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What's the absolute minimum I need to eat Post-WO?
Since my gym is so crowded between 18 and 20, I'm thinking of having a few 21:00 workouts in my schedule. But that's a long time after dinner and I'm on a diet, so I don't have extra meals to schedule in whenever I please.
Would it be bad to not eat anything after a workout? I think Brad Pillon mentioned it wasn't so bad, but I can't find that quote again. Bad being definied as big muscle catabolism (as I understand there's always a small amount)
If it would be bad, how much is the minimum amount I'd need to eat to counteract this?
Any links or articles you can point me to would be greatly appreciated
So are you saying you would go workout after dinner and then come home and go to bed? I'm not sure if when you workout you are doing cardio or strength but I would at least try and have a little something to eat, esp. if you strength train. If you come home and go to bed then you need to focus on having some protein, cottage cheese or greek yogurt. Do not have carbs (keep it to a min). IMO I would like I said at least have a little something!
So are you saying you would go workout after dinner and then come home and go to bed? I'm not sure if when you workout you are doing cardio or strength but I would at least try and have a little something to eat, esp. if you strength train. If you come home and go to bed then you need to focus on having some protein, cottage cheese or greek yogurt. Do not have carbs (keep it to a min). IMO I would like I said at least have a little something!
That's the idea, I just want to know how little the something can be
If you're doing resistance training then the prime window for protein synthesis is at least 24 hours. So it's not that big a deal if you lift and then don't refuel with tons of protein/carbs inside a 30-minute window. This is especially true if you ate a solid dinner an hour or two before training.
I think your concern about nutrient timing is putting the cart before the horse.
If your workouts will be more consistent, more intense, and more fun later at night, then that's when you should do it. That will impact your body more than the exact timing of your meals.
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If you're doing resistance training then the prime window for protein synthesis is at least 24 hours. So it's not that big a deal if you lift and then don't refuel with tons of protein/carbs inside a 30-minute window. This is especially true if you ate a solid dinner an hour or two before training.
I think your concern about nutrient timing is putting the cart before the horse.
If your workouts will be more consistent, more intense, and more fun later at night, then that's when you should do it. That will impact your body more than the exact timing of your meals.
True! And yes, resistence training.
Normally it would be no problem for me to have a glass of milk and a banana at 22:00 after my workout. But i'm on a diet and I prefer to eat my food when I'm hungry. I guess I'll try it out foodless, and if I wake up feeling like crap I'll add a glass of chocolate milk after WO.
Not eating something immediately post workout is probably not the end of the world and won't make a large difference if your consumption of food is correct the rest of the day for your goals and assuming you do eat sometime in the hours following your workout. Still, if you are planning to workout intensely at 9pm and not eat anything until the next morning, I would say that is probably a very bad idea. At the very least consume a snack that contains some protein and carbohydrates right after your workouts, and I doubt it will make or break your diet. As little as 10g of protein and 20g carbohydrates postworkout have been shown to have acute benefits.
Not eating something immediately post workout is probably not the end of the world and won't make a large difference if your consumption of food is correct the rest of the day for your goals and assuming you do eat sometime in the hours following your workout. Still, if you are planning to workout intensely at 9pm and not eat anything until the next morning, I would say that is probably a very bad idea. At the very least consume a snack that contains some protein and carbohydrates right after your workouts, and I doubt it will make or break your diet. As little as 10g of protein and 20g carbohydrates postworkout have been shown to have acute benefits.
This is my personal experience with food, late workouts and sleep.
I get revved up from working out. I'd be surprised if you could get to bed immediately after hitting the gym. Personally I need at least 5 hours to cool off enough to get my head down. If you can get to sleep your body will probably wake you up in the middle of the night to eat. It's a possibility so have some sort of a clean meal available to eat in the middle of the night. The danger is that you wake up at 3:30 AM starving and want to get back to bed ASAP so you eat a box of cereal or whatever. In the middle of the night when you are tired and starving is when you don't have the willpower or clarity of thought to avoid eating poorly. On the other hand you have zero junk food in the house and perhaps spend 90 minutes or more rolling back and forth in bed hoping that you fall asleep again but don't or you have to get up and spend an hour and 15 minutes preparing enough food to eat, eating and getting back in bed etc... this leaves you short on sleep which is bad since sleep deprivation and heavy exercise is a recipe for catching a cold.
I tend to fast after I work out. Exercise kills my appetite and I wait until I feel hungry to eat using the assumption that my body will let me know what it needs when it needs it. I also don't care about muscle growth so I don't feel an urgency to protein up to add mass. In my experience fasting after working out burns fat like crazy which is my goal. The caveat is that you need to be ready for it when the hunger comes because you will want to eat everything in sight so kick off with a chicken breast and you won't overeat calorie wise since protein makes you feel full very fast. If I have an early evening workout I always eat a full meal before I go to bed otherwise I can't get to sleep or I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep unless I eat enough.
In my experience catabolism is a non issue if you are a fitness lifter. Don't worry about it unless you are trying to get huge amounts of muscle mass. In my opinion the issue is exaggerated and can be ignored by anyone who is not trying to compete for development or strength. The human body adapts to its environmental demands which is why we can lift and get stronger. It's why my cousin who got a job on the assembly line got ripped from handling parts for 8 hours a day. All he did was eat clean meals 3x a day and ended up with a 6 pack and is obviously more muscular.
What's the absolute minimum I need to eat Post-WO?
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