Surge Recovery, PWO Nutrition

Diet and Nutrition
1

I assume many of you have read this in the past:

I just read this article moments ago and was somewhat blown away as I’ve believed in many of those myths! In fact, it was T-Nation that taught me a few of them!

My question is regarding Surge Recovery in relation to the above linked article. Is Surge Recovery still as effective as Biotest alleges?

Also, I learned through this site (granted its been some time since I’ve been back on the site) that you were to slam this drink immediately post workout. BUt the research shows that this is actually NOT ideal…unless I’m reading this incorrectly and someone please correct me if I’m wrong.

So with that in mind…when do I take Surge Recovery? And also, based on point #2 in the article, would Surge Recovery be an ideal liquid pre workout meal?

2

[quote]RDeschain wrote:
My question is regarding Surge Recovery in relation to the above linked article. Is Surge Recovery still as effective as Biotest alleges? [/quote]
Surge Recovery is still a great supplement for workout nutrition. Whether it’s used immediately post-workout as per the label directions, or pre- and/or during workout as per more recent research into peri-workout nutrition advocates.

A post workout shake “used to” work just fine… and it still does! But if we think in terms of good-better-best, it’s good to have protein and carbs sometime around when you train. It’s better to have a specialized formula immediately after lifting, to “replenish” the nutrients you just used and kickstart recovery. It’s best to have a specialized formula that can deliver nutrients to your body shortly before lifting, to make sure they’re readily available, and have them during training to maximize performance and recovery.

5x5 training was popular and effective in the 1950s. Today, 60+ years later, that doesn’t mean that it’s a bad idea to train with a 5x5 program. We were just discussing this in another thread, but strategic fasting was being advocated in 1915 and it’s the “latest” nutrition craze now. Just because “new” information comes along, older information isn’t always automatically ineffective. Again, it’s good-better-best, not right-wrong.

Right after. Or during. Or before and during. Depends a little on your goals and the rest of your daily nutrition.

Yep. At first though, depending on a few factors (your daily diet, your general insulin sensitivity, etc.), you may want to start with half a serving before and half during to avoid any dramatic blood sugar spikes.

3

Wow. I really appreciate your advice/feedback on my questions. Hope you wouldn’t mind if I provided you with a bit of my nutritional back story (at the risk of getting flamed by others).

On 8/1/2012 I was 185 pounds.
Today, I am 160 pounds.

I lost the weight adhering strictly to (here’s where I might get flamed) the South Beach Diet. I still have some fat to burn but I felt it was also a good time to begin training and eating to gain lean body mass.

Therefore, I’ve begun carb cycling (read several carb cycling articles here). I’m also currently doing stronglifts 5x5 and I’m in my 4th week. Once my strength levels are beyond that of “beginner” I will move into madcow, followe dby 5/3/1…but now I’m getting ahead of myself.

My insulin sensitivity should be optimal in that I have not consumed ANY refined sugar since 7/31/2012. I do not eat bread, rice, oats etc. My carb sources are entirely from fruit and veggies. However, because I intend to start carb cycling I just purchased and received two bottles of Surge Recovery (I used this stuff religously in the past)…and then I read that article…which totally threw me out of wack.

I’m taking in roughly 150 - 160 grams of carbs per day from chicken, chunk tuna light, other fish and all sorts of meat and ON Whey Protein (I can’t take Grow as I’m lactos intolerant and it really messes with me so i definitely miss it).

Veggies and Fruits are unrestricted on HIgh days. (in other words, I eat A LOT of fruit on high days. My coworkers call me Johnny Appleseed)
No fruit on low days.
I’ve recently re-introduced low carb tortilla’s and breads with high fiber content as well.

I don’t have my charts in front of me but I do know that I get a little over 3000 kcals on high days and about 1400 kcals on low days. I up the Fat intake on low days of course. On high days my carbs are taken in the morning, pre-workout and post workout.

Anyways, I don’t know if any of that adds the right context to this current discussion, but I decided I would take one scoop of Surge Recovery PRE workout and one Scoop Post workout. I think this will work well for me. My goals are to burn some more fat while gaining muscle via carb cycling and a beginner SL 5x5 program. Thoughts?

4

Sounds to me like you’re on the right track. You’ve done a lot of thinking about nutrition and seem to be consuming natural foods. At this point, it’s going to come down to trial and error to see what works best for your body.

I’ve personally made very good gains taking Surge Recovery both pre- and post-workout.

You might need more carbs overall if you aren’t growing as you’d like. Beans, brown rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes… etc. Starches in the right amount, at the right time, are great for feeding the muscle energy and can provide other nutrients to the body.

5

[quote]anthropocentric wrote:
Sounds to me like you’re on the right track. You’ve done a lot of thinking about nutrition and seem to be consuming natural foods. At this point, it’s going to come down to trial and error to see what works best for your body.

I’ve personally made very good gains taking Surge Recovery both pre- and post-workout.

You might need more carbs overall if you aren’t growing as you’d like. Beans, brown rice, quinoa, sweet potatoes… etc. Starches in the right amount, at the right time, are great for feeding the muscle energy and can provide other nutrients to the body. [/quote]

Thanks.

Regarding starch consumption…I’m getting that from things like squash and sweet potato’s but is there an ideal time in which they should be consumed? I figure in the morning, pre workout and post workout meals would be ideal for starches but not entirely sure.

As an aside, I used one scoop of Surge pre workout and holy crap did I feel energized throughout the workout. I also drove like a maniac to get to the gym in record time. I don’t recall ever feeling like that from Surge but the fact that I’ve had almost literally zero refined sugar in any form up to this point had something to do with it.

6

[quote]RDeschain wrote:
On 8/1/2012 I was 185 pounds.
Today, I am 160 pounds.[/quote]
Dropping 25 pounds in 11 weeks is pretty major weight loss, especially at your height. How has your strength/lean muscle held up in that time?

Um… did you mean 150-160 grams of protein? If so, I’d try not to drop below 160 too often, especially not on the low carb days.

That’s pretty low for the low calorie days. 10 x bodyweight calories is usually the bottom, with few exceptions. Just be sure to monitor progress and tweak levels on a weekly basis as needed.

Also don’t forget to try scheduling the high carb days the day of, or the day right before, your hardest training sessions - most likely your squat and/or deadlift days. That’ll go towards improving performance,

Sounds solid. Again, monitor progress (performance in the gym, once-a-week weigh-in/measurements/photos) and adjust calorie/macros as needed.

You could also consider adding some low to moderate intensity cardio (15-20 minutes, 2-3 days a week) if you wanted to make fat loss an even higher priority, but really, that’s take it or leave it since you’ve already dropped a bunch of weight so far. I’d focus on building lean muscle through consistent lifting and plenty of protein.

Ha, if this was Facebook, this comment would get a Like. Glad to hear, man.