I’ve always wondered on how Bill Phillips used to propose the idea of waiting an hour after lifting to have your post-workout meal/shake when you are dieting to burn more fat… although I consider myself quite well read in bodybuilding, I’ve never quite been able to figure out the validity of this, whether it will eat away muscle or will actually help one to use more fat as fuel… any thoughts from those in the know?
Bill did not exactly come up with this theory, but how it works is like this: Your body will take the past of least resistance when burning fuel. Carbs are like paper and fat is like a hardwood log. Obviously paper will burn first. After a workout where you have depleted glycogen stores your body will burn fat for fuel. There is some debate on where protein for fuel comes into play, but in reality protein is a poor fuel source. So if you eat immediately after a workout and assuming your post workout meal contains carbs you are re-fueling the fire with carbs, not letting the body use its fat stores for energy.
He used to recomend it only if you are trying to get cut. And he used to recommend waiting an hour only after your aerobics and not your weight workouts. Now EAS recommends alaways waiting an hour after every workout do to new scientific reasearch. I have tried it and after about a week or so it does appear that I am recovering quicker and burning a little more body fat. Also when I slam down a big shake right after a workout I dont alaways feel right if I just got finished with lets say a killer squat routine.
Your suspicions are well founded and what Bill is referring to is the lipolysis that occurs within the hour after exercise is performed. Since he recommends training first thing in the morning to mobilize fat stores instead of stored glycogen within the body, the body will be forced to use fat for fuel. Waiting an hour after the session allows the body to burn more fat (in theory). In some cases the amount of fat burned by waiting is greater than the amount burned during the session. This is especilly true of HIT style lifters like myself who only spend 15-20 minutes per session doing single set to failure routines.
Hope this helps!
I believe Bill is talking about the natural thermogenic effects a cutting cycle workout has on your fat storage. I can’t remember the limit for waiting before the post work uot meal. The same waiting period is found in the warriors diet for the same effect.
now don’t quote me on who said it, I know it wasn’t Bill Phillips though. Some Chemical Guru, like DiPascale or Joey Antonio I think said that after a workout, growth hormone and testosterone will be up, (of course we all knew that). However, one stated that once insulin is present, such as after a post workout shake, GH and T will stop being produced, so waiting a little while after a workout could theoretically give you an upper advantage on increased T and GH. Maybe that’s their thought on it???
So if I want to get cut is it actually a good idea to wait an hour before my post-workout shake and meal?
Just one thing to clariry, in high intensity weightlifting, you use predominantly glycogen, and not fat for energy (assuming you are not on sme ketogenic diet). I would take the post-workout shake right away. Remember who Musclemedia is now geared towards. Furthermore, testosterone levels are high during training and only SHORTLY thereafter. That’s why we are all advised to keep workouts brief. Testosterone will drop following a workout and cortisol will rise. Drink the shake. Your metabolism will be raised from a hard lifting session for more than the first hour anyway
I wait an hour after low intensity training (training is high in reps. short in rest and sets). I take glutamine as soon as possible though.