Importance
Workouts lasting longer than an hour are especially depleting on your muscle glycogen stores. Think of your muscle glycogen as basically your fuel source for your muscles. Intense exercise not only depletes your muscle glycogen but breaks down muscle tissue and raises your cortisol levels. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone released in response to stress that attempts to raise your blood sugar levels. In order for you to properly recover, you must replenish your glycogen and turn your body from an catabolic state(muscle-breakdown) into an anabolic state (muscle-building environment).
Timing
There is a small window post workout where your muscles are primed to absorb nutrients. Studies have shown this window closes after 1-2 hours. The first part of post workout nutrition is taking in a recovery shake immediately post workout. For best results, you want to get this shake in within 15-30 minutes of ending exercise. The reasoning behind this is that you want your body in that catabolic state (muscle breakdown) as short as possible. With a proper recovery shake, you can turn your body from a catabolic state into an anabolic state to replenish your muscle glycogen and stimulate protein synthesis. After taking a post training shake you want to eat a well balanced meal about 1-2 hours later. This will add much needed nutrients and additional calories.
Nutrients
The composition of your post workout shake is especially important. Many combat athletes make the mistake of taking what your average gym rat uses to pump iron. Often they take in an extraordinary amount of protein with very little carbohydrates, if any. What combat athletes should be taking in is a well balanced recovery shake in the ratio of 3 carbohydrates to 1 protein.
The type of carbohydrates and proteins are also important. In order to turn your body from a catabolic state into an anabolic state, you need to spike your insulin and replenish your muscle glycogen. The two best carbohydrates out there are Dextrose and Maltodextrin. Dextrose has a glycemic index of 100 and the same composition as blood glucose. This will go straight to your muscles driving the nutrients to begin protein synthesis. Malodextrin is a slightly slower digesting carbohydrate that gives you a timed release of blood glucose to further replenish your muscle glycogen.
The second important macro nutrient is the appropriate types of protein. You want a sustained release of amino acids from high quality sources such as Whey protein and Micellar Casein to rebuild damage tissue to come back stronger. Whey is the fast digesting component that will being your protein synthesis while Micellar Casein will give you that sustained release. Studies have shown that adding casein in addition to whey is beneficial to recovery and muscle growth.
Rehydration is also critical to your recovery. You want to make sure that not only are sodium and potassium replaced, but also magnesium, calcium, and phosphorous. The longer your body stays dehydrated, the longer your recovery will take. Our recovery shakes use a precise combination of minerals that are the same electrolytes that are lost through sweat.
Having a post workout shake that is fortified with L-Glutamine can be beneficial in your recovery. L-Glutamine has been long used in the endurance community that can help boost your immune system and prevent overtraining. Vitamin C and Vitamin E is also important to combat free radicals and combat the effects of overtraining.
Long term health considerations
Long term health should also be at the forefront of any athlete. You don't want to sacrifice your long term health for an immediate benefit. It is important your shake doesn't have any artificial flavors, artificial colors, or artificial sweeteners. Make sure your shake doesn't have Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, or any of the other common artificial sweeteners. A good practice is, if they don't list the ingredient or they have a multi chain word for an ingredient, it is probably artificial and should be taken with caution. Proprietary ingredients should also be avoided. Do you research on your products and ensure that your recovery shake is scientifically based and safe to use. Our products are 100% scientifically based and 100% natural. In addition, our products are manufactured in a registered facility that ensures there is no contamination in our products.
Workouts lasting longer than an hour are especially depleting on your muscle glycogen stores. Think of your muscle glycogen as basically your fuel source for your muscles. Intense exercise not only depletes your muscle glycogen but breaks down muscle tissue and raises your cortisol levels. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone released in response to stress that attempts to raise your blood sugar levels. In order for you to properly recover, you must replenish your glycogen and turn your body from an catabolic state(muscle-breakdown) into an anabolic state (muscle-building environment).
Timing
There is a small window post workout where your muscles are primed to absorb nutrients. Studies have shown this window closes after 1-2 hours. The first part of post workout nutrition is taking in a recovery shake immediately post workout. For best results, you want to get this shake in within 15-30 minutes of ending exercise. The reasoning behind this is that you want your body in that catabolic state (muscle breakdown) as short as possible. With a proper recovery shake, you can turn your body from a catabolic state into an anabolic state to replenish your muscle glycogen and stimulate protein synthesis. After taking a post training shake you want to eat a well balanced meal about 1-2 hours later. This will add much needed nutrients and additional calories.
Nutrients
The composition of your post workout shake is especially important. Many combat athletes make the mistake of taking what your average gym rat uses to pump iron. Often they take in an extraordinary amount of protein with very little carbohydrates, if any. What combat athletes should be taking in is a well balanced recovery shake in the ratio of 3 carbohydrates to 1 protein.
The type of carbohydrates and proteins are also important. In order to turn your body from a catabolic state into an anabolic state, you need to spike your insulin and replenish your muscle glycogen. The two best carbohydrates out there are Dextrose and Maltodextrin. Dextrose has a glycemic index of 100 and the same composition as blood glucose. This will go straight to your muscles driving the nutrients to begin protein synthesis. Malodextrin is a slightly slower digesting carbohydrate that gives you a timed release of blood glucose to further replenish your muscle glycogen.
The second important macro nutrient is the appropriate types of protein. You want a sustained release of amino acids from high quality sources such as Whey protein and Micellar Casein to rebuild damage tissue to come back stronger. Whey is the fast digesting component that will being your protein synthesis while Micellar Casein will give you that sustained release. Studies have shown that adding casein in addition to whey is beneficial to recovery and muscle growth.
Rehydration is also critical to your recovery. You want to make sure that not only are sodium and potassium replaced, but also magnesium, calcium, and phosphorous. The longer your body stays dehydrated, the longer your recovery will take. Our recovery shakes use a precise combination of minerals that are the same electrolytes that are lost through sweat.
Having a post workout shake that is fortified with L-Glutamine can be beneficial in your recovery. L-Glutamine has been long used in the endurance community that can help boost your immune system and prevent overtraining. Vitamin C and Vitamin E is also important to combat free radicals and combat the effects of overtraining.
Long term health considerations
Long term health should also be at the forefront of any athlete. You don't want to sacrifice your long term health for an immediate benefit. It is important your shake doesn't have any artificial flavors, artificial colors, or artificial sweeteners. Make sure your shake doesn't have Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, or any of the other common artificial sweeteners. A good practice is, if they don't list the ingredient or they have a multi chain word for an ingredient, it is probably artificial and should be taken with caution. Proprietary ingredients should also be avoided. Do you research on your products and ensure that your recovery shake is scientifically based and safe to use. Our products are 100% scientifically based and 100% natural. In addition, our products are manufactured in a registered facility that ensures there is no contamination in our products.
In summary, a proper recovery shake is vital for a combat athlete
in order to maximize performance and improve recovery. Make it a ritual
to take in a well balanced recovery shake designed for combat athletes
and I guarantee that you will see the difference. ATH Sports Nutrition
is the leader of all natural supplements for combat athletes. For more
information as well as professional grade nutrition designed
specifically for combat athletes, go to http://www.athsportsnutrition.com.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stuart_K_Kam
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