Pre- and Post-Workout Nutrition

Many people wonder what to eat following a workout. In reply to a recent question on that topic, here is a brief series of suggestions. Follow the links in the sidebar for more information--especially T-Nation and John Berardi (who formulated Surge for Biotest).

Basic rule: post-workout nutrition should be consumed immediately following training, before you hit the shower. It should always be a drink--solid food takes too long to digest.

For weight gain:
Mix .8 grams of carbs per kilogram of bodyweight, preferably simple carbs such as dextrose and/or maltodextrin, with .4 grams of whey protein per kilogram of bodyweight, preferably a whey protein isolate. Within two hours, eat as much protein and simple carbs as you can, but try to avoid high fructose corn syrup. Biotest's Surge product is based on this formula.

This same formula applies to those wanting to maintain their weight and just have optimal recovery--just skip the high carb meal within two hours and resume normal eating after three hours.

For fat loss:
Mix .4 grams of simple carbs per kg of bodyweight, with .4 grams of whey protein per kg of bodyweight. Resume normal eating three hours later. You can add glutamine to this formula if you'd like.

With all three approaches you can add creatine.

For those who are really skinny and want to gain weight, use the "fat loss" formula for a pre-workout drink. Drink half of it 30 minutes before training, add water, and drink the rest while you train.

People looking to maintain their weight or lose fat can ditch the carbs from the pre-workout drink and add 5-10 grams of branched-chain amino acids to the whey protein.