Nutrition Around Best Workout for Naturals?

Dear Mr Thibaudeau,

First, thanks for all your work and knowledge that your share with us,

I’m on my third weeks of best workout for natural lifters and I’m really loving it, doing extra work for abs 2x/week and loaded carry 2x/week but I would have some questions.

Yesterday I have received my birthday gift, your Maximum Muscle Bible :slight_smile: and on the nutrition corner you recommend BCAA or EAA with carb source during training, what’s the point between these two ?

Moreover, the workout is very short (less than 40min), do I need an intra workout drink or if I eat 1h before and drink something with carbs and proteins right after will I be fine ?
By the way, after workout should you go for whey isolate or bcaa with carbs ?

Also, I plan to do your High Frequency Hit program (from the book) if I get bored/sored of the first one, it’s a push/pull/legs so there is more volume so maybe the intra drink may be highly recommended this time ??

Regards from France

The nutrition section is written by Paul Carter, not myself.

I personally prefer a complete protein (the best being PLAZMA or MAG-10 by Biotest since it is absorbed even faster than EAA or BCAA but is a complete protein).

I believe in carbs (highly branched cyclic dextrins ideally) and protein pre and/or intra workout.

  1. When you train, blood flow is directed more to the working muscles. If that blood is loaded with amino acids (from protein) you are shuttling these amino acids directly into the muscle that will need them to rebuild and grow.

  2. Carbs pre-workout will decrease the cortisol response to training. Cortisol is released during training mostlyto mobilize stored energy so that you have fuel. t is also increased to maintain blood sugar levels normal (increase it). If you ingest carbs pre-workout, you will not need to mobilize as much fuel because you have some already available. As such it will decrease the cortisol response.

In the case of the BDW program, volume is low so you could go with only the pre-workout carbs + protein. The intra is needed more for workouts with a high volume (duration isn’t important, it’s the amount of physical work that you do).

While technically having a solid meal 1h before the session could work, it is much harder to time properly. If you are still digesting it, it will take away some energy for the workout and the nutrients might be be available. If you eat too far away from the workout the nutrients might already been stored (in part) decreasing the effect.

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Thanks a lot Coach,

caoch no mention of elecxtrolytes (sodium/potsassium) & stuff like hmb, beta allanine, citruline mallate?

plazma was wonderful stuff and i have tried substituts over the years (peptro pro + cyclic dex, john meadows’ intra workout, and true nutrion putting together my own cyclic dex + protein hydroslyate).

for some reason it never worked quite as well as plazma (pump, duration, just feeling great and energetic overall). might be some of those other ingredients/mienrals or simpl the dosing…

PLAZMA is by fat the best peri-workout product I’ve ever used, which is why I mentioned it in my answer,

Electrolytes are of course super important. HMB is crap. I don’t like beta alanine, doesn’t seem to do much if anything. Citruline shows promise.