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Workout Nutrition to Fuel a Lean Strong Body

Pre-exercise nutrition needs.

What and when you eat before exercise can make a big difference to your performance and recovery. You not only want to fuel your workout but you need to have enough of the right types of food in your body to preserve muscle mass and speed recovery.

Strategy #1 - Protein before exercise.

Eating some lean protein, (dairy, meat, fish, chicken, protein powder) in the few hours before exercise:

Can help you maintain or even increase your muscle size. That’s important for anyone who wants to improve health, body composition, or performance.
Can reduce markers of muscle damage (myoglobin, creatine kinase, and myofibrillar protein degradation). Or at least prevent them from getting worse. (Carbohydrates or a placebo eaten before exercise don’t seem to do the same thing.) The less damage to your muscles, the faster you recover, and the better you adapt to your exercise over the long term.
Floods your bloodstream with amino acids just when your body needs them most. This boosts your muscle-building capabilities. So not only are you preventing damage, you’re increasing muscle size.

Strategy #2 – Carbs (fruits, veggies and healthy starches) before exercise.

Eating carbs before exercise:

Fuels your training and helps with recovery. It’s a popular misconception that you only need carbs if you’re engaging in a long (more than two hour) bout of endurance exercise. In reality, carbs can also enhance shorter term (one hour) high-intensity training. So unless you’re just going for a quiet stroll, ensuring that you have some carbs in your system will improve high intensity performance.
Preserves muscle and liver glycogen. This tells your brain that you are well fed, and helps increase muscle retention and growth.
Stimulates the release of insulin. When combined with protein, this improves protein synthesis and prevents protein breakdown. Another reason why a mixed meal is a great idea. No sugary carb drinks required.

Strategy #3 – Healthy Fats (olive oil, fish oil, avocado, nuts) before exercise:

Don’t appear to improve nor diminish sport performance. And they don’t seem to fuel performance — that’s what carbs are for.
Do help to slow digestion, which maintains blood glucose and insulin levels and keeps you on an even keel.
Provide some vitamins and minerals, and they’re important in everyone’s diet.

Pre-exercise nutrition in practice

If you work out late enough just eat a well-balanced meal 2-3 hours before exercise. If, however you are working out upon waking try these options that digest quickly:

A protein shake made with protein powder with some veggies and fruit and juts thrown and a low calorie milk or almond milk
Greek yogurt with fruit and nuts

During Exercise Nutrition Needs:

If you are only working out 30 – 120 minutes there is no need to fuel with anything but water and maybe an electrolyte drink, however if you are training for longer you will need to eat some protein and carbs during the workout to enhance performance. During-exercise nutrition needs.

For training that is longer than two hours, sports drinks can be a huge help. Every hour you’ll want to consume:

15 grams protein
30-45 grams carbs

This can come in the form of liquids, gels, or even some solid food.

Post-exercise Nutrition Needs.

Post-workout nutrition can help you recover, rehydrate, refuel, build muscle, and improve future performance.

Strategy #1 - Protein after exercise:

Eating protein after exercise prevents protein breakdown and stimulates synthesis, leading to increased or maintained muscle tissue. So it’s a great strategy for better recovery, adaptation, and performance.

Want fast and convenient? Make an awesome post-workout protein shake.
Want real food? Then make an awesome high-protein meal. Any high quality complete protein should do the job, as long as you eat enough. That means about 40-60 grams for men, and 20-30 grams for women.

Strategy #2 - Carbs after exercise:

Eating healthy carbs, (fruits, veggies and fiber rich starches) will restore our energy after a workout so while eating your protein throw some fruits and veggies into that shake OR add ½ cup brown rice and a veggie to that post workout meal.

Strategy #3 – Fats after Exercise:

Emerging research suggests that healthy fats eaten post exercise can actually increase the amount of available protein that we are eating. So use 2% milk in that protein shake and reduce the amount of milk OR drizzle some olive oil or add ¼ of an avocado to your meal.

Eating properly will keep you energized and create a lean fit body in no time!

Ever Wonder Why Most People Don't Exercise?

j01818
Feb 20, 2014
4 min read

Everyone KNOWS that exercise will make them feel better, keep them healthier, help them maintain a healthy weight, give them more energy, actually reverse the aging process and protect them from many chronic diseases. So why do so many Americans choose not to exercise? The simple answer is…it is not easy…and as Americans we feel it is our right to do things the easy way. But being involved in an activity that inherently involves our inner motivation to adhere creates a sense of well being that cannot be beat. I my opinion it is truly what gives us a feeling of elation every day that we do it. So having said that…here are 10 slogans you can use to keep you focused on exercise adherence and make you feel that sense of happiness everyday of your life!

Patience is a virtue- Supposedly, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” and whatever harm your sedentary habits may have done to your health won’t be undone in a workout or two. Although the benefits of exercise are innumerable, engaging in physical activity on a regular basis does not offer a quick, short term fix to the ravages imposed by a chronic case of “spuditis” (difficulty getting off of the couch)...

There is no free lunch- To a great extent; you’re going to get as much out of your exercise regimen as you put into it. As with everything in life, the harder you work, the more you’ll accomplish.

One size does not fit all- Everyone has his or her unique set of interests, needs, and capabilities. As such, when designing your exercise regimen, you need to identify the program parameters that best satisfy your circumstances. In this instance, the process is part science, part art- scientific with regard to adhering to certain well-documented principles of exercise prescription; art as it pertains to your personal preferences (e.g., type of exercise, place to exercise, etc.).

Success is a choice- You should decide what you want to achieve from your exercise program, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it. As such, you should set appropriate, realistic goals for yourself, and then expend the effort to make them come true.

No substitute exists for self-discipline- Arguably, the single most underlying cause of the fact that more than 75% of Americans do not exercise on a regular basis is a lack of willpower. Accordingly, you must control your own actions and behaviors. Focus on what’s important (results, not numbers), commit to change, and persevere in your efforts.

Exercise is not a contest- The term “contest” connotes a situation where there are winners and losers. When individuals engage in a sound exercise regimen, there are no losers- only winners. Don’t compare how much you can do in the exercise arena with the accomplishments of someone else. Keep your focus on where it belongs- enhancing your own level of fitness and health.

Weakness is an opportunity waiting to be addressed- One of the things that many individuals find extremely difficult in the exercise arena is to work on improving their weaknesses, rather than unduly focusing on their strengths. In reality, if you truly are committed to becoming as fit as you can be, you must systematically expend the necessary time and energy targeting all of the basic components of physical fitness (not just the ones you’ve already mastered).

“No pain equals no gain” makes no sense- Pain is your body’s way of letting you know that you’re either doing too much or doing something in a way that exposes your body to an undue risk of being injured. The key point is that pain should not be viewed as a natural by-product of the exercise process. As such, you should listen to your body. If you experience pain, stop doing whatever is causing the pain. On the other hand, you should expect to feel a certain degree of discomfort when initiating an exercise regimen until your body adjusts to your new active lifestyle.

You can’t outrun your genetics- Truth be known, although the health-related benefits of exercising are almost boundless, limits exist to what can be achieved by being physically active on a regular basis. Not every person can have a reed-thin body of a model or the sculpted musculature of a bodybuilder. If you’re short or stocky or flat-footed, no matter how hard you work out, you’re going to be whatever your DNA mandates you will be.

Sticking to your exercise regimen can sometimes be difficult- Going forward, you may reach a point where you find it somewhat difficult to adhere to the exercise program you’ve laid out for yourself. Encountering this situation doesn’t mean you’re weak or fainthearted; rather, it reflects the fact that you’re human. On occasion, you may encounter troublesome circumstances, where such factors as time pressures, conflicting priorities, and so on, cause you to second guess your decision to exercise. Keep in mind that the difficulties and struggles of today are the price you must pay for the achievements of tomorrow...

#gym #healthclub #fitnesscenter #greensboro