Cardio and Post Workout Nutrition:

[NoExcuses]

What is the word on post cardio nutrition? After a brutal bout of weight training I know how important supplementation (whey, etc.) is in the "Window of Oppurtunity" but how about after cardio? Should I be taking whey. I usually do 30-45 mins. mixed up (run, swim, jump rope, etc.) on days I don't lift. I'll mix in ab work with cardio as well.

[joneser3eb]

you could use whey just without the sugar spike that u usually consume in the post workout shake. or if you want eat any form of good protein with a sweet potatoe or brown rice.

[london]

I'm sure your meant to wait at least half hour before eating because your body is still burning fat.
Don't know if it would help to perhaps have some glutamine and/or bcaa's maybe? straight after the cardio to prevent catabolism and then 45 minutes later have a balanced meal.

[NoExcuses]

Thanks everyone!

[rootb33r]

Not to resuscitate a topic, but I was always under the impression that you want to eat a complex carb with protein after cardio, not waiting too long to do so.

The fat burning comes after the cardio is completed, throughout the next part of the day, and if you wait to replenish your body after cardio you're just eating at muscle until you stave off catabolism with a carb/protein.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how I've always viewed it.

[HookEmHorns]

I'd say if you are combining abs with cardio, and by that i mean a truly hard ab workout, then go ahead and have a PWO shake. You can always modify the amounts of malto and dextrose so as not to have quite the same insulin spike after a regular workout.

[joneser3eb]

I kindof missed that part on the post about mixing abs with the cardio. Thats what I do also. And I still take in a PWO shake but I just make a smaller dose of one probably a little more than half a one on a normal workout day.

[layla17]

I do too joneser3eb. I always take in a PWO after I do abs with my cardio, which is generally every off-day of weight training.

[klosey]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm sure your meant to wait at least half hour before eating because your body is still burning fat.
Don't know if it would help to perhaps have some glutamine and/or bcaa's maybe? straight after the cardio to prevent catabolism and then 45 minutes later have a balanced meal.

[/ QUOTE ] er no you have a shake STRAIGHT after finishing then a meal within an hour, if you have a bath do you wait ten mins after getting out to start drying? or push a car 3 mile after it runs out of fuel before filling up again?
once training is over your body is out, and needs food if not you may actually waste the muscle your trying to grow and go from anabolism to catabolism, a prime example of training making you smaller

[Taco]

I was under the impression that you have a meal containing a complex carb and protein about 45 minutes after you do cardio.

[klosey]

[ QUOTE ]
I was under the impression that you have a meal containing a complex carb and protein about 45 minutes after you do cardio.

[/ QUOTE ]

yes as in my above statement - a meal within 1 hour of finishing, after a postr workout shake to stop catabolism

[Taco]

Alright so after cardio.. protein shake (just with water, nothing else?) and then a balanced meal within the hour.

[rootb33r]

I don't think a PWO shake is optimal post-cardio. I think you want to avoid simple carbs after cardio.

straight protein shake immediately after, followed by a complete meal with a complex carb within the hour.

[HookEmHorns]

I would say after regular cardio, yes, I agree rootb33r. But it might be different if resistance training is also included. For example, I may do a round of HIIT, then immediately I do weighted pushups, abs, and isolate some parts I don't hit directly during the week.

In that case, I have a smaller PWO shake since I've done some resistance training. I then have a regular meal about 45 min. following the shake.

[rootb33r]

Absolutely. If you're tearing muscle fibers, a PWO shake is optimal, though if it's just regular cardio, stay away from the simple carbs.

I do cardio (HIIT normally) and then an ab circuit 4 times. This ab circuit is for cutting, not bulking, so it's not necessarily building muscle, therefore I avoid a PWO shake. I do, however, drink a straight 2-scoop protein shake immediately after I open my locker (7AM). Then, when I get to work at about 7:30, I settle in, answer some e-mails, and then head to the cafeteria at about 7:45 to make my oatmeal.

[klosey]

[ QUOTE ]
Absolutely. If you're tearing muscle fibers, a PWO shake is optimal, though if it's just regular cardio, stay away from the simple carbs.

I do cardio (HIIT normally) and then an ab circuit 4 times. This ab circuit is for cutting, not bulking, so it's not necessarily building muscle, therefore I avoid a PWO shake. I do, however, drink a straight 2-scoop protein shake immediately after I open my locker (7AM). Then, when I get to work at about 7:30, I settle in, answer some e-mails, and then head to the cafeteria at about 7:45 to make my oatmeal.

[/ QUOTE ]

i'd stick reccommed some carbs after cardio, i'd have slow digesting carbs to keep providing the body steady energy and avoiding the spike from simple carbs

[rootb33r]

That's exactly what I'm advocating, klosey.

[NoExcuses]

Man this site is great. I appreciate all the comments.

[Dzoni]

Post cardio = normal meal.

Post weight = my method of PWO (not Window of Opportunity).

If the timing + combination of what I eat after each, would have made me "bigger" I often wonder how much bigger could I have gotten in the period of time I have been training.

Seriously, the PWO meals are not do or die. Many may say that it's the most important meal of the day. I dissagree, I think its important but I am a huige believer that other 5-6 meals of the day are WAY MORE IMPORTANT!

[desperad0]

what if you do HIIT or cardio after a certain time liek aroudn 5 PM .. or 6 PM should we still have carbs, i was thinking whey, plus lean protein lets say seafood (not fish) with veggies?