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slopergeorge
Aug 1, 2010, 5:01 AM
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Hi,
Following a workout I take in carbs/protein in a ratio of about 3:1 (usually gatorade and protein powder). I weight about 130lbs and I usually have about 25g protein to 75g carbs.
The problem I'm having is a serious energy crash after I consume the drink that usually involves about 2 hours of sleep.
It seems that the reason for the carbs and protein in the post-workout meal is to replenish glycogen stores in the muscles. If I'm not climbing back-to-back days, how important is it that I take advantage of this increased glycogen restoration rate immediately after a workout?
Does anybody have any advice on how to get the nutrition I need following a brutal workout at the gym without having a sugar crash shortly thereafter?
Thanks!
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dugl33
Aug 1, 2010, 7:07 AM
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slopergeorge wrote: Hi, Following a workout I take in carbs/protein in a ratio of about 3:1 (usually gatorade and protein powder). I weight about 130lbs and I usually have about 25g protein to 75g carbs. The problem I'm having is a serious energy crash after I consume the drink that usually involves about 2 hours of sleep. It seems that the reason for the carbs and protein in the post-workout meal is to replenish glycogen stores in the muscles. If I'm not climbing back-to-back days, how important is it that I take advantage of this increased glycogen restoration rate immediately after a workout? Does anybody have any advice on how to get the nutrition I need following a brutal workout at the gym without having a sugar crash shortly thereafter? Thanks!
I've had better luck with vitalyte than gatorade. I also seem to do better if I chow down 30 - 60 minutes before climbing -- something substantial like a 500 calorie bowl of chili, vitalyte post workout, and then another substantial meal.
Not sure how tall you are but 130 lbs isn't much. You may simply be lacking enough calories for what you are doing. You could also get a glucose tolerance test to check if you are hypoglycemic.
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colatownkid
Aug 1, 2010, 1:33 PM
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dugl33 wrote: and then another substantial meal.
i understand this part to be particularly important. after consuming your high GI/protein combo, you should follow it with a full, well-balanced meal within the next hour or two.
however, if you're not climbing/training back-to-back days, you have a whole extra day to replenish your gylcogen. taking advantage of the post-workout window speeds recovery most, but it's not the only way to recover.
if you're falling asleep though, perhaps you're just not getting enough sleep in general? how much sleep do you get a night? do you have a weird work schedule that interrupts a normal sleep pattern?
aerili or jt512 are probably much better qualified to talk about this sort of thing than i am, so hopefully they'll chime in.
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mleogrande
Aug 1, 2010, 2:22 PM
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You should be consuming both carbs and protein after your workout. The sooner the better. I usually try to eat within 30 minutes. A whey protein shake can be great. Whey digests faster than any other protein. Consuming protein right after your workout will help with results. Some other foods are also good sources of protein, however, they may not digest fast and be available to the body right away. Thats why whey is a staple amongst athletes.
Carbs must be eaten right away as well. A brutal workout will deplete your glycogen stores. If you don't eat and replenish your glycogen stores, your body could breakdown muscle tissue to do the same thing eating carbs would do. Carbs also help to deliver nutrients and water to your muscles.
Make sure to not eat fatty meals after a workout. Fats can be good for you, but not after a work-out because fats slow digestion.
I'm not sure why your crashing. Maybe your workouts are very hard and your tired. I would analyze the situation further and also read a little on replenishing your body after workouts.
Mike
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glytch
Aug 1, 2010, 2:33 PM
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How long have you been following this regimen for? What do your workouts consist of, and for what duration? How many days a week are you exercising, and how many rest days do you have?
It takes your body a fair amount of time to adjust to a high-intensity workout regimen; if you've only been at this for a few weeks, the general fatigue may be causing your tiredness, independent of your nutrition choices.
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slopergeorge
Aug 1, 2010, 3:25 PM
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I'm 5' 8.5" without shoes. In the morning after a good bowel movement I rarely weight over 127 lbs (during the day I average about 128-130). I get about 7-8 hours of sleep each night. I'm fairly consistent. I go to bed around 11pm and wake up around 7am.
I've been climbing 3 times a week for 8 months out of the last year now. The crashing occurs after 2-3 hours in a gym. My routine in the gym changes, but generally it's: 30 minutes or so of warmup, which includes some traversing and working my way up to the grade I'm at. Then I work some difficult routes for me. Usually I cooldown on some easier, stuff, but not always. I typically eat 400-600 calories 1-2 hours before I go to the gym (I try to make them low GI foods, but if the schedule changes with my belay and I need to get there in an hour, I'll chug down some fruit juices or something), and the 400 calorie shake directly after my workout. I don't usually want to eat a substantial meal within an hour of this, because this screws up my diet. If I ate, say, 500 calories within 90 minutes or so of the shake, that would be ~1500 calories just for my workout (pre/post). That's 60% of my daily needs! I try to eat 500 calories every 3 hours (for 2500/day) most days of the week.
On the 4 days I don't climb, I usually get on an elliptical for 30-45 minutes.
Thanks for the help!
Edit: I haven't always crashed after a workout, but I didn't always have the shake afterwards. I used to have a qt of chocolate milk afterwards, but after some research I switched to the gatorade/protein (I use gatorade powder and whey protein). Even the choco milk made me crash a bit, but not nearly to the extent that the gatorade/protein does.
Maybe I'm having too much carb/protein afterwards? Should I adjust it a bit from 75g/25g?
(This post was edited by slopergeorge on Aug 1, 2010, 3:28 PM)
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dugl33
Aug 1, 2010, 5:26 PM
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slopergeorge wrote: I'm 5' 8.5" without shoes. In the morning after a good bowel movement I rarely weight over 127 lbs (during the day I average about 128-130). I get about 7-8 hours of sleep each night. I'm fairly consistent. I go to bed around 11pm and wake up around 7am. I've been climbing 3 times a week for 8 months out of the last year now. The crashing occurs after 2-3 hours in a gym. My routine in the gym changes, but generally it's: 30 minutes or so of warmup, which includes some traversing and working my way up to the grade I'm at. Then I work some difficult routes for me. Usually I cooldown on some easier, stuff, but not always. I typically eat 400-600 calories 1-2 hours before I go to the gym (I try to make them low GI foods, but if the schedule changes with my belay and I need to get there in an hour, I'll chug down some fruit juices or something), and the 400 calorie shake directly after my workout. I don't usually want to eat a substantial meal within an hour of this, because this screws up my diet. If I ate, say, 500 calories within 90 minutes or so of the shake, that would be ~1500 calories just for my workout (pre/post). That's 60% of my daily needs! I try to eat 500 calories every 3 hours (for 2500/day) most days of the week. On the 4 days I don't climb, I usually get on an elliptical for 30-45 minutes. Thanks for the help! Edit: I haven't always crashed after a workout, but I didn't always have the shake afterwards. I used to have a qt of chocolate milk afterwards, but after some research I switched to the gatorade/protein (I use gatorade powder and whey protein). Even the choco milk made me crash a bit, but not nearly to the extent that the gatorade/protein does. Maybe I'm having too much carb/protein afterwards? Should I adjust it a bit from 75g/25g?
1.) you might try adjusting to a 90 minute sleep interval. i.e. 7.5 or 9 hours sleep at night, 90 minute daytime nap if required.
2.) maybe you are sugar sensitive? If so chugging fruit juice ahead of a workout (well, anytime really) is not a good idea. Complex carbs maybe? Here again some simple blood tests can give you feedback on this. Limit the simple sugars for immediately after your workout for glycogen replenishment(?)
3.) you seem to have better luck with chocolate milk. What is this about 50/50 carb and protein? why not stick with what is working for you?
4.) I was having a tough time with a speedy recovery after a particularly demanding weekend warrior stint. It helped me to precook some food, (such as spaghetti and meatballs, for example) in larger quantities to keep the calorie count up ahead of a tough weekend and have something low-effort to chow upon return. Hard to motivate cooking a real meal once you're already trashed.
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Rufsen
Aug 1, 2010, 10:08 PM
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slopergeorge wrote: Edit: I haven't always crashed after a workout, but I didn't always have the shake afterwards. I used to have a qt of chocolate milk afterwards, but after some research I switched to the gatorade/protein (I use gatorade powder and whey protein). Even the choco milk made me crash a bit, but not nearly to the extent that the gatorade/protein does. Maybe I'm having too much carb/protein afterwards? Should I adjust it a bit from 75g/25g?
You're having 100 grams of insulin inducing "food" and wonder why you are crashing?
Reduce carbs by about 25 grams and see if you feel better.
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slopergeorge
Aug 1, 2010, 11:34 PM
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Should I reduce protein also to maintain a 3:1 ratio of carbs to protein?
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Rufsen
Aug 2, 2010, 7:10 AM
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slopergeorge wrote: Should I reduce protein also to maintain a 3:1 ratio of carbs to protein?
No idea, i dont think these things really matters much unless you're a professional athlete. As long as i get some carbs after training i feel fine. I do chocolate milk myself, because of the taste and convenience mostly.
I know 75 grams of carbs for a guy who's under 60kgs is too much, in not really sure what they say about the amount of protein after training. But if you're still crashing after reducing carbs you might have to reduce the protein as well since whey will cause an insulin spike.
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spikeddem
Aug 2, 2010, 5:19 PM
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Rufsen wrote: reduce the protein as well since whey will cause an insulin spike.
This is news to me.
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jt512
Aug 2, 2010, 10:29 PM
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slopergeorge wrote: If I'm not climbing back-to-back days, how important is it that I take advantage of this increased glycogen restoration rate immediately after a workout?
It's not. Muscle glycogen levels will replenish themselves with 48 hours.
In reply to: Does anybody have any advice on how to get the nutrition I need following a brutal workout at the gym without having a sugar crash shortly thereafter?
Don't consume sugar.
Jay
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davidnn5
Aug 3, 2010, 2:42 AM
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Overtraining. OCD. Neither of these things help you do the right thing for your body.
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jbk641
Aug 3, 2010, 10:01 PM
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Cliff bar is a perfect post workout glucose/protein bar....
Also I just read an interesting article about the glycemic index of a bannana..Its prettty high but,,,,Its higher the darker the bannana becomes (riper) and less when its green....
jason
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climbingbetty22
Aug 21, 2010, 10:54 AM
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Sounds like reactive hypoglycemia.
You have a lot of sugar, insulin goes way high, then there's little to no glucose left in the blood to feed the brain and ---crash, you're out.
By all means, reduce the carb intake post workout. I could write a dissertation about all the fun ways these insulin surges can wreak havoc with your biochemistry, but I won't because I'd rather be climbing then writing a thesis.
A question to ask with reactive hypoglycemia is why aren't the pancreas/adrenals doing a better job???
You have 1 hormone to lower blood sugar (insulin)
but 4 hormones that raise it: glucagon, cortisol epinephrine and growth factor. The first one is secreted by the pancreas, the second two by the adrenal glands.
75g is alot of carbs. If I remember correctly, daily recommended intake is about 300g. So you're chugging in one drink a quarter of it. Also, evidenced by your crashing afterwards, this is putting major stress on your pancreas & adrenal glands.
(This post was edited by climbingbetty22 on Aug 21, 2010, 10:57 AM)
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