when should you eat after a workout, and should you try for a meal or just a snack?
If you're lifting to lose weight, then you should likely look to HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) instead of, or at least in addition to, lifting weights.
What's more, weight is really only of import when you are involved in competition sport that has weight classes. From a health perspective, weight is a finger in the wind at best. Body composition is a much better thing to concern yourself with. 200 pounds at 30% body fat isn't much different from 160 pounds at 30% body fat. Look to reduce your body fat percentage rather than worry about weight. However, if weight classes are of concern, then there is obviously more to consider.
That said, to answer your question, if you're looking to lose weight, then i suggest waiting about an hour after working out before eating, then just eat a balanced meal. Additionally, try to workout in the morning on an empty stomach.
Hope this helps.
john
TTT - nice link gusto.
MRMAKO, my understanding is that HIIT will burn fat without the risk of losing muscle that comes with extended bouts of biking or running (unless, of course, the biking or running involves intense intervals).
Additionally, there is a common misnotion that weight loss is a good indicator of getting into better shape. i think the composition statement was needed, as the original question was how to lose weight, not how to lose fat.
john
I'm also doing HIIT on the elliptical, and the lifting I am doing is part of a Crossfit-style program.
I'm talking about losing fat, I thought that was implied.
wait a hour after working out, got it.
"Weight training is not really very good for fat burning"
Well, tell that to the folks at Crossfit.
Part of what you said is correct, MRMAKO. It is true that mainly fat is burned during aerobic activity of longer duration. But even though HIIT burns mainly sugar through the lactic acid and glycolytic pathways, it boosts the metabolism which burns fat long after the activity has ceased.
This does not occur to as great an extent with aerobic activity unless it is performed at a high level of intensity, in which case you are burning mainly sugar as well.
HIIT can be carried out using bodyweight exercises (such as sprinting or a series of calisthenic exercises performed as intervals), or with weights.
While it is true that traditional bodybuilding and powerlifting weight training are not great for fat loss, hybrid routines can very effectively utilize weights in a metabolism-boosting fashion.
Look up "Fran", "Fight Gone Bad", and others on Crossfit's site.
As for the initial question, eat within an hour after working out and make sure you get protein and carbs. Regardless of whether or not you are of the low-carb mindset, the one-hour window after working out is a time in which you can consume a reasonable amount of carbohydrate to replenish muscle glycogen stores. Carbs (and for that matter, calories) consumed at this time will not go to stored bodyfat as easily. So eat a full meal or a drink a meal-replacement shake. Save the snacks for less active periods of the day.
Polishfighter- Exactly what I was about to say. Well put.
Barbell complexes
True, but barbell complexes are even more efficient.
Fat is burned with aerobic exercise that uses your slowtwitch muscles and most of those muscles are below your waist.
this is true but to lesser degree than short term very quick rise in heart rate exercises like a 100m sprint. like the other guy said the sprint workouts or hiit may not burn fat as its energy source but it jacks your metabolism and keeps it up much longer than any aerobic exercise. aerobic exercise also uses carb and sugar energy from the bosy much more so than fat. why do you think marathon runners load up on carbs the weeks before a race instead of loading up on fats.
why does it have to be one or the other?
I would recommend both longish runs (3-5 miles) AND interval training for any combat athlete.
when should you eat after a workout, and should you try for a meal or just a snack?
I'll respectfully disagree with johnv (again) and state that I don't think the meal following a weight workout should be that different regardless of whether you're building muscle, cutting fat, etc. I'm NOT saying that johnv's way of doing it wouldn't work. I'm just saying that I don't like it.
Personally, what I would do is keep a fairly conventional post-workout meal (high-GI carbs+lean protein+micronutrients) and then make adjustments to your OTHER daily meals as necessary for your goals (high-cal for bulking, low-cal for cutting).
Again, this isn't because I think that my way is the only way that works, but rather because if I wait too long after a workout to eat or don't get enough carbs and protein when I do eat, I feel like shit. If you've talked to striker lately he can tell you about how we spent hours one time trying to get to the bottom of a mysterious weakness he was feeling. We found that it was a result improper post-workout nutrition.
I find it hard to believe that anyone in this day and age doubts the effectivness of weight training for fat lose.
Weight training increases your lean body mass. Increasing your lean body mass speeds up
your metabolic rate so you burn more calories at rest and the number of calories you burn at rest (your basal metabolic rate) is directly proportional to the amount of muscle you carry.
Buddahdev, my thoughts right now (subject to change, of course, as i learn more) regarding post-workout nutrition depends on when the next bout of work is to be done. What i mean by this is that if someone is engaging in only 1 bout of exercise or training per day, then i think just having a well balanced meal will suffice. If, on the other hand, one is participating in multiple training sessions per day, then i think your post-workout meal suggestion is the way to go, as the body will not have enough time to sufficiently recover before the next round of work comes along.
john
I'll try for a middle way.
higher GI carb meal after sprints - regular meal after Crossfit.
we'll see how it works.
really it is a matter of how much and what you eat
postworkout very important to eat whether attempting to gain or lose wt
thank you
Coach hale
www.maxcondition.com
where practicality meets science
high intensity interval training.