How important are carbs post workout? When should you take them? What specific kind of carbs? Are they a complete neccessity to a good post workout routine?
Ingesting PWO carbs creates an insulin spike. This creates an environment where nutrients are shuttled into tissues that need them. The ideal is to combine carbs that are quickly absorbed (like dextrose, maltodextrin, etc) with a protein source to facilitate both gluconeogenesis (glycogen restoration) and muscle repair. I take 40gms dextrose post workout with 50gms of whey. Any more and I bloat, but that’s just me. You can take more if you can tolerate it. Hope this helps.
DJ
djreef already covered the basic idea: Insulin Spike + Fast acting protein = better muscle repair. While basic whey is faster than casein, and a shake will be faster than something like a steak, there is a better option. Whey Hydrolysate (like in Surge) is even faster acting, but since it tastes horrible, you’re best off buying a pre-made product rather than mixing it yourself. I hated the original flavor and raspberry, but chocolate is actually fairly good.
I was originally skeptical of the whole subject, I mean I just spent all this effort getting sugar out of my diet right? Amusingly enough, it was an article on another website that finally convinced me to start using Surge from Biotest:
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/scientific.php
They have the best breakdown I’ve found of why you would want a post workout shake, and what it should be made out of.
Another important function of that insulin spike is to bring cortisol levels back down.
[quote]Mach10 wrote:
How important are carbs post workout? When should you take them? What specific kind of carbs? Are they a complete neccessity to a good post workout routine?[/quote]
Your body is a dry sponge post workout just waiting to soak up nutrients, so very important.
Before during and after, or at least after.
The best in my opinion is waxy maize starch.
Absolutely necessary? I guess not, but I’d say optimal for sure.
[quote]blue9steel wrote:
Whey Hydrolysate (like in Surge) is even faster acting, but since it tastes horrible, you’re best off buying a pre-made product rather than mixing it yourself. [/quote]
I got a tub of whey hydro last week, and let me tell you that it’s the most horrific thing I ever tasted. It has one of the smallest molecular weights I’ve seen in a consumer product and is hydrophobic to boot, Words can’t begin to describe the horror that has become my PWO shake.
And that’s coming from a guy whose spice rack consists of a salt shaker that gets exclusively used for a pinch of sodium with my PWO creatine.
If there’s anything more than trace amounts of whey hydrolysates in Surge, I can attest that the guys at Biotest are wizards. I LOVE Surge, but that part remains to be shown…
speaking of Surge, my shipment of 4 tubs just came in the mail. =)
The worst thing i’ve ever tasted was probably 30g of pure BCAA powder from superior nutra. it gets pretty dusty when you go in for a scoop.
Extreme formulations ICE is tasty BCAA, I actually enjoy drinking it, but yes, very dusty.
I got 2 new tubs of Surge 2 days ago. I’ve now tasted Raspberry, Original, and Chocolate. Raspberry is my favorite, the original, then chocolate.
[quote]bobo86 wrote:
The worst thing i’ve ever tasted was probably 30g of pure BCAA powder from superior nutra. it gets pretty dusty when you go in for a scoop.[/quote]
Trust me, BCAA taste is a delight compared to whey hydrolyzates.