BZHU
5K 1 12.04.2018 (last revised: 27.07.2019)
Considering the issues of an integrated approach to nutrition, one cannot ignore the most important point, namely, closing the energy windows after training. Is it possible to eat carbohydrates after training, if yes - which ones, if not - then why? You will find the answers to these questions in our article.
Understanding Closing Windows
During training, the body is exposed to serious stress. In particular, during intense exercise, it loses sugar from the blood, glycogen from the liver and muscle tissue. As a result, a state of hunger sets in, in which the body will optimize its own resources - to burn muscle and adipose tissue. However, these processes do not occur immediately after training, but during the period of restructuring of systems. Approximately - in 20-30 minutes (source - Wikipedia).
If during this time the body is provided with a sufficient amount of nutrients (nutrients), then instead of optimization processes, it will switch to the mode of adaptation processes: building up new muscle and energy structures to resist stress.
This is why athletes close their protein and carbohydrate windows after training. It is best to cover them with gainers, since they have a high glycemic index and almost do not participate in digestion processes, which means that they quickly restore depleted resources and prevent catabolic processes.
Complex or simple?
The traditional question for aspiring athletes is: What carbohydrates to eat after strength training - complex or simple? There are several opposing views on this matter. Consider what they are based on:
- If you close the carbohydrate window with sugar, you can stop catabolism almost instantly. However, due to the high glycemic index, the liver cannot convert all incoming carbohydrates into glycogen. Therefore, some of them will participate in the formation of lipids. As a result - more mass, but also a slight increase in the percentage of body fat.
- By using slow carbohydrates, you will slow down the rate of muscle gain because catabolic processes will not be stopped immediately, which means that a certain amount of muscle mass will burn out in the process of optimizing the body's resources. In return, you will get better quality muscle mass with a lower percentage of body fat.
- Do not close the carbohydrate window. In this case, you risk causing muscle hyperplasia, but the price that athletes have to pay for such frivolous treatment of the body is often measured by health.
- Close only the protein window. This is the wrong approach. If the body becomes energy deficient, it simply uses proteins as an energy source. It's like lighting a fire with dollar bills (source - PubMed).
What is?
Closing carbohydrate and protein windows is an athlete's primary task. Consider the best way to cover your energy deficit after exercise:
| Product | Main nutrient | What for | When |
| Maltodextrin Gainer | Slow Carbs + Fast Proteins | Although considered the cheapest, maltodextrin weight gainers are the ideal solution to close the carbohydrate window due to their extremely high glycemic index. They almost completely restore glycogen stores and help stop catabolic processes. | On intensive mass gain. |
| Starch gainer | Slow Carbs + Complex Proteins | Slow carbohydrates in conjunction with a complex protein not only immediately close the carbohydrate and protein windows, but also slow down the process of increasing fat mass due to excess calories. Such a gainer will allow you to stay full longer, and the mass will be of higher quality and drier. | With dry mass gain. |
| BCAA | Split amino acids | BCAA is a serious anti-catabolic, which is used in the event that you are on intense drying, and you need to stop catabolic processes, while not slowing down background fat burning. | Drying. |
| Whey Protein | Fast proteins | Protein is found in most weight gainers and helps to stop catabolic processes, which shifts the anabolic weight towards building muscle mass. | Always. |
| Vitamins | – | Used to maintain the balance of minerals leached out during exercise. | Always. |
| Adaptogens | – | Adaptogens are used to accelerate recovery, are used on both bulk and dry, but are not considered essential. | Optional. |
Protein as an alternative
We have already mentioned that it is not recommended to close the carbohydrate window with proteins, since the body will burn proteins for energy. However, this method will be effective in the case of extremely intensive drying. (source - PubMed).
When doing this, be sure to consider several factors:
- When burning proteins, the body spends more energy (for conditional digestion and breakdown).
- It will burn the minimum required amount of energy to stop catabolism, while the remainder of the proteins will still be spent on its target task (formation of amino acid chains and accelerated muscle tissue recovery).
Conclusions
Regardless of your goals in the gym, keep the following points in mind:
- If you DO NOT close the carbohydrate window, the body begins to optimize its own resources, which can lead not only to the destruction of muscle, but also brain tissue.
- The carbohydrate window is closed within the first half hour after training.
- If you don't have a good gainer in stock, the carbohydrate window is closed with whey protein, which is most easily broken down to glucose levels.
And most importantly, do not forget about the basic rules of progress in any sport:
- Nutrition: we calculate it not only on training days, but also on rest days.
- A sensible training plan that a coach or training diary can help you create.
Rest, sleep and lack of stress the rest of the time is what will definitely help to consolidate the results obtained!
