There is a huge amount of people who use one of two approaches immediately after weightlifting:

1) Protein and Simple Carbs (Dextrose)
2) Protein and Complex Carbs (Oats)

But where are the people who don't abide by this rule? I'd like to get some conversation going on JSF from those who don't follow one of the above plans.

Let's hear from those of you who don't follow the PWO carb rule, or at least from those who do it a bit differently. I'm interested in some different viewpoints here.

Slight variation- I see some also advocating FIBROUS CARBS only PWO (and rather in general) so chicken and greens beans PWO, etc.

:confused:

I guess I used to do it a bit differently in that I would do my lifting, fasted, first thing in the morning with short rest intervals to get some cardiovascular benefit from the workout in addition to strength training. I wouldn't consume anything until at least an hour after working out and then it was usually a shake with equal parts protein and carbs.

The rationale was that cardio burns fat and that the fat burning can last up to an hour after the activity. Not providing calories through digestion forced my system to take fuel from fat. I followed this type of training from 1999-2002 and again for the first three months of 2006.

While the PWO shake makes a great deal of sense to me, and I currently utilize one the second I'm done lifting, I was quite pleased with my fat loss and strength gain following the procedure detailed above.

Something strange that I noticed, and mentioned to Zilla (I think) yesterday, was that when I started lifting in the evenings I would get ravenously hungry immediately afterwards. I'm talking painful hunger cramps. The PWO shake became a necessity.

M@

Following my Bev diet I was cycling 4 weeks PWO w/Mass Maker (2:1 ratio carb/pro), and then 4 weeks PWO w/Muscle Provider (little to no carbs).
I've never had better results than when I followed their plan. Why the hell did I stop? :confused: :bang:

Later EDIT: Something else I've found myself doing occasionally over the past few weeks, is a PreWO shake with fats/carbs/protein, with only BCAA's and citrulline as a PWO.
PreWO shake consists of 6oz. unsweetened pineapple juice, 6 oz. coconut milk, 1/2 banana, 1 scoop vanilla Nitrean, and digestive enzymes.

Before PWO shakes, I think

pasta, white rice or potatos + ground beef or a juicy steak and gallons of milk were the order of the day. Made some pretty bigs boys on just food. Course that's pretty much similar to a PWO shake but a lot slower acting.

I guess there's people that don't do anything but I think most have something to eat shortly after even if it's just a candy bar ;)

Did you mean people who have say only a protein shake with water? Or perhaps totally against the grain and have a stick of butter or something? :D

Back in the days (80's), my friends only took BCAA's post workout. They got damn big, damn fast. Now it's all about whey and simple carbs to take advantage of that insulin spike.

On the AST site, they claim it's best to take the simple carbs with creatine and then half hour later, the protein shake then 45 minutes later a solid food meal (I think this is correct but may be a little off with the timing). It's way too much trouble for me so I just down the shake with creatine and that's it.

Whey Protein after every work out and once every morning. One serving of 24 grams every morning regardless of activity and an extra serving right after workout totaling 48 grams, which works out to be 3X a week.

Something like 2 grams of Carbs and less than 1 gram of fat in that protein per serving. I usually lift at night (9ish) and do not eat anything until the morning.

I've seen increased strength each week, as well as visual gains. I'm also on a cutting routine (deficiency of 450 calories a day under minimum maintenance).

It might simply be beginners gains, but I put weight on extremely easy, so building muscle is nothing for me.

I have never really bought the whole idea that you need a Carb source after workouts, your body has plenty and knows where to get them. Just like eating simple sugars before a workout is a myth. The body digests them and releases them into your system haphazardly resulting in an inefficient power source. It is much more ideal to have your body us it’s sugar stores and release them naturally.

All you need should be in your body throughout the day if you are eating properly. Let it do what it was made to do.

I guess there's people that don't do anything but I think most have something to eat shortly after even if it's just a candy bar ;)

Did you mean people who have say only a protein shake with water? Or perhaps totally against the grain and have a stick of butter or something? :D
Yeah, I'm about as far against the grain as you can get.

I lift when I feel like lifting and eat when I feel like eating.

Usually I feel like lifting very late at night, about three hours after my last meal. I go to sleep immediately after I lift and don't eat until about 8 hours later.

But I'm not lifting with the hopes of changing my body composition. I'm mostly lifting because it feels good to lift, secondarily to increase my strength, then finally to gain muscle mass.

I wonder how much I'm compromising my goals with inexact nutrition. :confused:

Pain.

If I don't do the carbs and protein PWO, my DOMS is severe. If I do eat Carb/Pro, then they are much reduced.

I have experimented with PWO shakes and have found that dex/pro works best, but isn't that healthy. I have obtained as good of results with oats, banana, milk and protein.

I have tried skipping the immediate PWO of carbs and protein and replaced it with fat and protein, and suffered for it. My DOMS was much more than regular, even though the routine wasn't any different. These results have been replicated time and time again.

I don't know if there is any indication of effectiveness in nutrition between fat+pro and carb+pro, but I know that carbs+pro = less pain for me.

I totally agree with what Betastas said. I do the whey/dex combo immediately after I lift. I have no idea if it really helps build muscle, but the one thing that is easily measured is how much it helps with DOMS. There is no doubt that it helps me recover.

I'm doing the protien/dextrose 1:2 ratio right after the workout and I noticed less DOMS than before with just the whey. In about 3 weeks I'm going to try the same thing but replace the dextrose with oats and see if I notice any changes. My workout is right around 6:00PM, and at 5:00PM I overload the protien to carb ration with a chicken breast, 3egg whites, and a cup of green beans. In about 3 weeks I'm going to replace the egg whites with rice and notice if there is any energy increase.

I'm thinking of doing BCAAs pre/during/post and then 45-60 mins later, going with my normal complex carb, protein, fat meal. We'll see...