Thread: can postworkout carbs be alot?

That is not a lot.

I get 1/3 - 1/2 of my total carbs for the day postworkout.

Originally Posted by joey2005

like say 50g??? 1 cup of oatmeal? along with 50g of protein

The amount of carbs you need post-workout will depend on your goals/desired weight and the intensity of your workout.

Generally, after a decent/intense weight training session it is suggested that you aim for about 0.5g of carbs per pound of desired body weight. So, if you want to be, say, 200 pounds, then a post-workout meal would best have 100g of carbs in it. Or, if you wanted to be 150 pounds, then a post-workout meal should have ~75g of carbs in it.

Of course, this is all individual and will also depend on the type of diet you are following and also, some people (especially those who are cutting for competition), tend to decrease this amount - so it is also about what you are comfortable with.

For protein, you should go for about 0.25 to 0.3g/pound - so, to use the above examples - If you wanted to be 200 pounds, you should aim for 50 to 60g of protein and if you wanted to be 150 pounds then 35 to 50g of protein in it.

But 50g of carbs, for someone who is not going 'low-carb' is not a lot of carbs post-workout, especially after an intense weight training session (unless you are small, very small)...

really? lol I had no idea you were suppos to eat that much after a wokout, now I need to rework my diet
does the same thing go for after a cardio workout?

Originally Posted by Tom_B

really? lol I had no idea you were suppos to eat that much after a wokout, now I need to rework my diet
does the same thing go for after a cardio workout?

Yup - if you are really concerned with post-workout recovery then you should be aiming for this level of intake after your weight training.

For cardio it depends on the intensity and duration - With HIIT or high intensity cardio I definately feel carbs are required, and a good dose of them as well. Low intensity/slow cardio then it is not so much of an issue.

yes tom

i have 60g of carbs after cardio, and 80g of carbs after weights (with 40g of whey isolate), and i'm cutting!

probably up the carbs to around 100g with 50g of whey when i start bulking again

lol ok thanks guys today after my cardio I had 50G of protein, and 73G of carbs

Originally Posted by Tom_B

lol ok thanks guys today after my cardio I had 50G of protein, and 73G of carbs

Ok - Firstly:
Woo hoo!!

Good on you! That is what I like to see - you got to get some more meat on you boy! Targets for your carbs should be 0.5g/pound of your target weight, which is about 155-160 is it not? So you were basically spot on for that (could have had a little more..) At 0.3g/pound for protein 45 to 50g is great!


But Secondly:
BAD TOM! You know better than to do HIIT cardio on a rest day - and the day before legs as well!! Grrrrr....

Now when your talking about carbs here post w/o, does that include dextrose and maltodextrose?

Originally Posted by rock4832

Now when your talking about carbs here post w/o, does that include dextrose and maltodextrose?

If you do not mind pouring pure, unnutritional, horrible sugary crap down your throat... Then yes, this figure includes these things...

Originally Posted by Emma-Leigh

If you do not mind pouring pure, unnutritional, horrible sugary crap down your throat... Then yes, this figure includes these things...

I completely disagree...the inteligent use of glucose based sugars is proven effective at increasing anabolism and restoring muscle glycogen with no adverse effects on health....low GI is surely not the only option for post workout carbs

Hmmmm, two completely different views back to back here. Why do I get confused again, LOL

I take in about 75g dextrose and malto with a cup of raw oats and creatine.

Originally Posted by LAM

I completely disagree...the inteligent use of glucose based sugars is proven effective at increasing anabolism and restoring muscle glycogen with no adverse effects on health....low GI is surely not the only option for post workout carbs

I agree - glucose is very effective post-workout. It decreases cortisol (which helps in decreasing catabolism), restores muscle glycogen and aids in stimulating anabolism...

I also never said that high GI was the problem. The use of higher GI/higher II carbohydrates is also benificial post-workout. Not only because they increase the speed at which these positive things occur, but also because if there is ever a time to take in these types of foods it is after resistance training - when you have an increased insulin sensitivity and hence, better nutrient partitioning.

However, I have a problem with the nutritional void that is pure powdered dextrose/maltodextrose. With so many other requirements in the post-workout period (for example: restoration of electrolytes, reversal of oxidative damage, restoration of total body energy/blood and liver glucose) there are much more nutritionally benificial higher GI/high II sources than powdered glucose/dextrose and maltodextrose, things that will act to fill these important post-workout needs as well.

So what do you recommend in place of pure powder Emma?

Originally Posted by rock4832

So what do you recommend in place of pure powder Emma?

Post-workout recovery is not purely about "insulin spiking"... It is the availability of the carbohydrates that is far more important.

For this reason there are lots of options -
Thinly rolled oats (not thickly rolled) are great. Just as long as they are thinly rolled they are high enough on the GI scale to be fine.

Banana's and other higher glucose fruit such as grapes are excellent in helping restore glycogen stores, replenishing electrolytes, decreasing oxidative damage and restoring whole body glucose levels.

Skim dairy (milk, fat-free yoghurt) is great - it is HIGHLY anabolic, highly anti-catabolic and is very high on the insulin index.

Combining these things (if you want, in addition to a smaller amount of dextrose) would be far more benificial.

I made some points in a post here: "Post-workout Shake"

and that will also be effective with creatine delivery?

A question for all of you brains.

I thought after workout, you had Growth Hormone cursing thru your veins. Barry Sears in his book about the Zone Diet said this too. But he also said if post work out you eat a bunch of high GI carbs, then when your insulin spikes, it snuffs out your growth hormone. He said carbs up to his ratio of 40:30:30 were ok, but beyond that you started to spike the insulin.

It seemed to fit me to a tee years ago. I would work out with the wife and get frozen yoghurt after, and never got bigger. Of course those days were before protein powder too.

My PWO 1 Cup Cooked Brown Rice or 3/4 Cup Dry Oats w. egg whites & whey
My Pre workout 3/4 Cup Brown Rice or 1/2 Cup Dry Oats w. whey and egg whites for the oats pancake

Originally Posted by Emma-Leigh

Ok - Firstly:
Woo hoo!!

Good on you! That is what I like to see - you got to get some more meat on you boy! Targets for your carbs should be 0.5g/pound of your target weight, which is about 155-160 is it not? So you were basically spot on for that (could have had a little more..) At 0.3g/pound for protein 45 to 50g is great!


But Secondly:
BAD TOM! You know better than to do HIIT cardio on a rest day - and the day before legs as well!! Grrrrr....

Thank you
lol well my target weight is gonna be 140 - 150, all depend on what my body fat % is like..if it's still reaonably low when I hit 140 and I feel like I've got enough muscle on my for this bulk then I'll go on my cut, but if my body fat is medium, or fairly high I'll go for 150 pounds cause the weight I gained wouldn't have been as much muscle as I'd like, hope that makes sense lol. Basically I'll just let the good old mirrior be my judge.

I know , I know I shouldn't have done cardio, but the skipping rope was just sitting there starring at me I'll make it up some time during the week and skip a day of cardio, I hope

Originally Posted by rock4832

and that will also be effective with creatine delivery?

Yes.

Although this is just my opinion, and many people will disagree with me.

(although, just on a side note, insulin is not absolutely essential to creatine uptake... but yes insulin does increase its uptake, but only really it occurs in hugo-hyperinsulinaemic spikes which usually required hugo-disgusting levels of pure dextrose)...

Anyway, you are still going to create a significant insulin response with a modified PWO meal that contains things such as banana and milk in addition to your normal whey +/- a smaller amount of dextrose.

This is because you get an increased insulin secretion when you combine certain proteins with certain carbohydrates. So the insulin stimuating amino acids in your whey when combined with a carbohydrate will act to synergisticly increase your insulin levels.... I think (if I remember correctly) studies have shown that the combination of the two can infact half the carbohydrate needs to create the hyperinsulinaemia necessary for increased creatine uptake. Also, because milk products alone have a very high insulin index, they will help in insulin stimulation.

Thanks for your help! So you think protein, 1 banana, 1cup of skim milk and maybe 1/2 cup of oats would be good post w/o with creatine?

Originally Posted by rock4832

Thanks for your help! So you think protein, 1 banana, 1cup of skim milk and maybe 1/2 cup of oats would be good post w/o with creatine?

Well, you are 230 pounds right? So you want ~ 115g of carbs and ~60g protein post-workout.

So that is a lot more than you would get from 1 med. banana (~25g carbs), 1 cup milk (16g carbs) and 1/2 cup oats (26g carbs) [total = 67g]... So you might want to increase the oats to 1 cup (52g carbs) and add 25g of dextrose powder or another very high GI carb (add dates to your oats??) so you have a total of ~115g of carbs?

Originally Posted by Emma-Leigh

For cardio it depends on the intensity and duration - With HIIT or high intensity cardio I definately feel carbs are required, and a good dose of them as well. Low intensity/slow cardio then it is not so much of an issue.

Hmmm.. from the info on HIIT that i have come accross, it was suggested not to eat before OR after an HIIT session. Hence on my present cut this is my schedule, meal#3 at 3:30-4, HIIT at 5:30-6(no pwo shake) and meal#4 at 7:30-8. My pwo shake is only on weight training days. Is it suggested i do a pwo shake after HIIT as well?

Originally Posted by milliman

I thought after workout, you had Growth Hormone cursing thru your veins. Barry Sears in his book about the Zone Diet said this too. But he also said if post work out you eat a bunch of high GI carbs, then when your insulin spikes, it snuffs out your growth hormone. He said carbs up to his ratio of 40:30:30 were ok, but beyond that you started to spike the insulin.

I always thought GH was released during (deep) sleep. the pwo shake was mainly to restore energy stores. Could someone correct me if i am wrong?

Originally Posted by BulkMeUp

Hmmm.. from the info on HIIT that i have come accross, it was suggested not to eat before OR after an HIIT session. Hence on my present cut this is my schedule, meal#3 at 3:30-4, HIIT at 5:30-6(no pwo shake) and meal#4 at 7:30-8. My pwo shake is only on weight training days. Is it suggested i do a pwo shake after HIIT as well?

Arggg!! No! This is the complete opposite of the correct advice.

HIIT is what it's name suggests - High Intensity Interval Training. High intensity = predominantly anaerobic exercise and hence glucose/glycogen utilising during your workout.

HIIT, when correctly fueled, is a great form of cardio because it creates a highly metabolically active environment - the use of your glycogen stores DURING your workout leads to a much greater post-exercise metabolic upregulation and a greater utilisation of fats AFTER your workout... The duration of which is far superior to moderate intensity cardio! It has also been shown to stimulate anabolism as well... better all round.

BUT - you HAVE to fuel your body correctly! If you do not have a readily supply of energy for this workout then your body will need to form glucose from something - and that something will be amino acids which will drain the pool of amino acids from your muscles! It will also increase your cortisol levels even further and cause a highly catabolic environment. So that means EAT BEFOREHAND!!

Also, due to the use of your glycogen stores HIIT it acts similarly to a weights sessions - and you need to recover these otherwise your weights sessions will suffer in the future... So make sure you re-fuel yourself correctly afterwards.

Originally Posted by BulkMeUp

I always thought GH was released during (deep) sleep. the pwo shake was mainly to restore energy stores. Could someone correct me if i am wrong?

No - exercise also stimulates the release of growth hormone (especially high intensity/resistance type exercise). And yes, what you eat/drink before and after your workout will effect your growth hormone release (along with other hormones). And yes it is also released during sleep, but this is not the only time.

Originally Posted by Emma-Leigh

Well, you are 230 pounds right? So you want ~ 115g of carbs and ~60g protein post-workout.

So that is a lot more than you would get from 1 med. banana (~25g carbs), 1 cup milk (16g carbs) and 1/2 cup oats (26g carbs) [total = 67g]... So you might want to increase the oats to 1 cup (52g carbs) and add 25g of dextrose powder or another very high GI carb (add dates to your oats??) so you have a total of ~115g of carbs?

Awesome. Thanks alot Emma!