Carb and Protein before and after workouts.

EyesWideOpen · Post by **EyesWideOpen** » March 19th, 2008, 7:39 am

I want to get in on this topic. I know you all are working out for optimal Ranger Potiential. I do not see a lot of info on carb and protein intake. Having experience working out and having been in the Ranger Gym and acknowledged by a Sgt. Major once or twice...I think I can add to this topic.

Depending on your goals, long term running, power lifting, fit and trim with definition, don't forget to modify diet along with the exercise. Small meals with a combination of carbs and protein will help keep your energy levels up while increasing fat depletion and muscle increase. Finding the right combo of caloric intake and exercise depends on what your goals are. Guys depending on body style are just as unique as Gals.

This is coming from someone who in the last year set the goal of losing 30 pounds and getting back into the shape she was in when her and Ranger Puck got married. Well, I got to my goal and am considering going pro again. Who knows...might be fun.

Silverback · Post by **Silverback** » March 19th, 2008, 12:52 pm

poopscoop wrote:What about fat gain? As I've learned on my own, and had explained to me by a Ranger of this site, looks don't really matter when war is your profession. I'm fairly lean and would like to throw some pounds on before I leave, advice?

Increase your weight (poundage on bar), decrease your reps, increase protien intake.

Rangerguru · Post by **Rangerguru** » March 19th, 2008, 3:00 pm

Silverback wrote:
poopscoop wrote:What about fat gain? As I've learned on my own, and had explained to me by a Ranger of this site, looks don't really matter when war is your profession. I'm fairly lean and would like to throw some pounds on before I leave, advice?
Increase your weight (poundage on bar), decrease your reps, increase protien intake.

I concur. You got to lift big to be big. As far as protein intake. You should intake about 1.5 grams of protein per bound of body weight, but not all at once. What works for me is: I eat every two hours whether it be actual food or a pro complex protein shake. You'll have to find out through trial and error how much protein your body can process at one time, it will probably be around 30 grams per meal. You'll know when you have exceeded your intake limit by the horribly smelling gaseous excretions coming from your fourth point of contact. When this happens, just back off the protein amount a little and the smell should go away.

RTO · Post by **RTO** » March 19th, 2008, 3:10 pm

I concur with all the above.

This may also help you become Governor of California some day....

EyesWideOpen · Post by **EyesWideOpen** » March 19th, 2008, 5:40 pm

Silverback wrote:
poopscoop wrote:What about fat gain? As I've learned on my own, and had explained to me by a Ranger of this site, looks don't really matter when war is your profession. I'm fairly lean and would like to throw some pounds on before I leave, advice?
Increase your weight (poundage on bar), decrease your reps, increase protien intake.

I concur as well. Eating a protein rich food after workouts will help you not only metabolize fat, but will rebuild muscles that you have used during workout. 6 to 8 ounces of protein per meal/snack plus a fiber rich carbohydrate will keep you body from cannibalizing muscle tissue. Whether you are building or trying to slim down, this is essential to keep muscle on your body. Cutting back on crap with fat in it and minimizing fat intake to 10% will help hold back the fat gain. As with anything, if the calories in the carbs or proteins are not used, they will turn into fat. This is your body's way of saving calories until they are needed.

EyesWideOpen · Post by **EyesWideOpen** » March 19th, 2008, 5:47 pm

Rangerguru wrote:
Silverback wrote:
poopscoop wrote:What about fat gain? As I've learned on my own, and had explained to me by a Ranger of this site, looks don't really matter when war is your profession. I'm fairly lean and would like to throw some pounds on before I leave, advice?
Increase your weight (poundage on bar), decrease your reps, increase protien intake.
I concur. You got to lift big to be big. As far as protein intake. You should intake about 1.5 grams of protein per bound of body weight, but not all at once. What works for me is: I eat every two hours whether it be actual food or a pro complex protein shake. You'll have to find out through trial and error how much protein your body can process at one time, it will probably be around 30 grams per meal. You'll know when you have exceeded your intake limit by the horribly smelling gaseous excretions coming from your fourth point of contact. When this happens, just back off the protein amount a little and the smell should go away.

I am so glad to see that suppliments are not the ony source that you all believe in. Actual food is essential and if consuming the right stuff it can help. It is nearly impossible to take in enough protein via food. I have just gotten used to adding Whey Protein to shakes to supplement inbetween meals as snacks. You definitely made a valid point of it being an individual experiment to see what is most effective.

I was losing weight as well as muscle which actually pissed me off. My goal is to increase muscle while depleting fat content. Not easy to go by the scale when you are gaining muscle. The only way I could tell I was making progress is by seeing a difference in how my clothes fit.

DRM · Post by **DRM** » March 21st, 2008, 7:48 pm

Ranger's and Ranger Wife EyesWideOpen,

I lost 80lbs through JROTC. I quit playing football my freshman year to focus on my commitment to the unit so I stopped lifting weights around that time period. After I had lost all that fat, I lost a significant amount of muscle along with it. Although I'm very proud to be lean, I was wondering what sort of diet you would recommend to help me bulk up again. Obviously, a high protein diet is essential, but what times of the day and how long before/after a workout should I wait before I eat? Every time I try a diet to bulk up, I burn everything off when I work out. I'd like to avoid whey protein and supplements because my body won't be exposed to them during training and I don't want to shrivel up.

Thank you for your advice,
-DRM

PS- Congratulation on achieving your goals, Ranger Wife EyesWideOpen.

Rangerguru · Post by **Rangerguru** » March 21st, 2008, 9:36 pm

Since you asked nicely and you seem like you have a couple of functioning brain cells in your mellon, I'll let you know what has worked for me for many years.

I will tell you that eating some form of protein every 2.5 to 3 hours is the key for bulking. My workout and eating schedule is as follows: I eat breakfast at around 0700, I let that settle for about an hour and a half. I go to the gym and work a large body part. Upon leaving the gym, I drink a protein shake of at least 40 grams (your body might not allow that much, see my previous post) about two and a half hours later I eat lunch (chicken, tuna, turkey, but don't cut fat completely out. Your body needs it, just not a lot) at about 1500 I go back to the gym and work a small body part that I used during my large body part workout, ie:chest and triceps, back and biceps. Immediately followed by another shake. About 2.5 hours later, eat dinner, same menu as lunch. I work at night, so between workouts and meals I nap. Rest is a very large part of recovery, which in turn helps you to build quality muscle.

That being said, you might as well get in all the whey protein and supliments that you can now. They will help to put size on you and no matter what you try to accomplish, but remember, a lot of your training is going to be cardio based, so you might not want to put on too much size.

Your diet is going to be strictly dictated to you for a while very soon. I wouldn't really worry about shriveling up during training. It's not going to be that bad if you're already in decent physical shape. If you look like 200 lbs of chewed bubble gum, you will definately lose weight.

Ranger Bill · Post by **Ranger Bill** » March 21st, 2008, 9:49 pm

Your rationale for not wanting to take protein shakes when clean bulking makes no sense. Do you really think you are going to eat meals during your intial entry training, BAC and RIP when it's convenient for you and your workout schedule? Generally, most guys with significant muscle mass going in, lose some and those with little muscle gain some. Your best bet is to go in as strong as you can.

Protein shakes are used as a supplement becasue it's pretty impractical for most people to eat enough food to take in the 1 1/2 grams needed to gain or maintain serious muscle mass. Tuna is one of the foods highest in protein and a regular can has about 30 grams. How many cans do you want to eat in a day? If you weigh 180, you'd have to choke down 9 cans. And you can't live on tuna alone.

Your best bet to reach your stated goal of clean buling is to use a protein supplement in conjunction with a solid exercise program. Have a protein shake about 1/2 to 1 hour before your workout and immediately after. Personally, I recommend a whey isolate. Your body metabolizes is quicker and there will be less gas associated with taking it. The rest of your meals and or protein supplements should be spread out during the day, about every three hours.

Rangerguru · Post by **Rangerguru** » March 21st, 2008, 11:05 pm

About the only other thing I would add to what Ranger Bill and I have told you is, it is possible to eat too much tuna, it does have a high mercury content, plus after about two days of eating a lot of it, you will be sick of it. Chicken and turkey are very good substitutes as well as peanut butter in moderation (it's fat content is higher than the fish and bird)

It's good that you are trying to learn this stuff, but don't overthink it. You have more important things to focus on.

DRM · Post by **DRM** » March 22nd, 2008, 7:29 am

Roger that, Ranger's Rangerguru and Ranger Bill. I'm going to take a trip to GNC today and look at different whey protein compounds and I'll adjust my diet accordingly.

Thank you,
-DRM

EyesWideOpen · Post by **EyesWideOpen** » March 23rd, 2008, 10:43 am

DRM wrote:Ranger's and Ranger Wife EyesWideOpen,

I lost 80lbs through JROTC. I quit playing football my freshman year to focus on my commitment to the unit so I stopped lifting weights around that time period. After I had lost all that fat, I lost a significant amount of muscle along with it. Although I'm very proud to be lean, I was wondering what sort of diet you would recommend to help me bulk up again. Obviously, a high protein diet is essential, but what times of the day and how long before/after a workout should I wait before I eat? Every time I try a diet to bulk up, I burn everything off when I work out. I'd like to avoid whey protein and supplements because my body won't be exposed to them during training and I don't want to shrivel up.

Thank you for your advice,
-DRM

PS- Congratulation on achieving your goals, Ranger Wife EyesWideOpen.

Thank you for your kind words. To add what to what the other Ranger Brothers are saying....I have been reading about the combination of complex carbs eaten together with protein. One, the carbs help keep your insulin levels where they should be. Two, it also helps to metabolize the additional protein you are consuming. This will help you not only to gain the muscle and keep from burning lean muscle mass...but will keep you in a good mood instead of crashing late in the afternoon or after a workout. It is essential to eat a carb/protein snack within 30 to 40 minutes after a workout, or your body will look for the energy and cannibalize muscle tissue.

Initially, when I started losing lots of weight, I discovered through measuring fat and muscle percentages that I was losing muscle. NOT GOOD. More muscle will help burn more fat. Again, marathon runners versus body building...both have different diet needs. Also muscle weighs more than fat. STAY OFF THE SCALES. They are bad for the EGO and will mess with your head! The proof is in the measurements and how your clothes are fitting. Believe Me!

Flesh Thorn · Post by **Flesh Thorn** » March 23rd, 2008, 2:21 pm

poopscoop wrote: I'm fairly lean and would like to throw some pounds on before I leave, advice?

Look into Branched Chain Amino Acids.

DRM · Post by **DRM** » March 24th, 2008, 7:21 am

EyesWideOpen wrote:
DRM wrote:Ranger's and Ranger Wife EyesWideOpen,

I lost 80lbs through JROTC. I quit playing football my freshman year to focus on my commitment to the unit so I stopped lifting weights around that time period. After I had lost all that fat, I lost a significant amount of muscle along with it. Although I'm very proud to be lean, I was wondering what sort of diet you would recommend to help me bulk up again. Obviously, a high protein diet is essential, but what times of the day and how long before/after a workout should I wait before I eat? Every time I try a diet to bulk up, I burn everything off when I work out. I'd like to avoid whey protein and supplements because my body won't be exposed to them during training and I don't want to shrivel up.

Thank you for your advice,
-DRM

PS- Congratulation on achieving your goals, Ranger Wife EyesWideOpen.
Thank you for your kind words. To add what to what the other Ranger Brothers are saying....I have been reading about the combination of complex carbs eaten together with protein. One, the carbs help keep your insulin levels where they should be. Two, it also helps to metabolize the additional protein you are consuming. This will help you not only to gain the muscle and keep from burning lean muscle mass...but will keep you in a good mood instead of crashing late in the afternoon or after a workout. It is essential to eat a carb/protein snack within 30 to 40 minutes after a workout, or your body will look for the energy and cannibalize muscle tissue.

Initially, when I started losing lots of weight, I discovered through measuring fat and muscle percentages that I was losing muscle. NOT GOOD. More muscle will help burn more fat. Again, marathon runners versus body building...both have different diet needs. Also muscle weighs more than fat. STAY OFF THE SCALES. They are bad for the EGO and will mess with your head! The proof is in the measurements and how your clothes are fitting. Believe Me!

Thank you, Ranger Wife EyesWideOpen. I'm going to research a diet plan which contains complex carbs/high protein and follow it.

-DRM