Okay fellas, I’m hoping to get a little clarification. It seems to be pretty commonly stated that the post-workout anabolic window lasts for 1.5 hours after your workout ends. Obviously, you suck down your Surge right after it ends (and for many people, during it). From all of John Berardi’s Appetite for Construction columns, he recommends consuming the meal after your Surge 90 minutes later. Doesn’t this contradict the idea of the anabolic window lasting 90 minutes? Wouldn’t you want to drink your Surge, and then wait and 60-75 minutes so that the second meal would still be eaten during the anabolic window? Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.
Eric…Timbo’s not totally sure on what JB’s thoughts are–and I’ve noticed that in meal plans, JB often doesn’t schedule the next meal till 90-120 minutes after post-workout Surge–but Timbo believes that this meal should be within 60 minutes of the post-workout beverage. This is particularly the case with Surge or a post-workout beverage with the right protein (hydrolysates) and carbs (glucose/malto). These nutrients are rapidly sucked up, so you want to shuttle nutrients in soon thereafter to avoid a critical drop in blood glucose and maintain a hyperinsulemic and hyperaminoacidemic environment.
I’ve been sticking to 60 minutes after for as long as I remember. I would think that it would be even more important with the recommendations of essentially splitting the traditional post-workout drink in half and taking part during the workout. If you figure that half of all the nutrients are probably getting sucked up by the time you’re done training, then you take less than you normally would have post-workout, that underscores the importance of eating again sooner than 90 minutes. Anyone able to fill me in on something I’m missing?
I personnally don’t see how the timing can be so precise for a solid food meal after your post-workout shake. I mean, it takes your body so damned long to break down solid food, which is why we take a shake in after workouts in the first place. How can you worry about 30 minutes ‘in your window’ when it comes to solid food, when your body is taking hours to break down that food in the first place?