The most important meal of the day is your Post Workout Meal when gaining muscle mass is your prime objective. Some people are under the impression that breakfast or the types of foods you consume before you go to sleep would be more important for bodybuilding.

Yes, they are important for muscle gains to a certain degree but, they are not as important as your post workout meal. This is because your bodies energy is drained and your muscles are damaged right after a workout. Your body and muscles are in desperate need of nourishment to recover from your intense workout. What you put in your post workout meal will be a huge factor in the recovery speed of your damaged muscles and the degree of growth they will obtain.

Carbohydrate And Protein Intake

Your carbohydrate and protein intake is extremely vital to the outcome of how your muscles will respond to the workout. If you do not replenish the nutrients in a certain grace period after a workout then, you will be missing out on many benefits of muscle growth that you can not get back after this short window of time is over. These benefits include…

• Increased muscle gains
• A wider selection of carbohydrates that can be consumed and will be stored in the muscle instead of fat
• Prime time to use whey protein for its quick absorbing function
• Quicker recovery times.

When Should You Start Your Post Workout Meal?

Well, the sooner the better. Within 30 minutes after your workout is best. But this window of benefits will only be open for about an hour.

After a workout, your blood sugar is low and your stored carbohydrate (glycogen) is spent. Simple carbohydrates are perfect for aiding protein to the muscles and restoring the lost glycogen because they absorb fast into the blood stream.

Now, I know you have been told that you can not have sugar (simple carbohydrate) in your diet because it will spike your insulin and the sugar will be transported to the fat cells instead of the muscle. However, after an intense workout the rules are changed. Your muscles are now damaged and your glycogen is low. The sugar will be transported to the muscles instead of the fat cells.

Note, do not consume only simple carbohydrates. You need protein and complex carbohydrates as well. The nice part is, it’s okay to enjoy any type of sugar you want but, in moderation. Don’t over indulge.

Still, fruits are the best forms of simple carbohydrates. One banana or an apple will work great combined with whey protein and a small bowl of oatmeal. This is a perfect post workout meal because it has…

• simple carbohydrates (sugar) from the fruit
• quick absorbing protein from the whey protein and
• slow digesting complex carbohydrates from the oatmeal

…to keep you full longer until your next meal.

Post Workout Meal Shake

One great thing about eating after your workout is that you can take all the foods mentioned in the previous paragraph and make a shake out of them.

By placing these foods in a blender and adding milk or water you can have a quick and easy shake that will taste good. You can also add non-fat yogurt to give it a creamier texture. There are also other ingredients that you can add to make your post workout shake taste great. Some popular ingredients include…

• Nuts
• Berries
• Peanut butter
• Chocolate
• Flavored whey protein
• Cinnamon

…just to name a few.

After exercising, your post workout meal should be a reward for an intense 40 minutes or so in the gym.

Henry Chervenka