Post-workout supplements do a lot more for your health than just help build a fantastic physique.
Most Important Qualities to Look Out for in Post-Workout Supplements
Post-Workout Supplements: Are They Really Necessary?
After you work out, your body is starving for the nutrients it needs for a rapid recovery. This is why post-workout supplements are critical to getting the results you’re looking for at the speed you want. Read on to find out all the benefits your post-workout supplements must have in order to be worth your dough.
1. Decreases Post-workout Inflammation
After a grueling workout session, you may notice some soreness and joint pain. This is associated with post-exercise inflammation. Inflammation is one of your body’s natural immune responses, and after exercising it triggers a need to heal itself.
Blood vessels near the stressed or injured area expand to allow more cytokines and white blood cells to rush through to the emergency sites, unhindered. While inflammation initiates the healing process between muscle fibers torn during your workout, too much inflammation can lead to the breakdown of muscle mass and muscle damage.
Decreasing the state of inflammation after your workouts shortens recovery time, letting you squeeze more frequent workouts.
2. Has Maximum Nutrient Content for Absorption
While working out, your muscles use up precious glycogen stores in order to give you more energy. By the end of your session, your muscles will have been depleted of glycogen.
Protein content in your muscles are also damaged and broken down in the process. Right after working out, your body will try to rebuild those lost glycogen stores and nutrients to repair damaged muscle proteins.
This is the ideal window of time when you should feed your muscles nutrient-rich nourishment in the form of a post-workout recovery drink. This is to help decrease protein breakdown, increase muscle protein synthesis, restore lost glycogen, and further enhance recovery.
3. Has Sufficient Creatine Content
During heavy resistance training, your body uses up ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) and breaks it down to ADP (Adenosine Diphosphate).
Creatine quickly turns ADP back to ATP to help you get more out of your workouts. It is also known to “superhydrate” muscle cells, which lets them carry out cell organelles and protein synthesis more easily.
This results in muscle cells that are restored and hydrated enough to enable you to work out harder and longer.
4. Prevents Post-Workout Catabolism
Catabolism–otherwise known as the dreaded wasting of lean muscle tissue–is something all fitness buffs seek to avoid at all costs. Not only does catabolism make you weaker and more prone to injury, it also slows down your metabolism and decreases the calories you burn while you’re at rest.
Catabolism is caused by pairing excessive training with inadequate nutrition, resulting in fatigue, joint and muscle pain, and lack of sleep. Taking a nutrient-rich post-workout supplement for up to two hours after your workout helps safeguard against a catabolic state, and replenishes nutrients lost during your workout.
5. Burns More Body Fat
Your metabolism gets a big boost as you work out, and keeps going even as you are resting and recovering at home.
Increasing your protein intake after your workout keeps your body in overdrive. This means you’ll keep burning and processing calories at a faster rate in the hours to come.
6. Increases Muscle Fiber Growth
Muscle growth is at its peak after a session of lifting heavy weights; weight training actually stimulates protein synthesis for up to a full 24 hours. This synthesis maximizes muscle growth as you recover and wait for your next workout.
Having good post-workout supplements is crucial at this stage since your muscles have suffered many minor tears during your workout. This is the time they are most open to absorbing nutrients to replenish their stores.
7. Works for Both Men and Women
Men and women are physiologically different, so it only makes sense that they have different lengths of recovery times, as well as nutrient absorption rates.
What they have in common, however, is the desire to maximize gains and eke out more workouts. A solid post-workout plan benefits anyone from across genders and walks of life, as well as effective post-workout nutrition.
Watch the video below for more ideas on what bodybuilding supplement you should be taking from morning to evening:
You can lift as heavy as you want, and as long as you want. But ultimately your muscles’ recovery is a very vital part of a good workout plan. Keep these tips in mind when looking for post-workout supplements and get ready to see some real gains.
What do you look for in your post-workout supplements? Share them with us in the comments section below!
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