Nutrient Timing for Muscle Growth
Now that you’ve got the hang of proper hydration and you have your macros dialed in, it’s time to take things to the next level: nutrient timing.
Nutrient timing is where we focus our caloric intake around our workouts so that we can get the most out of them. We properly fuel up before we hit the gym, and we enjoy a healthy recovery option packed with protein and carbohydrates to aid in the muscle repair process.
For our pre-workout snack or meal, we want to have about 15g protein + 30-50g carbs. This will digest relatively quickly and give our muscles the glycogen (carbs) that they need to feel fueled. Aim to have your pre-workout meal about 90 minutes to 2 hours before your session so that you minimize any gastrointestinal distress.
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Post-workout, once you’ve returned to homeostasis, you want to have 20-30g protein + 40-60g carbs. Bonus points if you eat high-glycemic carbs. Why? The high-glycemic carbs will spike your blood sugar which causes your body to release insulin. The insulin shuttles the protein and the carbs to your muscle cells for even quicker repair. I mentioned homeostasis at the beginning of this paragraph, so you may be wondering how you know if you’re there or not. Tell-tale signs are that you are no longer breathing heavily, your heart rate is back down to a semi-normal range, and you are no longer sweating. By waiting until you’re back to this stage, you are allowing your body to best prepare to absorb the nutrients from your post-workout meal. Try not to have too much fat around your workout. They digest slowly which can be disrupted by exercise. We want the protein and carbs to get to our muscles ASAP after our workout so having fats would slow that down. A little fat (4-8g) isn’t terrible, just try not to go over that.
As far as timing throughout the day goes, some people find it beneficial to concentrate their carbohydrates around their workouts and earlier in the day. Why? These are the times when we are more insulin-sensitive. It’s not bad to eat carbs after a certain time of day, this is just a tweak to help you make the most of your workout and something to play around with to see how your body responds.