Note : this is not my work, I am quoting it from another person (alan aragon). I though it was a great article, and he said it's fine if I post it here.
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INTRO
GOAL CLARIFICATION & THE NATURE OF OPTIMA
pre, during, & postworkout nutrition is different for different sports. most of the data on this subject pertains to endurance athletes, and doesn't necessarily apply to bodybuilders. this is the classic conflict of arguments when different goals aren't clarified. what i'm gonna discuss is nutrition for bodybuilding resistance training, so let's get that straight before we dive in. another important concept to bear in mind is the fact that nutrient timing is of secondary importance to total amounts of each nutrient. i also want to make it clear that we're nitpicking over what's OPTIMAL. for example, total amount of carbohydrate is in fact more important than its glycemic index (GI), but in terms of whats optimal, different GIs suit different situations to varying theoretical degrees. sports nutrition is a largely theoretical realm where we strive for the edge. it's important to note that there are quite a bit of confounding (validity-challenging) variables related to GI, which i covered in depth <span style='color:blue'>here</span>. keep in mind that it's the general theory and format that you should focus on, because there's no way that i can provide a comprehensive list of example meals without boring myself to death, and everyone has their personal taste.
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
variations in total amounts will be determined by your general body mass & individual phyz, you'll just have to trial & error it out as with all plans. littler guys will do fine at the lower ranges, mega-mooses will do well at the higher ranges, and average joes will find the middle of the ranges to be good starting points from which to monitor progress. i'd like to make it perfectly clear that this article is an attempt to cater to the majority of trainees who may read it. as with all advice from ornery oracles, you MUST adapt it to your individual response & measure it against your progress, or lack thereof, and adjust accordingly. i highly recommend that you feel free to go "outside of the lines" of what i've written if/when necessary, and find out what works for you as an individual. the concept of trial & error being the ultimate judge - despite sound theoretical starting points - is not emphasized nearly enough in tutorials.
without further ado...
PRE-PREWORKOUT: THE GLYCOGEN FACTOR
glycogen is the limiting fuel for exercise in the glycolytic range of the energy substrate continuum. this means that even though bodybuilders aren't gonna be running marathon or growing impotent from sitting their asses on a hard bike seat doing the tour de france, glycogen is still important for muscular work in the rep ranges that primarily cause hypertrophy. many bodybuilders i know are on a "permanent precontest" phase, and keep their carbs low no matter what, and are really frustrated with their gains. actual amount of total carbs daily is another discussion, but suffice it to say that it's really tough to gain muscle - no matter how much protein you're chuggin' - when you're constantly averaging below 2/3 of your bodyweight a day in carb grams. this may be warranted on a cyclical basis for some folks during a precontest cut, but for general purposes & gaining muscle, you're better off averaging somewhere above this amount -- unless you've either been pathologically afraid of, or metabolically challenged by carbohydrate for a long enough duration for your body to adapt & get by on amounts chronically lower than this.
PREWORKOUT
OBJECTIVE
the objective here is to promote sustained carbohydrate availability (& to a lesser degree, amino acid availability), minimize muscle catabolism, and spare glygogen as much as possible. this is best accomplished by carbs with a low to moderate GI & insulin index (II). it's important to note here that research is quite conflicting on the issue of GI & exercise performance. much of the latest studies show no real difference. nevertheless, it's established that lower-GI sources influence substrate oxidation during training ever-so-slightly better for bodybuilding purposes. when i mention GI, i'm talking about the glucose comparison standard, not the white bread standard. the actual amount & physical nature of the meal depends on how soon your schedule allows you to eat or drink before training. there are at least 3 acceptable scenarios..
COMPOSITION
scenario one: a solid, full-sized balanced meal finished 60-90 minutes preworkout consisting of 30-60g protein (0.2-0.25g/lb target BW) + 40-80g carb (0.33g/lb target BW). there are endless examples of how this can be constructed, & heres just one:
---- 5-8oz of any type of land or sea animal flesh
---- 1-2 cups low to moderate-GI grain or other starchy vegetable or legume /or/ fistsize sweet potato, etc, look up sub-70-rated examples here.
---- 1 or more cups fibrous vegetable like salad greens, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, spinach, kale, cabbage, onions, even carrots, etc, etc
scenario two: a liquid meal or shake finished 15-30min preworkout:
---- 20-50g protein (0.15-0.2g/lb target BW) whey is preferred for its BCAA content
---- 40-80g (0.33g/lb target BW) low-to-moderate GI carbs. any fruit works well here, so does old fashioned oats. a solid case can be built for a combination of both. whether you include water/milk or unsaturated fat like flax or pnb is really personal preference. milk just gets the anabolic/anticatabolic cascade rolling for those in a severe hurry to gain muscle. adding fat to this shake can slow the release of nutrients substantially & benefit those who train for significantly more than 90 min, offering extra protection against energy dips - especially if you don't consume a dilute carb solution during your workout. most people will do fine without the fat as long as the overall carb profile of the shake is relatively low to moderate-GI. NOTE: most commercially prepared dilute sports drink solutions have a low glycemic load, rendering their high GI irrelevant. some dudes use the same shake for pre & post workout; they make a bigass shake, and simply drink half before & half after - or they sip it thoughout the workout. this is fine too & you'll still benefit, but you're not taking full advantage of the specifically different physiologic demands of pre & postworkout for bodybuilding purposes.
scenario 3: both of the above scenarios in succession (one after the other in the above listed time frame) is probably ideal, but in the real world, many folks train first thing in the morning before work, so that nullifies the possibility of the pre-pre workout meal. no problem, that's where an intelligently concocted prebed meal helps (another topic!
. note that individuals will vary in their digestive & absorptive capacity. some folks can only tolerate scenario one without the additional scenario 2 due to less gastrointestinal motility &/or speed of digestion/absorption. trial and error will dictate your optimal meal scheduling respective of this.
to reiterate the factor of individual differences, don't be afraid to go outside of the listed guidelines & exceed the upper limit of listed carb intake as needed to power you through your training. conversely, don't be afraid to dip below it given your gastrointestinal tolerance for exogenous substrate during or pretraining.
DURING WORKOUT
OBJECTIVE
the same objectives as the preworkout meal apply here (to promote sustained carbohydrate availability & to a lesser degree amino acid availability, minimize muscle catabolism, and spare glygogen) - with the added objective of maximizing water availability & minimizing gastrointestinal upset.
COMPOSITION
again, be aware that we are talking bodybuilding workouts and not triathalon training. i am an advocate of keeping it simple and watering yourself down thoughout the workout with.. you guessed it, pure water. if you did your homework with the right construction & timing of the preworkout meal, there's little need for the bodybuilder to take in much else. now granted, if you were a boxer, triathlete, soccer player, basketball player, or marathoner at risk for catabolizing a good chunk of lean mass and jeopardizing your liver glycogen status by trudging away for far past 90 minutes continuously in an endurance event, definitely sip the gatorade-type 4-8% carb solution throughout the workout, and shoot for 40-60g carbs/hr. there's a huge body of research that shows the benefit of that tactic.
keep in mind that i don't think a during-workout carb solution will hurt the bodybuilder at all, as many mistakenly believe. in fact, a good case can be built for it being an effective nth-degree anticatabolic/anti-hypoglycemic tactic. but all things considered, it just might be unnecessary & expensive, since the energy demands & glycogen depletion of bodybuilders are usually much less. once again, if you had either the right solid meal 60-90 minutes prior, or the right liquid meal 15-30min prior (in a perfect world, BOTH), you technically should still be in the absorption phase. thus you won't experience energy dips seen in fasted-then-fed experimental subjects who obviously benefit from during-workout fuel beyond just water.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRO
GOAL CLARIFICATION & THE NATURE OF OPTIMA
pre, during, & postworkout nutrition is different for different sports. most of the data on this subject pertains to endurance athletes, and doesn't necessarily apply to bodybuilders. this is the classic conflict of arguments when different goals aren't clarified. what i'm gonna discuss is nutrition for bodybuilding resistance training, so let's get that straight before we dive in. another important concept to bear in mind is the fact that nutrient timing is of secondary importance to total amounts of each nutrient. i also want to make it clear that we're nitpicking over what's OPTIMAL. for example, total amount of carbohydrate is in fact more important than its glycemic index (GI), but in terms of whats optimal, different GIs suit different situations to varying theoretical degrees. sports nutrition is a largely theoretical realm where we strive for the edge. it's important to note that there are quite a bit of confounding (validity-challenging) variables related to GI, which i covered in depth <span style='color:blue'>here</span>. keep in mind that it's the general theory and format that you should focus on, because there's no way that i can provide a comprehensive list of example meals without boring myself to death, and everyone has their personal taste.
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
variations in total amounts will be determined by your general body mass & individual phyz, you'll just have to trial & error it out as with all plans. littler guys will do fine at the lower ranges, mega-mooses will do well at the higher ranges, and average joes will find the middle of the ranges to be good starting points from which to monitor progress. i'd like to make it perfectly clear that this article is an attempt to cater to the majority of trainees who may read it. as with all advice from ornery oracles, you MUST adapt it to your individual response & measure it against your progress, or lack thereof, and adjust accordingly. i highly recommend that you feel free to go "outside of the lines" of what i've written if/when necessary, and find out what works for you as an individual. the concept of trial & error being the ultimate judge - despite sound theoretical starting points - is not emphasized nearly enough in tutorials.
without further ado...
PRE-PREWORKOUT: THE GLYCOGEN FACTOR
glycogen is the limiting fuel for exercise in the glycolytic range of the energy substrate continuum. this means that even though bodybuilders aren't gonna be running marathon or growing impotent from sitting their asses on a hard bike seat doing the tour de france, glycogen is still important for muscular work in the rep ranges that primarily cause hypertrophy. many bodybuilders i know are on a "permanent precontest" phase, and keep their carbs low no matter what, and are really frustrated with their gains. actual amount of total carbs daily is another discussion, but suffice it to say that it's really tough to gain muscle - no matter how much protein you're chuggin' - when you're constantly averaging below 2/3 of your bodyweight a day in carb grams. this may be warranted on a cyclical basis for some folks during a precontest cut, but for general purposes & gaining muscle, you're better off averaging somewhere above this amount -- unless you've either been pathologically afraid of, or metabolically challenged by carbohydrate for a long enough duration for your body to adapt & get by on amounts chronically lower than this.
PREWORKOUT
OBJECTIVE
the objective here is to promote sustained carbohydrate availability (& to a lesser degree, amino acid availability), minimize muscle catabolism, and spare glygogen as much as possible. this is best accomplished by carbs with a low to moderate GI & insulin index (II). it's important to note here that research is quite conflicting on the issue of GI & exercise performance. much of the latest studies show no real difference. nevertheless, it's established that lower-GI sources influence substrate oxidation during training ever-so-slightly better for bodybuilding purposes. when i mention GI, i'm talking about the glucose comparison standard, not the white bread standard. the actual amount & physical nature of the meal depends on how soon your schedule allows you to eat or drink before training. there are at least 3 acceptable scenarios..
COMPOSITION
scenario one: a solid, full-sized balanced meal finished 60-90 minutes preworkout consisting of 30-60g protein (0.2-0.25g/lb target BW) + 40-80g carb (0.33g/lb target BW). there are endless examples of how this can be constructed, & heres just one:
---- 5-8oz of any type of land or sea animal flesh
---- 1-2 cups low to moderate-GI grain or other starchy vegetable or legume /or/ fistsize sweet potato, etc, look up sub-70-rated examples here.
---- 1 or more cups fibrous vegetable like salad greens, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, spinach, kale, cabbage, onions, even carrots, etc, etc
scenario two: a liquid meal or shake finished 15-30min preworkout:
---- 20-50g protein (0.15-0.2g/lb target BW) whey is preferred for its BCAA content
---- 40-80g (0.33g/lb target BW) low-to-moderate GI carbs. any fruit works well here, so does old fashioned oats. a solid case can be built for a combination of both. whether you include water/milk or unsaturated fat like flax or pnb is really personal preference. milk just gets the anabolic/anticatabolic cascade rolling for those in a severe hurry to gain muscle. adding fat to this shake can slow the release of nutrients substantially & benefit those who train for significantly more than 90 min, offering extra protection against energy dips - especially if you don't consume a dilute carb solution during your workout. most people will do fine without the fat as long as the overall carb profile of the shake is relatively low to moderate-GI. NOTE: most commercially prepared dilute sports drink solutions have a low glycemic load, rendering their high GI irrelevant. some dudes use the same shake for pre & post workout; they make a bigass shake, and simply drink half before & half after - or they sip it thoughout the workout. this is fine too & you'll still benefit, but you're not taking full advantage of the specifically different physiologic demands of pre & postworkout for bodybuilding purposes.
scenario 3: both of the above scenarios in succession (one after the other in the above listed time frame) is probably ideal, but in the real world, many folks train first thing in the morning before work, so that nullifies the possibility of the pre-pre workout meal. no problem, that's where an intelligently concocted prebed meal helps (another topic!
. note that individuals will vary in their digestive & absorptive capacity. some folks can only tolerate scenario one without the additional scenario 2 due to less gastrointestinal motility &/or speed of digestion/absorption. trial and error will dictate your optimal meal scheduling respective of this.to reiterate the factor of individual differences, don't be afraid to go outside of the listed guidelines & exceed the upper limit of listed carb intake as needed to power you through your training. conversely, don't be afraid to dip below it given your gastrointestinal tolerance for exogenous substrate during or pretraining.
DURING WORKOUT
OBJECTIVE
the same objectives as the preworkout meal apply here (to promote sustained carbohydrate availability & to a lesser degree amino acid availability, minimize muscle catabolism, and spare glygogen) - with the added objective of maximizing water availability & minimizing gastrointestinal upset.
COMPOSITION
again, be aware that we are talking bodybuilding workouts and not triathalon training. i am an advocate of keeping it simple and watering yourself down thoughout the workout with.. you guessed it, pure water. if you did your homework with the right construction & timing of the preworkout meal, there's little need for the bodybuilder to take in much else. now granted, if you were a boxer, triathlete, soccer player, basketball player, or marathoner at risk for catabolizing a good chunk of lean mass and jeopardizing your liver glycogen status by trudging away for far past 90 minutes continuously in an endurance event, definitely sip the gatorade-type 4-8% carb solution throughout the workout, and shoot for 40-60g carbs/hr. there's a huge body of research that shows the benefit of that tactic.
keep in mind that i don't think a during-workout carb solution will hurt the bodybuilder at all, as many mistakenly believe. in fact, a good case can be built for it being an effective nth-degree anticatabolic/anti-hypoglycemic tactic. but all things considered, it just might be unnecessary & expensive, since the energy demands & glycogen depletion of bodybuilders are usually much less. once again, if you had either the right solid meal 60-90 minutes prior, or the right liquid meal 15-30min prior (in a perfect world, BOTH), you technically should still be in the absorption phase. thus you won't experience energy dips seen in fasted-then-fed experimental subjects who obviously benefit from during-workout fuel beyond just water.