Nutrition and training are like the wheels on a bicycle. You can’t get anywhere if you are missing one of those wheels. It is the same with natural bodybuilding.

While all meals are important, your pre and post workout meals are crucial as these are the main meals responsible for your workout performance.

And today my friend Natural Mr. Olympia and Mr. Universe John Hansen will cover what is the correct Pre/Post Workout nutrition for maximum muscle gains.

Pre/Post Workout Nutrition for Maximum Natural Bodybuilding Gains
by John Hansen, Natural Mr. Olympia / Mr. Universe
MP6 Program Creator

Building muscle is as much about what we eat as how we train. After
all, the nutrition you consume will not only to help you to rebuild
muscle tissue after a workout but is also valuable in providing the
energy you need to perform the heavy, intense training sessions
that will build more muscle mass.

What are the best foods to consume before a workout? Are some foods
better than others for having a good workout? What about after a
workout? Should you eat a full meal or just have a protein drink?

Energy Foods
The first thing you need for an effective workout is ENERGY. This
is not going to come from popping some caffeine pills or drinking
coffee. You need some real calories and some actual food. The most
important macronutrient for providing energy is Carbohydrates.

Complex carbohydrates contain fiber and are slowly digested when
consumed. This provides a slow release of sugar into the
bloodstream, allowing for the carbs to be stored in the muscle
cells as glycogen. When you engage in high-intensity, anaerobic
training (weight training), your body will use the stored sugar in
your muscles for fuel.

In contrast, simple carbohydrates, like fruit juice and sugar laden
foods, will cause your blood sugar levels to rapidly rise. The body
will release a surge of insulin to shuttle the sugar out of your
bloodstream and into the cells (particularly fat cells). You will
receive a short lived energy burst followed by lower than normal
blood sugar levels.

For sustained energy, you want to consume complex carbohydrates.
Foods like oatmeal, whole grain or Ezekiel bread, sweet potatoes
and brown rice are slowly digested and will provide an abundance of
energy for your full workout session.

If you are working out later in the day, be sure to fill up the
glycogen levels in your muscles by consuming small meals every
three hours. Eating complex carbs with each meal will help to keep
your blood sugar levels stable as well as building up the glycogen
in your muscle cells.

If you are training first thing in the morning, be sure to get up
early enough to consume some type of complex carbohydrates so you
have energy for the workout ahead. Even eating a small amount of
carbs like a half cup of oatmeal or one slice of whole grain bread
will provide your body with the carbs it will need for an effective
workout.

The last meal before your workout should be at least 60-90 minutes
before you begin training in order to give your body enough time to
digest the food. If your body is still trying to digest the food
when you begin your workout, you won’t be able to get a good
workout in. Your stomach will be upset because it is trying to
provide the blood to help digest the food and then pump blood into
the working muscles at the same time. One or the other is going to
be neglected resulting in poor digestion and a bad workout.

Protein Foods
The amino acids from complete protein foods will rebuild the muscle
tissues after they are broken down by the intense weight training
workouts. Not eating enough protein will cause muscle tissue
breakdown and poor protein assimilation.

Complete protein foods like eggs, cheese, meat, chicken, fish and
turkey will provide all the essential amino acids needed to rebuild
muscle tissue. The protein foods will also help to keep the blood
sugar levels stable between meals by keeping the amino acids in the
bloodstream to provide for better protein assimilation and muscle
building.

By consuming a high quality protein drink before your training
session, you will be ingesting the important branched chain amino
acids (BCAA’s). These three important amino acids are used as an
energy source in the muscles during a high intensity workout.
Having an abundance of these aminos in the muscle cells before you
begin your training session will help prevent muscle tissue
breakdown.

Post Workout
After a hard weight training workout, the body is in a unique
metabolic condition. The glycogen levels in your muscle cells have
been depleted and your metabolism is dramatically increased
following a workout.

After an intense training session, the muscle cells should be
“starving” for some carbs to replenish the glycogen that has been
depleted from the intense workout.

The muscles are in need of these carbohydrates quickly so eating
complex carbs that will be digested very slowly is not the answer.
This unique circumstance demands quick acting sugars that will feed
the famished muscle cells immediately.

Obviously, this is the time when a bodybuilder should eat some
simple sugars to feed those glycogen depleted muscle cells as soon
as possible. If a bodybuilder waits too long or chooses the wrong
types of carbs to eat after a training session, the window of
opportunity will end and the open gateway to feed those starving
muscle cells will be closed. The chance to restore the glycogen to
the depleted muscles will be missed and optimum recovery and
recuperation will be compromised. The time for
this valuable window of opportunity is approximately 30-45 minutes
immediately following a training session.

The simple sugars ingested immediately following a workout will
cause the insulin level in the bloodstream to increase. The insulin
will act as a transport mechanism for the carbohydrates shuttling
them directly into the muscle cells where they will be stored as
glycogen. Normally, this increased insulin level would result in
the carbs being stored as fat in the fat cells but since this is a
unique situation in which the muscles cells are demanding that the
sugar be restored, the simple carbs are transported to the
muscle cells instead.

Along with the simple carbohydrates, the post workout meal should
also include an easy to digest form of protein. Since the insulin
level will be raised due to the simple sugar intake, by consuming a
fast acting form of protein along with the simple carbs, the amino
acids from the protein will be shuttled into the muscle cells along
with the carbs. Including protein with the simple carbs ingested
after a workout will provide your muscle cells with the two
nutrients that they are craving after a workout, amino acids and
sugar.

—-END OF ARTICLE—-

If you found this article useful be sure to check out John’s program below:

Get the MP6 Program Today + FR E E BRE + John’s Podcast <<<

If you get John’s program through one of the
links in this email, or via the links on my video with John below,
I will get you a complimentary copy of my own
program “Body Re-Engineering” (valued at $39.99).

Furthermore, I will give you a NEVER BEFORE HEARD
Exclusive 60 Minute Podcast of John Hansen where
he shares solid tips on training, nutrition and supplementation!
[Editing interview as we speak so I will send it out
by Monday.]

Just make sure that when you pick up MP6 you forward
your receipt to hugo@hugorivera.net with the title
“SPECIAL MP6 OFFER” and I’ll get it sent over to you asap
(within 24 hours)! I will then send you also the podcast as soon
as I have it ready (Friday).

Note: Offer expires Sunday, Feb 23rd.

Get the MP6 Program Today + FR E E BRE + John’s Podcast <<<

And before I leave, for those of you who may have missed out on my last video, you can check it out below. Tons of great muscle building information!

Take care and train hard!!!

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