Maximize Recovery With Intra Workout Nutrition
Key Points:
- Recovery Begins When Lifting Begins
- Use an easy digesting complete protein like EAA’s
- Muscle Protein Synthesis must Exceed Muscle Protein Breakdown
Training does not happen in a vacuum. What I mean is, many things impact our performance in the gym. Not only that, what we do in the gym can impact many things outside of the gym like sleep or appetite. I was not gifted with natural strength or athletic ability. Because of this, I have spent the last twenty years of my life scowering the scientific world to find any and every advantage for myself, and now, my athletes. One of the most valuable bits of information that I first learned, from my mentor Charles Poliquin, is the importance of intra workout supplementation. Charles credits the idea to the legendary Dr. Eric Serrano.
We can take this concept one step further, and say that the recovery process starts before you’ve completed your first rep of the day. How you’ve slept, what you’ve eaten and any stressors in your life can all impact a given training session.
To Maximize our recovery and even our performance, what we are trying to accomplish is the balance of muscle protein synthesis and muscle protein breakdown. Synthesis is the repair or removal of old proteins and the creation of new ones. Breakdown is, as you might think, the damage of existing proteins.
Synthesis and breakdown are processes that are always going on throughout the day, in our bodies. If Muscle Protein Synthesis does not exceed Breakdown, we cannot grow new lean mass. Even if the two are in balance, no growth will occur. Muscle Protein Synthesis naturally elevates after resistance training, this is an added benefit of the superiority of weight lifting over cardio. At it’s peak, Synthesis is elevated roughly 109% 24 hours post exercise, and stays elevated up to 36 hours post exercises.
One very easy step we can take to increase the rate of muscle protein synthesis is consuming amino acids while we train. The benefits here are two fold.
- Increase Muscle Protein Synthesis
- Amino Acids will increase energy through the workout
For more in-depth information on this subject follow me on IG @robertcjacobs
Refrences:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8563679
https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/136/2/525S/4664390
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11440894
RobERT JACOBS
-USAW, PICP, BioSignature, Metabolic Analytics, NKT, Nike-SPARQ, NASM-PES, CES & CPT
