How To Make The Most Of The Post-Workout Window

By Russ Howe


In your quest to learn how to build muscle more effectively you'll probably encounter people talking about the post-workout nutrition window. We are going to look at this today and help you learn the facts on this topic, dispelling some of the common myths in the process.

Despite the often over complicated world of health and fitness this is very easy to do once you have learnt the basic principles, much like the rules to building a leaner physique in general.

Depending upon how long you have already been exercising you might have already come across this phenomenon. For a while, many regular exercise enthusiasts believed there was a 'magic window' and if you consume any kind of nutrition within this so-called magic window your body would be able to make excessive gains in the gym. Science then provided the proof to back up those claims. The most common questions on this subject are easily:

* How long does this golden window last?

* Are some foods superior to others after a workout?

* How does this situation exist in the first place?

* What's going to happen if you miss it?

Don't worry, folks. In today's post we will be answering all of the questions above. First of all let's take a look at the golden window itself and explain what it actually exists for. When you have exercised at a high intensity, i.e. you've just completed a workout in the gym, your body is literally starving to replace the nutrients it lost during the exercise session.

To put it simply, it wants food and it wants it immediately. To a large extent it doesn't even care what you eat, it's going to try to use as much energy from the food provided. If you provide it with an already nutritious food you really experience the benefits here.

The window itself is believed to last approximately 45 minutes after you finish a workout, meaning you have three quarters of an hour to get some food into your muscles.

Using your own common sense you'll be able to now see that it wouldn't make be a great idea to start eating a source of complex carbohydrates because the window will have slammed shut before your body was able to break the food down...

This is where shakes come in very handy. A post-workout whey protein shake followed by a source of simple carbohydrates will work wonders for your results. Quick carbs are usually associated with fast food or chocolate, of course, which isn't the direction we want you to go in. Instead, use healthier options like cereal or fruit.

It's that source of instant energy which you are looking for after a hard workout. Furthermore, your digestive system will try to use as much of the meal as it possibly can. That's right, even more than it usually would if you consumed it at another point in the day.

Don't worry so much about what would happen if you didn't take advantage of this important post-workout period, because the fact is over 90% of gym members fail to do this so the answer to your question is staring you in the face every time you walk into your local gymnasium.

If you wanted to know how to build muscle you are now armed with one of the most important secrets of the gym. In fact, getting the most from your post workout nutrition is also very important for people looking at how to lose weight as well. It's time to put these benefits to good use.




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