It’s no secret that when it comes to weight loss, patience is necessary. Still, it’s hard to come by…
Even though we know change doesn’t happen overnight, that doesn’t stop up from wanting to see results in our physiques almost immediately (am I right?).
So, as a personal trainer, it boggles my mind to see people bust their butts in the gym and then fall short with their post-workout recovery.
Day-in and day-out, I watch men and women push their bodies to new levels- new PR’s, higher reps, more weight loaded on the bar- and then they walk out with nothing but a scoop of protein powder in their shaker cups.
(Guess what?! There’s a better way to do it- so keep reading!).
There is no denying that workouts matter. Lean muscle is built from challenging resistance training. Period.
However, when it comes to fitness, nutrition is king. Exactly what our bodies are capable of transforming into relies heavily on the foods we feed it. That’s because food is the fuel that ignites change. Food is, quite literally, the building blocks which our body uses in creating that dream body we have pictured in the back of our minds.
That’s why- without proper nutrition, our results become stalled.
Think of it this way- would you ever try to build a house without a hammer? Nails? Wood? …Of course not! You’d have an entire toolbox full of exactly the right tools for the job.
Similarly, the nutrients we feed our body are the “tools” which we put into own unique toolboxes in order to design our physiques. Without the right stuff, there’s just not much we can do.
Thus, I am here to tell you that what you put into your body directly following intense exercise can make or break your results.
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This post may contain affiliate links, for more information, see my disclosures here.
Best Post Workout Nutrition for Women:
Here’s why that protein shake just isn’t enough post workout…
After a workout, your body has a set of order of operations it must go through to replenish, repair, and recover. If you do this part right, you will recover faster, reduce soreness, and grow muscle more quickly & efficiently. If you don’t you will continually miss out on maximizing the results from your hard work (talk about a bummer!).
Most people assume that when you pick up a pair of dumbbells in the gym that you are “building muscle”. On the contrary, you are actually breaking down your muscle tissue and creating micro-traumas on the muscle fiber.
During a workout, intense lifting causes microscopic tears to form in the fiber and connective tissue of muscles. These tears fatigue the muscles and accumulate in large number. With proper rest and recovery, the muscles repair themselves, thus increasing in size, strength and muscle capacity (also referred to as hypertrophy).
However- in order to complete that grueling training session in the first place, your body relied on the fuel you fed it.
Carbohydrates are an important fuel during exercise. In fact, they are the predominant fuel source during any prolonged and intense exercise.
The problem with carbs is that they can only be stored (in the form of glycogen) in small amounts in the muscle and liver. And a workout lasting longer than 60 to 90 minutes is enough to deplete the body of its carb stores (or rather, its glycogen stores).
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Because glycogen is necessary in maintaining our blood glucose (aka “blood sugar”), the body will begin breaking down other substance in its absence. Initially, the body will rely on protein to fill this void.
You see where I’m going with this??
If the only thing in your shaker is protein powder, that protein isn’t going to repairing the muscle tissue you just worked so hard to break down. Rather it’s getting converted into glucose to replenish the glycogen you used up.
It doesn’t take a math whiz to see that you’re not getting your money’s worth out of your protein powder if it’s not getting used for muscle repair (that’s really sad considering how expensive protein powder is these days!).
Not to mention, if your muscles don’t experience full recovery, it’s unlikely you’ll see the results you want. No wonder so many people are frustrated in their fitness journeys!
Have you ever wondered why some of the best post workout snack combos aren’t actually all protein?
- Banana and peanut butter
- Sweet potato and chicken
- Rice and beans
- Quinoa and Salmon
Your body needs protein AND carbs post workout for best recovery!
It’s no coincidence; experts have known for a long time the importance of consuming carbohydrates post workout in order to get our bodies into recovery mode. However, if you want your body to begin rebuilding that muscle fiber more quickly (and get you seeing results even faster) then you better find a speedy way to drive those carbs right where they need to go.
Hence where Ignition (a fast absorbing carb source) comes in play.
Ignition lives up to its name by igniting the anabolic growth process in your body. It’s a flavorless powder (meaning you can mix it with any protein flavor you like) that you add to your post workout shake.
One serving of Ignition delivers 46 grams (1/2 scoop for women) of pure dexanhydrous glucose directly to the muscle cell for an insulin spike unsurpassed by any other product or source.
Ignition is also designed to bypass liver storage in order to hit your muscles immediately. Other sugars must be collected in the liver first and then be distributed slowly throughout the body from there, this can take several hours. Ignition saves valuable time and gets the body in recovery mode instantly!
If you’re serious about getting the results you’re working so hard to achieve, then Ignition is a must-have in any supplement stack. Where else can you get one product that will do all of this?:
- Replenish glycogen stores
- Improve muscle stamina
- Ignite muscle growth
- and Decrease Recovery time
Don’t just stop there though! Remember how after you replenish those fuel stores your body ran through during that workout, you also need the proper tools to repair that muscle fiber?
That’s why it is especially important to pair your fast-acting carb source with an equally fast protein supply. For that reason the only product I recommended to my own clients, family & friends is a hydrolized whey protein isolate.
Why do we want specifically a hydrolyzed whey protein isolate for our protein?- Glad you asked!
A whey protein isolate is whey protein that has lactose and fat out of it (2 things from dairy that slows down digestion). What is left is a powder that is 90% protein or higher.
Now, if you take that protein and hydrolyze it, you are making it even more rapid assimilating. When a product is hydrolyzed, natural enzymes are used to break down the protein strands, essentially pre-digesting them, so that way when you drink it along side your glucose (Ignition), everything is on the same time time table.
Best Post Workout Protein Powder:
For years, I have relied on Phormula-1 from 1st Phorm to supply my muscles with everything they needed in order to develop into that sexy, lean muscle I so strongly desired.
Phormula-1 is the industry’s leading whey protein isolate. The key to this product is it’s purity: The Phormula-1 Matrix utilizes only the highest quality hydrolyzed and predigested whey protein fractions with Low-Temperature Processed Cross-Flow Micro-Filtrated Whey Protein Isolate for maximum assimilation speed and amino acid retention.
The fact that it tastes amazing is just an added bonus;)
Together, Phormula-1 and Ignition are an unstoppable pair- determined to give you the best results ASAP! What are you waiting for? Give this duo a try. I promise you’ll never do post-workout the same way again!
Conclusion:
It’s important to focus on proper recovery if you truly want to see the best results from your fitness plan.
Giving your body exactly what it needs post workout is one of the best things you can do to reduce muscle soreness, increase fat loss + ensure you feel more like yourself, faster!
I can’t recommend the Post Workout Stack from 1st Phorm enough- it includes both a fast-acting protein powder + carb source- so that your body can stay in fat burning mode.
Personally, I’ve been using the Post Workout Stack for years in my own fitness routine + it has made all the difference in the kind of results that I see.
Now it’s your turn! Let me know in the comments below what you use to get your body in recovery mode after an intense workout.
Here to support YOU! XO- Britney (ms.fit.farmer)
P.S. Want some more help on your fitness journey? Enter your email below for instant access to my entire library of (free) fitness resources 🙂
Browse more at: Protein Supplements Nutrition
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