What to Eat After A Workout To Build Muscle!!
What to Eat After A Workout To Build Muscle!!
Sugar is bad! Stay away from sugar! Sugar will destroy your physique and sabotage you fitness goals. Wait a minute….If this is the case why do you see some athletes walking out of the gym with handfuls of gummy bears, jelly beans, or a bag of skittles?
Well, have you ever stopped to ask them? Don’t, because they probably couldn’t tell you why they are doing it. You would probably get a response like…”because I saw that one guy with big muscles doing it..or..because Milton told me to”. Well my friends, Coach Korbie here is going to answer the question of what to eat after a workout to build muscle.
What Happens to Your Body During a Workout?
Let us examine the process for muscle growth and making changes to your physique that will help you reach those fitness goals. You must first comprehend what happens to the body during an intense workout. During exercise, cortisol levels will elevate as you burn fat and break down muscle tissue. This enables your muscles to rebuild and grow bigger during the recovery process.
During a workout, cortisol and energizing hormones like the adrenaline hormones and growth hormone are released. This allows the body to free fat stores so the we can utilize them for energy. Insulin, a storage hormone will then decrease at this time.
Why is it a Good Idea to Spike Your Insulin After a Workout?
Now that you have a basic understanding of what happens to your body when working out, let’s make it clear as to why an insulin spike post workout may be favorable. As previously mentioned when cortisol levels are elevated, insulin levels are low. After an intense workout, cortisol levels have increased to get you through that heavy lifting session. In addition your glycogen stores are depleted, and you have torn down your muscle tissue.
To start that recovery process and repair and build muscle tissue, you must spike your insulin. To create an insulin spike after training, a simple carbohydrate (sugars) should be consumed. Insulin transports nutrients to the organs in the body, including muscle cells. While insulin is driving amino acids and glucose into muscle cells, it also prevents the ‘leaking out’ of these nutrients from the muscle cells that usually occur in response to training.
What Exactly Should I Eat After My Workout?
You made it through a heavy lifting session. You maxed out and surpassed all your reps. Now what? Does this mean you reward yourself and go for a king size Snickers bar? After all, you just experienced major muscle breakdown and you want those quads to grow. Not so fast. Yes, insulin does promote muscle growth. However, you must take into consideration what your fitness goals are. What exactly are you trying to achieve?
To reach those fitness goals and build the physique you strive for, you must eat according to your body type and your goals. This is where I come in. You will see the best results when you seek professional help from a nutrition management specialist like us here at Training Innovations. For more information on what you should eat after a workout to build muscle, or if you’re looking to burn that stubborn belly fat and get in shape for summer, contact us today!!
