Benefits of Carbs Post Workout

Benefits of Carbs Post Workout

Carbohydrates are the current hot button topic. Don’t have carbs! Have carbs! Only have carbs after sundown on the 4^th day. The rules of eating carbohydrates are constantly changing depending on who you talk to and what their current belief is. So let Fitastic clear up one major discussion on carb intake and that is post workout or post training carb intake.

You just gratifyingly finished your exclusive Fitastic training program for the day. You are a hot sweaty mess, your body is tired, your muscles ache but you feel good. Let’s keep that feeling going for inside your body. We all know to grab a quick protein meal/shake right after our workout but we often forget about the carbs we should be eating as well. Regardless of your fitness goals you need to have carbs post training. You need a good mix of fast acting carbs high in fructose (sugar) and slow digesting carbs.

Why?

Simple, carbohydrates are used by your body to restore muscle glycogen that was depleted while during exertion of physical activity. If your post workout meal doesn’t contain the appropriate carbs, your body may actually instead break down muscle tissue for this same purpose (which would suck). Carbs also create an insulin spike which helps to move nutrients into your muscle tissue quicker.

Examples of fast acting carbs would be raw honey, banana, apple, dextrose and jelly. (Be sure you are using actual sugars in your honey and jelly, not fake sugars like HFCS).  These sugars are necessary to covert quickly back into the muscle for a speedy and efficient recovery.

Examples of slow acting carbs would be brown rice, sweet potato, oatmeal and jasmine rice.

Now the crafty part is how much? There is not cookie cutter answer here. It is going to vary based on your body type, fitness goal, training program etc. So here are some basic guidelines to follow.

Most people should look to consume somewhere between 0.25-0.4 grams of carbs per pound of their body weight for post training carb intake (a 175lb person would shoot for between 40-70 grams). A person is overweight and has a fat loss goal should use their target body weight instead of their current body weight when doing this calculation. Be sure to mix the two kinds of carbs as well. I personally do 1 TBSP of raw honey and 1 cup of cooked Jasmine Rice.

This calculation is very general I can’t stress that enough. If you are looking for more of an exact number please reach out to me (willwilson1984@gmail.com), or if you currently have a knowledgable and experienced personal trainer please have this discussion with them if you have yet to.

Don’t be afraid of carbs, just use them at the right times. The most important time is going to be following any of the custom designed Fitastic fitness routines.

Strength Training

Adipose Incineration (Fat Loss)

Body Burn with Bodyweight

Metabolic Toning

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Wild Will Wilson (W3)