serious problems or death.