Post Workout Supplements – Full Body Recovery

Workouts are broadly divided into three equally important parts, especially in body-building and extreme routines. They are the pre-workout phase, the workout proper, and the post workout segment.

All three need supplements to help the body. The post workout supplements is just as important as those taken in the first two parts.

Lost nutrients

Like what had been emphasized, the body needs just as much nutrients to replenish those that were expended in the whole routine, especially during the workout proper.

The body needs as much as it does after the workout routine. The reason is that the body is depleted of its natural reserves of essential nutrients. The muscles are torn under the stress of the routines. There is need for an after workout recovery supplement.

Replenishments

After the workout, there is an immediate need to reverse the depleted conditions of the body nutrients, spent and used during the routine. The pre-workout supplements and those taken in preparation for the workout proper are not enough.

Supplements have to be taken in immediately right after the workout. (It hade been estimated that it has to be replenished within 45 minutes). The time frame is known to be most effective in bringing back to the body the lost nutrients.

Liquids

The primary need is to re-hydrate first the body with water or those that are fortified with some electrolytes needed for faster absorption. The supplements can then be taken after the body is re-hydrated.

The supplements are needed by the body to do the rebuilding and repairing processes. This is important when you plan to add bulk to your build. Without the rebuild, you might not get your desired bulk.

Creatine

This nutrient is needed by the body to help produce ATP in the muscle cells and brings the energy back into them. Done right after, it prevents the breakdown of muscles initiated by the extreme nature of the workout.

It has the advantage of being rapidly absorbed by the body and it helps increase overall strength as well as energy and endurance. The other help is in cell volumization and increasing lean muscles.

Beta-alanine / glutamine

Beta-alanine is crucial in the restoration of the pH levels in the muscles. Lactic acid builds up fast during workouts. This supplement helps restore the correct pH levels and helps in gaining muscles, as well.

Glutamine, on the other hand, adds fuel back to your muscles. It helps the repair process much faster. Also, it is anti-catabolic, which is very good if you are shredding. It increases protein synthesis and helps in muscle recovery.

BCAAs / Carbohydrates

BCAAs (branched chain amino acids consisting of L-leucine, L-isoleucine, and L-valine) actually build muscle protein, termed as they are as building blocks of muscles. They also are another energy source that muscles use during the routine and are anti-catabolic.

As glycogen stored in the muscles and live, carbs are the body’s main energy source. A workout session brings the glycogen down and this has to be replenished at once. These are the top post workout supplements for recovery.

Pre-Workout Nutrition – Very Important Factor

Most body building experts usually have some plain but effective advice regarding pre-workout nutrition. They usually want their body building students to simply eat the proper foods in the hours before training and taking supplements that can maximize their productivity on the exercise floor.  

The reasoning is that the pre-workout nutrition does not just prepare one to be physically and mentally ready to handle the intensity of the programmed routines. The rationale is that without the calories on your body, you just won’t have the energy to train with intensity.

These nutritional needs will be used to meet the nutritional requirements that are sure to be lost during the routines. Eating proteins, for instance, before exercise can help maintain or increase muscle size. This is aside from aiding the body in the performance.

Proteins

When ingesting proteins before a workout will reduce the markers of muscle damage. The3 exercise degrades the myoglobin, creatine kinase and myofibrillar proteins. Carbohydrates do not seem to the same effect. 

When the muscles have less damage, the recovery is faster and you can adapt your exercise in the long-term. It brings to the bloodstream the amino acids when the body needs them the most. In turn, this boosts the muscle-building capabilities. 

Carbohydrates and fats

When taken before the exercise, carbs fuel the training and helps your recovery. It is a misconception, however, that you only need carbs if you are engaged in long (over two hours) endurance exercises. Carbs can also help in enhancing shorter term (one hour) high-intensity training. 

The carbs preserves the muscle and liver glycogen. This tells your brain that you are well-fed and helps in muscle retentions and growth. Likewise, it stimulates the release of insulin. When combined with protein, this improves protein synthesis (and prevents protein breakdown).

Fats before exercise don’t seem to improve nor diminish the routine performance. They don’t seem to fuel performance, either. (That is the work of carbs.) It does help in slowing down digestion which can maintain blood glucose and insulin levels and keep the body on a balance.

Suggested pre-exercise nutrition

For all practical reasons, depending on what fits your individual needs, you can simply have a normal meal in the few hours before you do your heavy exercise. Some people have smaller meals just before the exercise sessions. (If you are intending to put on some mass, you may want to do both.)

In option 1 (2 to 3 hours before exercise), your actual needs will vary depending on your present size (weight and height), your intended goals, genetics and the duration and intensity of your exercise routine.

For option 2 (from 0 to 60 minutes before training), you would need to eat smaller meals closer to your session. The rationale is that you have a shorter time to digest whatever you took in.

The main recommendation is to take generally only something like liquid food – a shake or a smoothie.

There is the possibility that you may not digest your food properly the closer you are to the start of your routine. It may look light, but your pre-workout nutrition is very important.

Pre-Workout Supplements – Ammo for the Workout

Supplements are additional food for the body. When considering your nutritional needs before your workout, pre-workout supplements are the go-to nutrients to pick out and supplement your bodily needs on your way to the gym floor.

One important thing to consider, though is that you need to know your goals and the type of exercise you are going to do to achieve those. Individual ingredients in the supplement will only improve certain aspects of your performance.

Some will increase power or strength while the others will boost your endurance. The supplements carry many of these ingredients. Knowing what is best for you and your type of exercise will guide you in finding the right supplements that will work best for you.

The following are some of these well-known ingredients to look for just before your workout sessions.

Creatine

One of the most important to include in your supplements is creatine. What it does is help build more of your muscles and give you more energy for the workout. They give energy to the cells, especially those in the muscles.

Research had shown that it can safely increase your muscle mass, strength and exercise performance.

Getting extra creatine in the supplement means giving your body more energy for the workout. Studies show that gains in strength from weight training programs are 5 to 20% higher than average with people taking creatine.

Beta-Alanine

This nutrient helps protect your body against the damage caused by lactic acid build-up brought about by the exercise. It increases carnosine in your body which corrects your body’s pH levels from being too acidic.

This nutrient has to be taken before the workout to have the protective effect. In short, it combats fatigue by fighting the lactic acid buildup during exercise.

Nitric oxide

Many pre-workout supplements have these NO boost, Nitric oxide matrix or pump matrix (several names to the same thing). These are actually specially-designed mixes of vitamins and minerals that aid in the production of the body’s nitric oxide.

Nitric oxide helps to dilate blood vessels in the body to increase blood flow. With it, the muscle cells communicate better and with better blood flow, the work out gets better.

Amino acids

These nutrients may or may not be needed in your pre-workout mix. It is a personal preference if you want them in your pre-work out taking them separately. These acids (particularly L-leucine) help promote muscle growth via protein synthesis.

L-arginine, on the other hand, has the pump effect which improves blood flow and delivering nutrients to the muscle fibers improving their growth. Agmatine helps in mental endurance during the workout. L-citrulline assists in vaso-dilation to increase blood and oxygen levels to the muscles, reducing physical and mental fatigue.

Naturally present in the body, adding them in as a supplement helps lead to larger muscles.

Caffeine

The most common stimulant in the world also helps you get through your exercise better. Caffeine can also help in making you concentrate better on your workout. It is needed in your pre-workout supplements to help you get through your grueling workout aside from being alert.

BCCA – Muscle Growth

Currently, BCAA (the acronym of branched chain amino acids) is now one of the most sought-after supplementary nutrients for people engaged in body-building and fitness programs. As had been proven by numerous studies on the use of supplements, these amino acids are vital to gaining skeletal muscles.

Likewise, this amino acid group had been found to be just as helpful in maintaining the body mass on calorie-deficit diets. For body-building enthusiasts who want their physiques lean and trim, this aspect is a bonus.

Essential factors

This group of essential amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, and valine) is 35% of the total muscle protein content of the body. Experts group them as essential although they have to be sourced from outside the body in order to be able to use them.

Like all nutrients, they can come from natural food around. However, they are now manufactured by big nutrition companies in the most stringent and scientific methods. Mostly, they are part of the large group of other amino acids that make proteins for the body.

These amino acids, however, aid in the preservation of glycogen stores in the3 body which is the main fuel for the muscles. Likewise, they also help minimize protein breakdown during intensive gym sessions.

Power

During workouts, these branched chain amino acids literally provide fuel for the skeletal muscles. As supplement, they help the body hold on to its glycogen store. During the workout process, the glycogen has a supply of energy resource to tap into.

With the synergy, the body avoids breaking down muscle proteins for energy use. It is beneficial two-fold—it helps sustain the muscles and protects them. For the body-builder, the increased energy is translated into more repetitions in the routines.

Recovery

After an intense workout, these amino acids help in enhancing the recovery of the muscle proteins. This is especially true when carbs are also present in the4 consumption. (The leucine is the main performer among the three.)

Overall, the nutrient plays a regulating genetic signaling pathway involved in the muscle protein synthesis. (In the chain, the mixes are usually higher in leucine than the other two.)

During gym routines, the acids aids in getting more intense workout. In the routines, serotonin levels can rise and makes one fatigued and unable to push through. The branched chain amino acids reduce the serotonin, thus one can work harder and longer.

Benefits

In some ways, the branched chain amino acids stimulate the muscle protein synthesis. This is the metabolic process where the body produces new muscle protein.

With increased consumption, the body piles up on more benefits. For one, it decreases the protein breakdown pathway. They also help decrease the expression of several complexes involved in the breakdown of proteins.

With the combination in the increase of the synthesis and the decrease in breakdown, there is now muscle gain that results in the process (or at least maintaining the same level.) When the synthesis rate is equal to the breakdown, there is no gain or loss in muscles. With BCAA, there is higher synthesis than the breakdown resulting in muscle growth.

Pre-Workout Supplements Online – Easier, Faster, Simpler Purchases

One practical way of shopping these days is getting your goods from the internet.  Getting your pre-workout supplement online is easier, faster, and simpler. This is much better than having to go from health store to health store looking for the supplements and finding out many are not available.

It is also much easier to get these supplements because non-availability online is not much of a problem. Also, there is a great variety of stores and other things to choose from, compare with and examine further.

Usual alerts

Supplements are usually manufactured with many ingredients together. Some brands might have the same ingredients but the dosage are not the same. For those with limited information, some of these individual ingredients may not be backed by scientific research.

However, this need not discourage you from avoiding online purchases, especially on supplements.  This would only mean you need to look for more alternatives and other means. Proprietary blends in some could mean disguising the exact amount of each ingredient.

You can also check on the labels to find out if they have been tested. Major testing services include informad-choice.org, NSF international and Banned Substance Control Group.

Your own supplement

One other option you can have is mixing your own supplement. This looks and sounds intimidating, but it is one way of ensuring that you are only consuming the ingredients you need.

The first thing is to buy the individual ingredients needed for your supplement mix. This is assuming that you are familiar with the ingredients needed for the mix. You can compare the ingredients and dosages to scientifically-based sources.

Dosages

One important aspect of these supplements is that one is expected to know the approximate (or exact) dosages needed for each ingredient. This is usually based on the type of exercise you are going to do. You can do your own measurements and check on what works best.

You can find packages of the ingredients, individually. If you can buy them in bulk, you may save some cash offhand. If you are not comfortable with mixing your own, simply look carefully on the facts label on the supplement in stores or online.

Ingredients

In most cases, it is a given that the individual ingredients on these supplements have already been studied. (Some may have some further research going on.)

For those long-lasting endurance activities in the gym floor, you may be able to improve your performances with caffeine, nitrate and BCCAs.

For short intense activities,(these are the exercises that give you the muscle burn sensation) you could have beta-alanine, sodium bicarbonate, caffeine and citrulline combination.

To help you do your best during strength and power exercises, like weight training, you can creatine, caffeine and citrulline.

Medical professional

In all these activities, you need to have a licensed medical professional to guide you every step of the way., since you are a complete amateur. The medical officer can do the mixed combination by himself.

Also, today’s manufacturers of workout supplements have their own approved combinations in their products. With their professional presence, it is relatively safe to shop for your pre-workout supplement online.