Here are 4 simple rules you must obey and understand and just nod and say yes to :1) Eat before you begin your gym session , preferably 1 hour before you workout. Food thats may be good , is something with a little carbohydrate, some protein and .As it turns out, if your goal is to maximize your workout and get (or maintain) a lean body, eating, not starving, is your best strategy.
So, here are a few rules of thumb to follow: If your workout is four hours away, eat a regular meal that combines protein, fat and carbohydrates, then have a small carbohydrate-rich snack closer to your exercise session to tide you over. Three hours before working out, make it a smaller meal and lighten up a bit on the protein and fat. Thirty to 90 minutes before exercise, have a snack of easily digested carbohydrates (see below). If you only have the 15 minutes between, say, leaving your office and hitting the gym to grab something, go for a sports drink or a few Saltines. Also keep in mind that while eating high-fiber foods is important for good health, they're best eaten after or long before exercise, since they can cause bloating and other annoyances that will make you feel uncomfortable when working out.
2) One Hour Workout Rule is the best rule for big gains . Your workouts should never take more than an hour. Research has shown that after an hour, your body is no longer in a state conducive to building muscle. You can get plenty of work done in an hour if you focus and ignore distractions. However this means intensive training in that one hour , So NO chit chats, no checking Out women/men . and use the whole hour to workout with minimal resting time.
3) Keep it Simple , by this i mean don't bother attempting strange or out of the blue workouts . The best is always the simplest , For you chest, do bench presses and pushups, For back , do chinups and bentrows , For Biceps and triceps , Pullups , dips , dumblell kickbacks and barbell curls are the best, and legs deadlift and lunges. Try not doing too many variation of workouts and concentrate more , rather than more sets and lower weights. Concentration and simplicity is key. Your workout program should be centered around compound movements. These are the best bang-for-your-buck exercises. They recruit more muscle fibers than isolation movements, and as a result build more muscle and burn more calories. If your workouts do not include exercises like squats, bench presses, and pull ups, then include them now.
4) Eat after your workout : As long as you’re staying within your overall range for the day, you don’t need to be obsessive about matching the following calorie and nutrient ratios perfectly. Just be careful not to fall into the very common trap of thinking that it’s OK to eat anything and everything in sight because you just worked out. Many people are very hungry after a workout, making it easy to eat more than you really need, or choose foods that won’t really help your body. Eating too much of the wrong thing can do the opposite of what you want—cause your body to store that food as fat instead of using your post-workout food to refuel and repair your muscles.
Most moderate exercisers will lose about one quart (4 cups) of fluid per hour of exercise, so try to drink about 16-20 ounces of water shortly after your workout to aid the recovery process. If you sweat a lot or the weather is hot and/or humid, consider weighing yourself before and after exercise, and drinking an ounce of water for every ounce of weight you've lost. Because heavy sweating also causes loss of minerals and electrolytes, consider using a sports drink with electrolytes if you need to replace more than 2-3 cups of fluid
Calories. Ideally, try to eat enough calories to equal 50% of the calories you burned during your workout. So if you burn about 600 calories during your workout, try to eat 300 calories afterward.
Don’t worry about undoing the calorie-burning benefits of your workout–that’s not how weight loss works. As long as you're eating within your recommended calorie range (whether for weight loss or maintenance), you'll be on your way to reaching your goals.
Carbohydrates. Roughly 60% of the calories you eat at this time should come from carbohydrates. Contrary to popular belief, your body needs more carbohydrates than protein after a workout, to replace the muscle fuel (glycogen) you used up and to prepare for your next exercise session. Moderate exercisers need about 30-40 grams of carbohydrates after an hour of exercise, but high-intensity exercisers need more—around 50-60 grams for each hour they exercised.
If you have some favorite high-carb foods that are lacking in the whole grains and fiber that are often recommended as part of a healthy diet, this is a good time to have them! Your body can digest refined carbohydrates faster during your "refueling window," but if you’re a whole foods foodie, don’t force yourself to eat processed foods.
Protein. While carbs are essential, it’s also important to include some high-quality protein in your post-workout meal or snack. This protein will stop your body from breaking down muscle tissue for energy and initiate the process of rebuilding and repairing your muscles. About 25% of the calories you eat after a workout should come from protein—that's about 10-15 grams for most people.
Fat. Fat doesn't play a big role in post-workout recovery, and eating too much fat after a workout won't help your weight control or fitness endeavors. Only 15% (or less) of your post-workout calories should come from fat—that's less than 10 grams.
The ideal time to eat after a workout is within 30 minutes to two hours, when your body is ready and waiting to top off its fuel tanks to prepare for your next workout.
But if your appetite or schedule doesn’t allow you to eat a meal right after your exercise session, don’t panic. Your body can still replace your muscle fuel over the next 24 hours, as long as you’re eating enough food to support your activity level. If you can, have a smaller snack that contains carbs and protein as soon after exercise as possible. Liquids like smoothies, shakes, or chocolate milk, and/or energy bars can be especially effective snacks after a workout.
Here are some sample food combinations for your post exercise meal:
Bread, a bagel, or an English muffin with cheese or peanut butter Dried fruit and nuts Cottage cheese with fruit Fruit juice with cheese Yogurt with fruit Veggie omelet with toast or roll Chocolate milk Cereal with milk Eggs and toast Turkey, ham, chicken, or roast beef sandwich Vegetable stir-fry with chicken, shrimp, edamame or tofu Crackers with low fat cheese Rice or popcorn cakes with nut butter Smoothie (with milk, yogurt, or added protein powder) A protein or energy bar A protein or energy shake Pancakes and eggs
Any regular meal that contains lean protein, starch, and vegetables
As a moderate exerciser, you have a lot of flexibility when it comes to timing your meals and choosing your foods. The most important thing is getting to know your body and how it responds to exercise, so that you can give it what it needs to perform at its best. Eating the right things at the right times after you work out is essential to keeping your energy up, your workout performance high, and your body in fat-burning mode.
