Optimal Post-workout Nutrition
The Christmas shopping is finally done! Hooray! Not only did I get mine done, but I did a lot for my mother too. My parents don’t have, and refuse to own, a computer, so I have been shopping online for them and just having the gifts sent to their address. That’s pretty handy. Michael wants a Zune, and my mother would have thought a Zune was some extraterrestrial being, so I just went online for her to buy one and sent it to her to wrap and give. Works great!
Speaking of shopping online, have you seen this new company Shop to Earth and Shop to Earn? You become a member, and you get savings and cash back on your purchases you make online anyway, from over 600 stores. Even Target, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, Victoria’s Secret, Home Depot, and other big retailers are available through the site. And then when you refer people through your website, you earn a percentage of what they buy too. It’s really cool! You’re buying the stuff anyway, so why not save money and maybe even make some money while you’re at it? Plus they have a lot of organic companies in the Shop to Earth side. I did some of my Christmas shopping this way, and it was easy and saved me some money. I just found out about it the other day, and so far it’s pretty impressive. And what is a bigger trend than internet shopping? I even ordered online from Target instead of going to the store and fighting the crowds. So I wanted to share it with you! Please check it out through my website: www.ShoptoEarth.net/ChristyS. I would certainly appreciate your support! 
Even with all the holiday craziness going on, I did manage to squeeze in a good shoulder workout yesterday. I went heavy again, as I am trying to gain muscle and increase my shoulder size. But on my upright rows, my right anterior deltoid was really twinging badly, so I stopped those for fear of injuring myself. That’s an important lesson, especially for you macho guys….if you feel pain, stop and rest or do another exercise that isn’t causing discomfort. Now, by ‘pain’ I don’t mean muscle fatigue or burning–those are good and let you know you are working your muscle properly, even though it ‘hurts’. No, I am talking about a sharp pain.
Shoulder Workout:
- Warmup with machine overhead presses, light weights for 15 reps, 2 sets
- Overhead barbell press, single reps with 3 seconds rest in between; 3 sets, 9 to 7 reps, 65 pounds.
- Upright rows, 40 lb bar, 2 sets but stopped due to shoulder pain
- Lateral dumbbell raises, 17.5 lb bells, 3 sets, 15-12 reps
- Arnold presses, 15 lb dumbbells, 12 reps, 3 sets
- Cable crossover laterals, behind the back, 3 sets, 12 reps
I was so busy in the Living Well Cafe last night that I had to quickly cut the workout short and go whip up a bunch of awesome Sun Warrior post-workout recovery shakes. I have a lot of ‘regulars’ already who are hooked on the protein. The main testimonial I keep hearing from people is how satisfied they felt and how much sustained energy they had after drinking the smoothie. It was great how busy it was for a Thursday night this close to Christmas. I hope that means that the New Years Resolution crowd will be as good as ever this coming January, even with the economic woes many are facing.
My post-workout recovery smoothie last night was my favorite, the Vanilla Chai Latte. So simple, just bananas, almond milk, vanilla Sun Warrior, raw honey, and generous cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice (Apple Pie Spice combo). Mmmmmm…….it’s so good. I crave this one.
It’s so critically important to fuel your body immediately after you work out, within 30 minutes at the most. Quicker is better. Proper post-workout nutrition is the key to quantum leaps in your fitness level. A recent 12-week study I read showed that those who failed to consume a post-workout meal suffered a lower metabolism, loss of fat free mass, and had clear indications of muscle loss. Yikes! While those who consumed a post-workout recovery meal significantly lost more fat, increased lean muscle, improved their metabolism, and increased dynamic strength. Wow, now that’s strong support for a great recovery meal.
The ideal post-workout recovery meal is a balanced ratio of 2 to 1 carbohydrates to protein, with very little fat. And not just any carbs and protein, they need to be very quick-digesting. The Vanilla Chai Latte is perfect, because the honey and bananas are two of the best post-workout carbs because of their quick absorption and nutrition content. And the Sun Warrior protein is already pre-digested because it is a bio-fermented, living food, with a 98% digestability ratio, so it gets into your system and starts repairing your muscles very quickly. Try to avoid fat and much fiber with this meal, because they both slow the absorption of the carbs and protein, and you want those to absorb as quickly as possible into your system. You want to invoke an insulin response, because insulin inhibits the breakdown of muscle protein, and helps the amino acids and nutrients uptake into the muscles. The insulin is very anti-catabolic, meaning it protects the muscle from atrophy.
Your body is always in one of two states: anabolic or catabolic. Anabolic means ‘muscle building’, thus the term ‘anabolic steroids’. Anabolic is good–your body is preserving its muscle mass and building new muscle. Catabolic means ‘muscle wasting’, which is obviously what none of us want. Insulin is an anti-catabolic agent, meaning it doesn’t build muscle itself but interferes with muscle breakdown. And insulin enhances the effect of Growth Hormone and IGF-1 (insulin-like Growth Factor), which are your anti-aging and muscle growth-promoting agents. It is important to note that the insulin elevation should not be extreme, which would cause blood sugar fluctuation, promote fat storage and lead to insulin resistance.
This is a very complicated topic, so to sum up, intense exercise causes microscopic tears in the muscle fibers. It also triggers the release of growth hormone, IGF-1 and other muscle-building androgenic agents. But those wonderful hormones won’t be able to do their job without the help of insulin, so you must help your body to function properly by ingesting fast-acting HEALTHY carbohydrates along with fast-absorbing protein, immediately after every workout. You want to increase insulin, but not so much that it spikes dramatically. Note that sugar is actually detrimental to the process, along with its host of other health-destroying attributes, so ingesting processed sugar or sugary drinks is extremely counter-productive and harmful. Natural raw honey is a sugar, yes, but it doesn’t provoke the blood sugar crashes and spikes that processed sugar does, plus it is loaded with nutrients. And bananas are ideal, due to their high concentration of electrolytes, especially potassium. See my Defiant Recipes page for ideas of post-workout smoothies.
Until next time, Be Defiant! Defy muscle breakdown by eating properly after your workouts.
Love and light,
Christy
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[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptProper post-workout nutrition is the key to quantum leaps in your fitness level. A recent 12-week study I read showed that those who failed to consume a post-workout meal suffered a lower metabolism, loss of fat free mass, and had clear … [...]
Be careful with the shoulder pain! Once someone injures the shoulder area it could take a long time to heal and put a damper on your workout schedule.
I always try to have a decent post-workout meal. Nothing heavy, but something that will help the muscle building process. I like your shake, full of nutrients. Honey is natures wonder! I also might take some dried fruit with me to the gym (bananas,apricots etc..) I wash it down with a protein drink. Simple yet very effective.
Thanks! Yes, I know how shoulders can be. Like knees–mine are forever a problem. Hey, that’s a good idea with the dried fruit. Do you dry your own? I occasionally do in my dehydrator. I especially love to dry pineapple and use it in Living Carrot Cake!