I am reaching the end of my second cut, which i have embarked on in order to get as ripped as i can for my holiday, which i leave for on tuesday. I currently stand at 154lbs and 9.5% BF. I am happy with how i look, and am sure i will be catching a few eyes on the spanish shores. ;)

When i return, its time to bulk again. The summer is over (Did it ever begin fellow englishmen ???), the shirt is back on, and its time to get lifting big time.

What i intend to do differently this time around from my last bulk is take in a mean Pre and PWO shake regardless of calorie levels, and this is where i need your help. Im new to this area with regards bulking.

I currently take in a whey shake with water which comes with added Maltodextrin PWO. Pre workout i may have a bannana, or nothing. Fine for cutting.

However, i want the main focus to be energy for lifting and training. I dont want to ever run out of energy during a session. And i want to aid recovery where ever i can. So what would you recommend pre workout and PWO, how long before and after the session should i take the shakes in, and what should the shakes contain. My thoughts are:

Creatine (Used before, love it)
L-Glutamine powder (Have heard you dont need it)
Dextrose
Maltodextrin
Whey

When should i take these and what else could i do with.

Thanks in advance. :tu:

So many responses...... ;)

I don't use creatine cuz I've heard some nasty things about it - I do use the glutamine in both my shakes and in my gaterades while Im working out and I have found it increases my endurance and intensity. You could try the shake I'm making:

2 cups of frozen berries ( blueberries and rasberies ) thawed.

2 scoops whey powder protien

2 tsp glutamine

1 pack of desert tofu

1 cup of soy milk ( strawbery flavour )

blend - add soy milk till smooth

---

I think you'll find that my smoothie is tasty, high in anti oxidents, high in protein. If yer trying to make the cut this is a preety good meal replacement thats low in calories.

tb

As for the creatine I really can't comment since I've never used it - you could prolly get away with adding it to this mixture tho and not sacrifice taste.

ok if you wanna go "Hardcore" i got the perfect thing for you

Regular Potatoes

i use these in my PWO shake, they have a GI of 100-110, they are nutritious, and they actually shake well (and taste good too)

your PWO shake should have about 0.4 to 0.5g of carbs per lb, and half that amount of protein
you could add milk for its insulinogenic nature, although some people have problems with milk so this may not be an option

maybe have a 50/50 split between dex/potatoes then have some whey...milk if you want, some people like a banana, but i reckon a potato is better, you can have the banana later!

Cheers guys.

Having researched this on various websites etc, i think im gonna go for

2 scoops whey

30g dex + 20g Maltodex

Cranberry juice

Creatine

L-Glutamine

Water

I just couldnt do potatoes. I may try it out of curiousity, but it sounds horrible ! :eek:

Thanks for the replys. :tu:

the glutamine peptides very well could interfear with the whey peptides. i'd try and seperate these if i were you.

Cheers guys.

Having researched this on various websites etc, i think im gonna go for

2 scoops whey

30g dex + 20g Maltodex

Cranberry juice

Creatine

L-Glutamine

Water

I just couldnt do potatoes. I may try it out of curiousity, but it sounds horrible ! :eek:

Thanks for the replys. :tu:

Cranberry juice? Is that definitely high GI? Apple and orange are not and mendosa's GI list suggest it is not high GI. I substitute a bit of gatorate for flavour, it's definitely high GI.

The rest looks great.

As a follow-on from your first post I find caffine pills 2 hours before the workout and supping a sugar drink (I use gatorade for convenience) during the workout help me maintain energy levels. I usually work out 1-2 hours after one of my meals so I'm ready for my next meal 30-45 mins after the workout. Seems to work well.

One last thing I'm remined of from anouther post is vitamins. Antioxidents after the workout have supposedly been proven to help reduce muscle damage and reduce recovery time. I take selenium and vitamin E together which I've read is about as powerful a combo as you can take.

EDIT: If you do potatos make sure they are high GI. Although many are, many are not that high. Personally, if there is doubt, I stear clear of it for my PWO shake. Now the PWO meal (45 after the shake) I'm more inclined to experiment with.

best advice I have yet to read regarding this topic

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=272067
:tu:

best advice I have yet to read regarding this topic

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=272067
:tu:


super-bump to that thread, it is THE best pre/during/post workout article ever written :)

best advice I have yet to read regarding this topic

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=272067
:tu:

I agree totally with the advice but not on what is high or low GI. I guess you just have to try it. If your PWO shake fills you up so you are not hungry in 30-60 mins, it probably didn't absorb very quickly.

If you look at published GI lists (http://diabetes.about.com/library/mendosagi/ngilists.htm is the one I use) it is clear thar even white rice may be low or high GI depending on the type of rice. Uncle Bens apprears to be quite low GI in all its forms (can't remember where I read about this test but the researchers asked Uncle Bens what they did and they would not say). Again potato's are all over the place as are things like carrots and bananas.

So, without doing too much experimenting I'll stick to glucose, even if I'm not adding to my nutrient intake untill 1 hour afterwards. Maybe the whole thing doesn't really matter as long as you get some mix of protein and carbs and as long as you're getting stronger ...

Thanks again for the advice guys ! :)