Matthew Fogle
NASM CPT FNS BCS
While utilizing a meal tracking app can help you track your overall daily calories, macronutrient breakdowns (fat, carbs, protein), and micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) requirements… your success with health, weight loss, and muscle gain can be optimized with a few tips on nutrient timing.
Why is this important?
Well let’s look at a lil’ ol’ mathematical-scientific simplified definition equation:
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Metabolism = Anabolic (building up) reactions in the body + Catabolic (breaking down) reactions in the body
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In simpler terms, the food you eat eventually creates energy, and based on the type of energy your body is about to perform / is performing / has performed (or has not performed), you can eat to optimize the way your food provides energy and builds muscle.
There are several time periods in your day where this is important, but the most critical is right after your workout, or what some have termed the “Post-Workout Anabolic Window.”
This anabolic window exists because, during your workout (especially like what you experience in “1 Workout 4 Life”), the energy stores in your muscles have been used or even depleted. [Tidbit: More energy stores have actually been used in the particular muscle groups you exercised that day.]
Therefore, carbs – particularly simple sugars – that you consume during this post-workout window will be shuttled by insulin directly to the muscles – so that muscles have energy to do the work all over again, if necessary.
It’s a nice little design by the Man upstairs. High five, God!
Meanwhile, when you perform resistance training, you do damage (albeit “good” damage) to your muscles, which results in muscle micro-tears. Your body repairs and builds upon these micro-tears with amino acids (a.k.a. proteins) and hormones (such as Testosterone). Therefore, any protein that you consume in this post-workout anabolic window – particularly fast-absorbing whey protein – will be shuttled directly to the muscles for growth.
Most personal trainers will agree that consuming 20-40g of protein in this post-workout window, based on your weight, is well worth implementing into your nutrient timing.
[Check out the 1W4L Nutrition article on “The Basics of Protein”]
The amount of carbs you should consume (assuming you are not a person with blood sugar issues) is slightly different and is based on your workout length AND how many carbs you may have consumed prior to exercising.
For instance, if you ate a bowl of oatmeal an hour or two before working out, eating post-workout carbs might not be as necessary. If you exercised in a fasted state, it would be more important to consume these post-workout carbs.
In general, you should aim for 25-60g of carbs in this post-workout window, aiming high (40-60g) if you are muscle building and low (25-40g) if you are trying to lose fat.
[Check out the 1W4L Nutrition article on “The Basics of Carbs”]
* NOTE: Along with possible carbs during the workout (see last section below), this post-workout window is generally the only time of the day where simple sugars are accepted.
Now, while this anabolic window is nearly undisputed in the fitness community as one of the most important meals of the day, the actual SIZE of this window as it relates to time is a highly debated topic. Some fitness professionals say it is as little as 15-30 minutes, while others have claimed it’s as high as 24-72 hours (particularly higher if a person is less exercised and is starting out on a fitness routine). The OPTIMAL window, however, is fairly agreed upon as within the first 15 minutes to consume carbs after your workout, and within 45 minutes to consume protein after your workout.
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Other important nutrient timing principles you may want implement include:
Morning:
Foods eaten earlier in the day have been shown to be more satiating and keep you feeling full longer. This means that saving the larger meal for the evening hours might be counter-productive. If you are attempting to lose weight, try eating the bulk of your foods earlier in the day. If you are attempting to put weight on, consider the opposite and eat a bit less in the morning so that you don’t feel full all day.
Also, since you have been in a fasted state overnight, morning is also the only time of the day (other than during your workout or after your workout) where carbs are much more efficiently used in the body by insulin. While you don’t want to eat Laffy Taffy and be irresponsible during this period of the day, you CAN choose to eat some simpler sugars. If you are a juicer, the morning is the time to consume your juiced drink. Do your best not to go overboard.
Avoid fatty foods pre- and post-workout:
To ensure carbs and protein are absorbed and used efficiently by the body, avoid eating foods with high or moderate fat content within two hours pre-workout, or two hours post-workout.
[Check out the 1W4L Nutrition article on “The Basics of Lipids (Fats)”]
Protein and complex carbs before your workout:
Pre-exercise consumption (1-2 hours before your workout) of protein + complex carbs has been shown to produce significantly greater levels of muscle protein synthesis. It also benefits subsequent fitness performance when taken prior to exercise. This protein/carb combo provides adequate amino acids to offset muscle tissue breakdown during exercise, without risking a “sugar crash.” NOTE: To avoid this sugar crash, avoid simple sugars during your pre-workout meal and stick with complex carbs.
Carbs during your workout:
If moderate/intense exercise exceeds 60 minutes, consume 30-60g of simple carbs (i.e. sports drink) per hour of exercise. However, your daily routines in “1 Workout 4 Life” are around 45 minutes, so unless you’re adding some sneaky workout in, this shouldn’t be a problem for you. 😉
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To your best health,
~ Matthew