Post Workout Drinks And Fat Loss
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Post Workout Drinks And Fat Loss
Post Workout Drinks And Fat Loss By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS |
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Burn The Fat And Feed The Muscle Book
Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle Syndicated Q & A Column
(Ask Tom Venuto - The Fat Loss Guru)
QUESTION: Dear Tom: I came across a piece
of muscle-building advice written on a white
board at a Bally's fitness club, posted outside
the "advanced" personal training station. I took
a picture and attached it to this email. As you
can see, it said to ingest whey protein and
60-70 grams of *simple sugars* 30-45 minutes
after your workout.
Is there any truth at all to this advice? I take
particular exception to point #1... I can't
believe eating 60-70 grams of simple sugar at
any time can be good for you!
If this is indeed bad advice, I will write
Bally's corporate and tell them to stop hurting
the public with bad advice from their personal
trainers.
What do you think? thanks,
Doug
burn the fat
ANSWER: It does seem counter intuitive,
but believe it or not, that is standard, and
science-based advice for post workout nutrition.
Post workout nutrition has been well researched
and there is evidence that taking in simple
carbs - usually glucose or dextrose with
maltodextrin (plus whey protein) in the form of
a post workout drink - is an ideal post workout
recovery "meal."
The part about "waiting" 30-45 minutes is the
part that is questionable, but that may have
been a simple oversight... I think what they
meant was to ingest it "within" 30-45 minutes.
Most of the research says that the sooner after
the workout you take post workout nutrition, the
better (which is why you see so many people
these days chugging down workout drinks while
still at the gym... in the locker room, etc.)
That said, here is where I will get
controversial, because almost everything you
read and everyone you talk to these days tries
to convince you that if you're not drinking a
post workout shake, all the time, regardless of
your goals, you are some kind of nut case with a
"death wish" for muscle loss.
Post-workout nutrition is very important, no
question about that.
The debatable part is whether it's a must to get
it in the form of liquid sugar or simple carbs +
whey and especially when your goal is maximum
fat loss.
After reviewing the research and taking into
account real world results (on myself and my
clients), my opinion is that a large whole food
meal does the job just fine, especially in the
context of a 6 meals a day bodybuilding style
nutrition program.
I think you could use whole food or a drink and
get great results either way.
How you approach post-workout nutrition is going
to depend a lot on what your goal is at any
given time. If your goal is gaining muscle mass
or maximizing endurance training or sports
performance, you might approach it differently
than if you were on a strict fat-loss program
(such as preparing for a fitness or bodybuilding
competition).
On a muscle growth program, I would say it's a
great idea to take advantage of the commercial
post-workout drinks available to you because
it's hard to eat enough calories to gain lean
body weight.
Among a list of other benefits like increased
protein synthesis, decreased exercise-induced
cortisol, glycogen replenishment, and improved
recovery, post workout drinks provide a
convenient and easy way to get more calories and
that indeed may help muscle growth.
On endurance programs, recovering from workouts
and keeping glycogen stores topped off are
important objectives, so again a post workout
drink with plenty of carbs - yes, the simple
variety - is beneficial.
Where I suggest caution is when you're shifting
gears from muscle gain into fat loss.
My personal preference is to continue focusing
on the importance of a good post workout meal,
but to take my post workout nutrition in the
form of solid food with the same complex and
natural carbs I eat in all my other meals.
A nutrition and training principle you should
always live by is:
"Don't compromise your primary objective."
If your primary objective is fat loss, I can't
see taking in a large amount of pure sugar
post-workout as a good strategy to maximize your
fat loss. It might assist muscle growth, enhance
recovery, or help restore your glycogen, but it
won't enhance your fat loss.
Keep in mind, however, that you're very unlikely
to store calories consumed after intense
training as body fat, because your muscles are
"hungry" and like sponges for soaking up carbs
and protein after the workout, so you don't need
to worry about that.
But I can tell you from personal experience as a
competitive bodybuilder and fat loss coach that
you will almost always get leaner, faster with
whole food (especially people with an endomorph
body type who are carb sensitive).
This is probably due to the thermogenic nature
of whole food and the obvious fact that refined
sugar is simply not fat loss food.
Because post workout nutrition is so important
and because commercial post workout drinks can
be so beneficial in so many ways, one way to
tackle this fat loss issue if you're already
using a drink, is to leave your post workout
drink in during the early stages of your fat
loss program and then if your fat loss slows
down or you plateau, the drink is the first
thing to get cut as you make your fat lossDiet
stricter.
As always, adjust your approach NOT by the
information you read in the magazines or by the
conventional wisdom you hear in the gym, but by
the actual results you are getting in the real
world.
Also remember that you must adjust your approach
according to your goals and slant everything
towards achieving your primary objective with
maximum efficiency.
You can learn more about nutrition techniques
that are designed specifically to maximize fat
loss in the Burn The Fat program:
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Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has written more than 200 articles and has been featured in print magazines such as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on hundreds of websites worldwide.
