By Cliff Harvey PhD (c)
What the heck is ‘peri-workout’?
No, it’s not a Portuguese inspired workout performed with chicken
drumsticks, it’s the time around training, and so includes the time-period before,
during, and after training.
Your needs for peri-workout
nutrition are going to vary greatly depending on your desired outcome. Most
importantly, your sport and the volume and intensity of exercise are going to
play a big role in what you take before, during, and after training.
I’m going to delve into specifics for endurance sports
later, but in this post, I’m going to over off what can work really well for
your average lifter, gym-goer, or athlete training around 3-9 hours per week
(which, let’s face it…is most of you!) with reference to what I take.
Before training supplementation
So, what’s going to help?
Cognitive boosters:
Stimulant, perceived exertion, and stamina boosters
·
Caffeine [also in ketone products like Pruvit
KetoMAX and KetoNAT]
Joint and connective tissue boosters:
During training supplementation
For most recreational athletes, there’s no real need for
anything within the workout, especially if you’ve had some pre-workout boosters.
Take some ketones and/or a touch of protein (around 10g) if you really want to…
After training supplementation
After training you might
benefit from some protein. Now, I know that the evidence is quite equivocal
and the recommendation to have protein after training is not as clear-cut as it
once was, BUT I still have my clients taking a protein drink straight after
training…
Why protein?
- There is likely to be some benefit to muscle gain or retention and possibly to fat-loss, even if small
- Many of my clients do not eat enough protein to hit their daily targets consistently and so, having the behavioural trigger of always having a protein drink after training helps them to optimise protein intake
Overall, when my clients take a protein drink after training, they tend to feel better, gain more muscle, and are more satiated later in the day, and so, eat less overall, but with a greater protein intake consistently. (Win-win-win!)
Creatine is also a good addition to your post-workout drink. It is THE king of sports supplements with literally hundreds of papers demonstrating the benefits to muscle and body-composition, strength and power.
Cliff’s peri-workout stack
Pre-workout:
Post-workout:
NOTE: The article contains links to products distributed by Nutrition Store Online, a company owned and founded by Cliff Harvey
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