Switch It Up For Big Gains
You know, our bodies are a pretty incredible thing.
For example did you know that if you do something different today (like brushing your teeth with your left hand instead of your right), you literally create new neural pathways between your brain?
Every single different experience you take, even in little ways, creates new neural pathways.
And if you keep strengthening those neural pathways, your brain gets “thicker”. In essence, your brain is a muscle so by having different experiences and strengthening your brain by doing things like puzzles and things that are challenging, you grow your muscle (your brain).
And luckily, it’s the same for our other muscles as well.
If you’re doing the same thing over and over, your muscles get used to that stimulus.
They’re getting the same thing everyday, it’s not challenging anymore, and they stop growing. That’s why you’ll see people in the gym for years at a time but their body never changes at all.
The funny part is, the solution to this problem is SO simple – just do something different!
That’s honestly all their is to it.
Although a lot of people try to give you set amounts on when you should change your workout, it really all depends on you.
If you start plateauing on your lifts after 4 weeks, then switch them. Or maybe you’re on your 8th week of the same exercise program and are still progressing. If so, keep doing it!
Or Are You Getting Bored Too Easily?
You also have to think about how long it takes you to get bored of a workout program. Personally, my 4th week in a workout program is rough for me. I get bored VERY easily and want to switch it up to something else. Although I might be able to go another few weeks without plateauing, I MENTALLY can’t do it.
Many people don’t take that into consideration, but it’s a huge part of exercising regularly and for a long period of time.
So if you’re currently at a plateau, usually for workouts but also for nutrition – switch it up. Do something different and you’ll refresh yourself in various ways and staying in great shape will be much more enjoyable!
Post-Workout Meal Woes: When, How Much, And What Should You Eat?
A very interesting topic I deal with ALL the time is what you should be eating after you workout.
What’s funny is that, yet again, the consensus of bodybuilders vs. people who know to manipulate hormone levels positively (we’ll call them “hormoneys”) seems to differ on this a lot.
Bodybuilders say you need to eat immediately after you workout, hormoneys say you should wait a little bit after working out to let your growth hormone and testosterone levels peak, THEN eat.
But instead of blabbering on, I’m going to seperate the when, how much and what’s so it’s a bit easier to understand.
WHEN Should You Eat?
To me, I think both sides make sense. Bodybuilders say you should eat right after working out because it allows your muscles to suck up everything you throw at it…hormoney’s say you should wait because (and this is true) your muscle-building and fat loss hormones don’t peak and start to come down until about 1.5-2 hours after an intense workout session.
Personally, I try to wait about an hour after I workout to eat on the days I’m not fasting. But when I’m fasting, I figure my body’s been without food long enough and probably wants some – so I give it some.
This is pretty much up to you. If you don’t have access to food right after working out, don’t worry about it. And don’t even bother taking your protein shakes to the gym either. Just wait until you get home.
Your muscles aren’t going to wither away like many bodybuilders trying to sell protein powder will tell you.
How Much Should You Eat?
This is where A LOT of people screw up. They listen to the idiots saying “you can eat whatever you want becuase your body soaks it all up anywhere and uses it right away”.
Let me show you just how stupid that idea is.
Pretend you just worked out for an hour and burned off 700 calories.
After the meal, you either eat A) a meal with 1,000 calories (because hey, it’ll be burnt off anyway right?) or B) a meal with 500 calories.
Even if the saying is true and your body is going to burn off those 1,000 calories…if you kept yourself at 500 calories, that’s 500 EXTRA calories you’d burn!
Do that 6 days a week, and that’s nearly an extra pound per week.
At the end of the month, that’s about 3.5 EXTRA pounds you could
lose…just by changing your post-workout meal.
WHAT Should You Eat?
For the longest time people thought you could only eat carbs and protein after a workout because the fat would “blunt” the insulin response and cause a decrease in glycogen re-synthesis.
However, a bunch of research has actually proven that to be false.
So false in fact, that they actually kind of “made fun” of that theory by doing an experiment where the person at 175g of fat after a workout, and found that 165g of fat didn’t prevent the re-synthesis of glycogen the next day.
What this is saying is that unless you’ve trained those muscles to exhaustion and will be doing the same tomorrow…there’s nothing to worry about.
So I hope that help you. All you really have to do is simply eat a bit of protein, carbs and fat and you’ll be fine. If you can’t get enough protein one day, no biggie. If you can’t get a bunch of carbs, no biggie. If you can’t get fat, no biggie.
The growth of muscles on a daily basis is so small it really doesn’t make much of a difference if you don’t get the “optimal” post-workout meal everyday.
And like everything, it all depends on your goals. If you’re trying to slim down, obviously eat less of a post-workout meal. If you’re trying to bulk up, then you might want to add extra calories.
The TRUTH About The Pre-Workout Meal
Many people are confused about what they’re supposed to eat before working out.
Bodybuilders say you absolutely NEED to eat protein and slow releasing carbs about 45 minutes before a meal so you enough energy to last and enough protein in your system so your body doesn’t go catabolic.
Others who believe in more “athletic” approaches to fitness say you should workout a few hours after eating because of the fact that carbs blunt the effect of the increased testosterone and human growth hormone your body produces during/after a hard workout.
So…what should YOU do?
Once again like many things – in my opinion this comes down to personal preference. I’ve made the mistake of eating about an hour before running hill sprints and threw up the second I walked in the door (sorry sink!).
I’ve also gotten sick a few times during my workouts when I’ve eaten <1 hour before working out on multiple occasions. I’ve figured out that I need a minimum of 1.5-2 hours after eating to start working out. Not only do I feel lighter during the workout, but I don’t get sick.
But there’s a big difference between me and most people.
You see, while a typical bodybuilding workout might consist of doing bench presses, curls and lat raises in a gym – mine consist of 1 armed pushups, deadlifts, rope climbing, tire flipping, sprints, etc….all with very little rest in between.
For you, it might be a little different. You might be an older person who simply walks and does light exercises. You might be a bodybuilder, you might simply do yoga to relax.
Either way, you need to experiment and figure out what the best solution for YOU is.
I don’t think there’s a huge difference either way. With one, you “might” save a little muscle catabolism (although I don’t think it makes a big difference), with the other you’ll get the benefits of an increased release of growth hormone.
I’m interested though – what do YOU do? Do you workout within an hour of eating, or do you wait longer than that because you do very intense exercises?
Let us know in the comments below! (I feel like Dr. Seuss now) 
Tomorrow I’ll be back talking about the 2 choices you have for your post workout meal, so stay tuned!
-
Free Fat Loss Report!
Fill in your first name and primary email address below and I'll send you my free report "7 Deadly Fat Loss Sins" and discover the 7 fat loss sins that are making it harder for you to lose weight!Enter Your First Name & Primary Email Address To Get 7 Deadly Fat Loss Sins FREE! -
Recent Posts
Recent Comments:
- Johnine Bailey: You could mix it with water to make it less caloric. Or possibly substitute a cherry powder or herbal instead. There’s a Cherry Blossom herbal that is available, I’m not sure it would do the same, but maybe it would help.
- Darlene Siddons: great post and great 10 ways to attack those last few pounds….loosing weight is about attitude and feelings, when they are aligned right it is really easy…i use Vision Map Videos to keep my goal of correct body weight in a positive realm… darlene http://visionmapvideo.blogspot .com/
- Megan: great story, and so true! And i laughed a few times during this. keep up the good work!
- What Happens When You Stop Being “Healthy”: important if you’re doing workouts that are very intense and demanding on your body, such as High Intensity Interval Training or things like Tabata
- Weight Loss Excercise: You can also check out his post on weight loss goals here – http://hasslefreefatloss.com/b log/weight-loss-goals-getting- crazy/
- Johnine Bailey: You could mix it with water to make it less caloric. Or possibly substitute a cherry powder or herbal instead. There’s a Cherry Blossom herbal that is available, I’m not sure it would do the same, but maybe it would help.
-
- What Happens When You Stop Being “Healthy”: important if you’re doing workouts that are very...
- Weight Loss Excercise: How Achieve Your Weight Loss Goals By “Getting Crazy”?
- Healthbolt: It’s Healthbolt Carnival Time…...
- What Happens When You Stop Being “Healthy”: This is especially important if you’re doing workouts...
- My Top 5 Benefits Of Fasting: few days ago I wrote a post on fasting for weight loss (it was a journal of my...