There are a lot of people who spend all of their time looking for ways to increase their training ability before their workout. However, there are a lot fewer people focusing on their recovery after an intense workout. When you consider that, when training, especially weights, you are tearing your muscles. The more intense the exercise, the more tiny tears you will get. Although the repair of those rips is what gives you an increase in size and ability, in this article, we will look at the best post-workout supplements that you can use to help build your muscles after an intense workout.
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Best Post Workout Supplements Buying Guide
While some of the supplements are the same as in our pre-workout guide, that is intentional. They are great for before and after a workout. So, if you see something here and on the pre-workout guide, it means that for optimal benefits, you should have them before and after a session.
Post Workout Supplements – Whey Protein Isolate
Whey protein is an enormous selling fitness supplement in the world. That is for a good reason, too. As you have read above, when you train your muscles, you are tearing them. The redevelopment of those muscles is what causes them to grow. There is slightly more to how that works, but for this article, all you need to know is that the rebuilding of the muscles requires protein.
While foods like chicken and red meat have high amounts of protein in them, isolated whey protein has a higher Biological Value to it than any other source. That is providing you buy high-quality stuff. For example, meat proteins have a biological value of up to 80. It was once stated that eggs had the highest BV. Therefore, eggs were rated at a max BV of 100. However, with the introduction of whey protein isolate, the scale had to be increased to 157, and that is where this protein sits.
There is some more science behind using whey isolate, but one tip that I suggest is to take it with milk instead of water, as the casein protein in milk will slow the absorption rate. With a timed release of the isolate comes to a higher absorption ability as the half-life is relatively short.
Fast Releasing Carbohydrates
You need insulin after your workout period. As you may know, your muscles store glycogen for use during a workout. Replenishing those stores is crucial to recovery and the ability to work out again the next time that you are due to go to the gym. Fast replenishment of those stores is just as critical. While you may have heard that you need to eat some complex carbs to do that, you also need an insulin spike to transport the glycogen to the muscles.
The way that you get that spike is through simple carbohydrates. While you can eat some candy, that is not the best option. Supplementing your post-workout protein with some complex carbs such as oats and some simple carbs will replenish them as quickly as possible. So, which simple carbs do you need?
- Dextrose
- Maltodextrin
Those will also increase protein synthesis to repair the damaged muscles quicker, too.
Creatine Powder
Yes, it makes an appearance in the pre-workout and post-workout. The theory of taking creatine after training has received positive confirmation from a study published by the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, which studied a group of 19 bodybuilders by giving them 5 grams creatine either before or after training. They trained five times a week and also took 5 grams of creatine during their rest days, at any time of the day.
The study has become popular because it highlights that taking creatine after training is more effective than taking it before. However, this difference in efficiency is in no way significant since it is less than 5%! The researchers, therefore, suggest that there is a difference, but this is extremely small. The best way to get around it, in our opinion, is to take half of your daily dosage before the gym, and half after.
BCAA’s
Branched-chain amino acids are immensely helpful for a few things. When you work out, you run the risk of going into a catabolic state. That means that you start to break down the fat and muscles to use them as energy. While that may sound good, it is only useful if you limit the use to your fat tissues. However, that is not possible without supplementing your pre-workout with BCAA’s.
That is why you are advised to take BCAA’s in your pre-workout shake. However, you also need to help the muscles recover at a maximum rate. Therefore, implementing BCAA’s into your post-workout routine will assist you in building and repairing them as effectively as possible. Also, when you have off days or weeks, where you do not go to the gym, you will start to break down your muscles. Which, again, is not something that you want. Therefore, you should take them on days off, too.
You can buy BCAA’s in a powder or tablet form, and either of them is excellent. However, ensure that it contains the correct amount of the three primary acids:
- Leucine – promotes recovery by stimulating protein synthesis, helping the recovery, and improving muscle growth.
- Isoleucine – Reduces tiredness and fatigue.
- Valine – Prevent the breakdown of muscle by supplying them with extra glucose.
Taurine
If you are only beginning your gym journey, then you may not have heard about many of the supplements in this pre-workout guide. However, taurine is probably one that you have heard of before. It is in a lot of energy drinks. So, next time you have one, have a look at the ingredients, and you will probably see it in there. It is one of the many naturally occurring amino acids that you will find, but taurine is in high quantities throughout the central nervous system, muscles, and white blood cells.
If you are a vegetarian, taurine is of high importance to you, as it is most commonly consumed from fish and meat. However, let’s look at how it will help you as a post-workout supplement. Muscle recovery is the aim of all these supplements, and as you know, your body needs water for a lot of things such as repairing damaged cells and removing toxins. Taurine is a cell “volumizer” and draws water to the muscle cells. Although that gives you a more significant appearance, it is not the primary function. With the water, it also brings nutrients such as protein and glycogen to help the repair process. You do not need a lot of this supplement, but it will undoubtedly give you a great benefit.
Conclusion
You can buy specific post-workout supplements as a whole package, or you can buy them individually and add them together to make your own. If that is something that you want to do, I suggest that you buy all of the items on this list and add them to some fruit juice to increase your simple carbohydrate intake at the same time. Or, if you are making a protein shake with the isolate, you can add them to that instead.
Whichever way you want to do it, taking the pre-workout supplements and post-workout supplements at the right time will give you much better results than not having them. However, do not forget proper nutrition at other times n the day. These will not compensate for eating pizza seven days a week.
