post cardio

[flext]

Just curious, straight after a cardio session, should I be taking a simple carb or none at all ?

As i am looking to lose body weight. ( those damn love handles) :x

Any suggestions?

[Pseudonym]

Not being a cardio person, I'm not really in a position to comment, but I imagine a similar approach to after a weights session would do the trick...

Immediately post-cardio, have a protein shake (or maybe half a protein shake). This is to prevent catabolism, where your body breaks down its own muscle to feed itself.

About an hour later, have a low-GI carb meal, and the rest of your protein shake. During this hour, your body has been trying to replenish its energy stores, so it will have been burning fat.

That's my best guess. 8)

[BIGKIWI]

Would say two things to this number 1, if trying to burn fat a low carb diet always the best way but when I diet I still have simple carbs straight after training to up my natural insulin levels

[Marcus]

Even after just doing cardio?

[sponge]

Cardio is aerobic execise and weight lifting anaerobic.

"Since insulin sensitivity is highest after resistance exercise, it is vital to take a high glycemic index drink immediately after training"

I am finding trouble finding insulin sensitivity relating to aerobic exercise articles. My guess is that insulin sensitivity occurs only with muscle contraction. So should you take glucose? Perhaps someone can build on this?

[BIGKIWI]

I don't agree with that I think you are insulin sensitive after both aerobic and anaerobic exercise. I would always try and increase my natural levels straight after any training with simple sugars

Cardio is aerobic execise and weight lifting anaerobic.

"Since insulin sensitivity is highest after resistance exercise, it is vital to take a high glycemic index drink immediately after training"

I am finding trouble finding insulin sensitivity relating to aerobic exercise articles. My guess is that insulin sensitivity occurs only with muscle contraction. So should you take glucose? Perhaps someone can build on this?

[andrew_k]

I don't agree with that I think you are insulin sensitive after both aerobic and anaerobic exercise. I would always try and increase my natural levels straight after any training with simple sugars

Cardio is aerobic execise and weight lifting anaerobic.

"Since insulin sensitivity is highest after resistance exercise, it is vital to take a high glycemic index drink immediately after training"

I am finding trouble finding insulin sensitivity relating to aerobic exercise articles. My guess is that insulin sensitivity occurs only with muscle contraction. So should you take glucose? Perhaps someone can build on this?

Muscular energy comes from a few sources, namely existing ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) and phosphocreatine, glycogen and fatty acids. ATP is the only energy form used by muscles to fuel the actual contractile process. The energy supply from a breakdown of all the available ATP would cover a maximal effort of around one second. The generation of ATP from the breakdown of all the phosphocreatine would give another few seconds of maximal effort. In, say, a 10 second maximal burst glycogenolysis, the conversion of glucose to pyruvate and then lactate (lactic acid), progressively speeds up, giving rise to increasing amounts of lactic acid and a small amount of ATP. During (continuous) exercise that lasts longer than a few minutes energy production comes from the oxidation of glycogen and fatty acids, the end result of which is, you guessed it, ATP. The more intense the exercise the more dependent it is on glycogen, since this yields its energy faster. With increasing exercise duration and/or reduced intensity energy production becomes progressively more dependent on fatty acid oxidation.

In almost all cases there is a dependence on glycogen with an increased sensitivity to insulin post exercise. That is to say, BigKiwi is on the money - not that I would ever argue with you anyway big guy !!

[BIGKIWI]

hahahaha you are a very knowledgable fellow Andrew_k

[waldo]

As a cyclist, i'll chuck my two cents in. The difference in recovery after a long ride is remarkable if I have a) No post workout meal, b) Protein only post workout, or c) simple carbs and protein.

It's a no-brainer here, simple carbs are essential post-workout for heightening insulin sensitivity and in turn helping shuttle all those lovely amino-acids that make up your favourite protein into your muscles for increased recovery rates.

[sponge]

Thanks for the reply. But just out of interest;

What's your opinion on the consumption of, say, glucose after aerobic/anaerobic exercise?

ie do you think you need to consume more glucose after aerobic activity than anaerobic, or keep it fairly similar? If I have say 70-80g glucose after weights then what do you think a good comparitive figure for long session of post-anaerobic activity is?

And is insulin sensitity relatively the same after both forms of exercise as well? Because I had trouble finding anything about this on google (maybe i just didnt look very hard :oops: )

[Boostin]

I had my first post workout shake with simple carbs (Glucose) today.

I had about 50g of glucose, is this the norm? I seemed like a hell of a lot of glucose...not to mention the sweetness

Just want to make sure I'm not take 10x what I should be.

[andrew_k]

Thanks for the reply. But just out of interest;

What's your opinion on the consumption of, say, glucose after aerobic/anaerobic exercise?

ie do you think you need to consume more glucose after aerobic activity than anaerobic, or keep it fairly similar? If I have say 70-80g glucose after weights then what do you think a good comparitive figure for long session of post-anaerobic activity is?)

Its hard to quantify this as there are so many variables. These include your current bodyweight and composition, your training goals (bulking/cutting/fitness), duration and intensity of each form (aerobic/anaerobic) of exercise, pre-workout food intake and so forth. For instance, if you are a heavily muscled bodybuilder who has just completed an intense one hour quad workout as part of their bulk up cycle, or if you were a slightly built marathoner who has just finished a 2 hour training run you would want to consume a large amount of simple carbs as quickly as possible post exercise. However, if you were that bodybuilder and you had a predisposition towards fat gain you might be a little more cautious in your intake. The key here is to understand that some carbohydrate consumption post exercise is essential, but that the quantity depends on the factors listed above. The larger you are, the less inclined you are to put on bodyfat, the longer and/or harder you have trained, the more size you want to put on (etc.) the more carbs you will want to consume. Experimentation based on results (how you feel/look) I believe is the key.

And is insulin sensitity relatively the same after both forms of exercise as well? Because I had trouble finding anything about this on google (maybe i just didnt look very hard :oops: )

I am going off the top of my head but I would think insulin sensitivity would depend on the amount of energy consumed by and the intensity and duration of the exercise rather than whether it was strictly aerobic or anaerobic.

[BIGKIWI]

Experimentation based on results (how you feel/look) I believe is the key.

This I totally agree with , with our bodies there are basic rules but many variables you need to experimant to find the way your body reacts :)