[quote]DaBeard wrote:
Has anyone else noticed a huge difference in muscle gain when eating only solid meals and leaving the protein shake to only PWO, as compared to when having a few of the meals replaced with shakes. [/quote]
IMO…all else being equal; sold food will always ‘trump’ liquid calories where gains are concerned. [/quote]
definately! [/quote]
In terms of solid meals (no supps), what do you guys recommend post wo?[/quote]
easily digestable protein (eggs, fish) and rice.
there is no right answer. just eat protein and carbs pwo.
[quote]qsar wrote:
In terms of solid meals (no supps), what do you guys recommend post wo?[/quote]
easily digestable protein (eggs, fish) and rice.
there is no right answer. just eat protein and carbs pwo.
[/quote]
^IF it fits into your daily #s, IF you haven’t had sufficient carbs throughout the earlier portion of the day, and IF you are trying to gain. Otherwise you can get by with protein, healthy fats and veggies.
Again, it’s all dependent on goals and the rest of your diet and training.
[quote]vali wrote:
For sure. Anyone who thinks shakes are a true meal replacement probably hasnt been training that long.[/quote]
This just isn’t true. I’ve been training for 8 years, and use shakes exactly like that on a daily basis.
I know this contradicts most of the responses here, and as much as it pains me to say that I sort of agree with RV… Some of my best gains have been when I’ve substituted shakes for 2-3 meals a day, rather than eating whole foods. In my own experience, shakes have never been less effective than regular food.
Not sure if I am the only one who has found this but I like getting my last few meals of the day through shakes.
I eat whole food meals from my second meal through my late afternoon meal (3-4 whole food meals per day) and then at night my pre-workout meal, during workout shake, and post workout meal are all shakes.
Due to my job I workout rather late at night and finish up working out between 9-10 at night. Since I have switched my post workout meal to a shake I have seen that I stay significantly leaner and put on muscle just as well as when it was a whole food meal. Not sure if it’s because my GI track is just worn out by that late or what.
Anyone have any ideas around why this is? My last shake of the day had the same macros as my whole food meals used to.
[quote]qsar wrote:
In terms of solid meals (no supps), what do you guys recommend post wo?[/quote]
easily digestable protein (eggs, fish) and rice.
there is no right answer. just eat protein and carbs pwo.
[/quote]
^IF it fits into your daily #s, IF you haven’t had sufficient carbs throughout the earlier portion of the day, and IF you are trying to gain. Otherwise you can get by with protein, healthy fats and veggies.
Again, it’s all dependent on goals and the rest of your diet and training.
S[/quote]
Shouldn’t you have carbs after a workout regardless of your goals? Insulin, nutrient uptake, stimulate muscle growth, etc?
[quote]qsar wrote:
Shouldn’t you have carbs after a workout regardless of your goals? Insulin, nutrient uptake, stimulate muscle growth, etc?[/quote]
If your #s allow for you to place carbs in various feedings throughout the day, and you can have before AND after, then it will most definitely aid recovery due to the accelerated rate of glycogen storage. However, if you are sufficiently loaded for bear before your session (optimal pre and peri supplementation), it’s highly doubtful that you’ve been so completely depleted during your training that your body cannot recovery adequately on its own. Yes, we’ve all hear about the magic anabolic window for carbs post training, but I have known, and prepped too many people (myself included) who have had absolutely no problem retaining muscle while not having any carbs immediately post workout.
For the record, if you look back at my very first contest thread, I was still in the post-workout carb mindset that everyone who grew up on the muscle magazines, or even early internet shared. As I began incorporating more pre and peri strategies instead, I not only improved my stage conditioning, but grew larger each successive year as well.
2009 stage weight = 170 lbs
2011 stage weight (with much MUCH better conditioning) = 175.4 lbs
**If you factor in the actually fat lose and muscle gain, I would honestly say that between those contests, from ages 36 - 38 (not exactly what most people consider prime muscle building ages), I put on a SOLID 10 lbs of muscle.
IMO, pre trainng carbs will better insure a quality workout, and that is certainly much more important in muscle growth and retention than having a crappy session with carbs that you didn’t even need immediately afterward.
I’m probably in the minority here, but I’ve never been convinced on the “whole foods are superior to shakes” thing.
A typical shake for me will contain a protein blend (isolate, concentrate, egg, casein), frozen berries, frozen vegetables (usually broccoli or kale), flax seed powder, leucine, creatine, and a potent greens powder. I usually eat a handful of nuts alongside this, or take a tablespoon of VCO.
Nobody has yet been able to convince me that sitting down to a “whole” meal is inherently superior to this. I’m open-minded though…if there are any studies on the subject that I need to read, please post them.
Both, i take around 3 shakes a day. Usually take one in the morning with a meal, post workout, and at night time before bed. I like to take one after a meal to make it a fuller meal & to get more protein in. I stick with any Whey usually the cheapest chocolate protein i can find.