July 1, 2020 • 36 mins
You may have heard about the “metabolic window,” said to be the period of time immediately after exercise when the body is in the perfect condition for nutrient absorption. What does the science say? And what exactly should you consume during this “window” of time? In this episode of Fitness Disrupted, Tom talks all about the metabolic window, making sense of the conflicting research so that you can fuel your body optimally to achieve the best results from your workouts
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Fitness Disrupted, a production of I Heart Radio.
I am Tom Holland and this is Fitness Disrupted. The
metabolic window. It is something I have written about for years.
I have followed the advice given in sports nutrition journals
(00:24):
and books and done much research on it myself. Back
when I was a member of power Bars Team Elite,
they had many products that I would use in addition
to other products over the years when I was racing.
So we're gonna talk about the metabolic window, and it
applies to everyone, or it will apply to everyone, regardless
of your goals, regardless of uh, you know, whether you're
(00:47):
an endurance athlete or whether you are trying to lose
weight or build muscle or just be healthy. And it
is the perfect topic for Fitness Disrupted because I'm going
to give you study that say totally a thing that
the metabolic window exists and it's super important as it
has been said to be for many years, and then
(01:10):
there's current research that says maybe not, maybe not. And
then I'm gonna bring it all home and we're gonna
tie it all together because what I do here on
Fitness Disrupted, as we take the research, we take the
common sense and then the real world, the real worlds applications.
What are your goals and what makes sense even given
(01:31):
contradictory information. So let's talk about the metabolic window and
it tell you what it is really quickly. So the
metabolic window, it has been talked about as a period
of time post exercise where the body is best able
to take in nutrients. Okay, it's widely considered the most
(01:52):
critical part of nutrient timing. So what is nutrient timing.
It's taking in carbs, it's taking in protein to achieve
certain things. Okay, it's a popular nutritional strategy that involves
the consumption of different combinations of those nutrients. And again
we're mostly talking about protein and carbs, and I'll explain
why after your exercise session. So when we talk about
(02:15):
the window, they talk about the window closing. So in
other words, and here the numbers that have been thrown
around for years. They have been saying that the body
perfect condition to take in nutrients, to absorb the nutrients
within fifteen to sixteen minutes post exercise, and then after that,
the longer you go post exercise, the window starts to close.
(02:38):
So you kind of understand the metaphor of the windows.
So ideally, and we'll talk about again what your goals
are for that metabolic window. Ideally, you consume protein and
carbohydrates post exercise as close to the end of your
exercise session as possible, and that will achieve certain things
(03:00):
according to the research or not. So again, this is
something that I have written about, talked about, lectured about,
and I think it won't surprise you, those of you
who have listened to many of my shows to hear
where I'm gonna take it all and where we're gonna
(03:20):
take all the research, even though it's conflicting, and we're
gonna go, Okay, So what does that mean? How can
I apply it to my goals to be as healthy
as possible, or to be as competitive as possible, or
to look as good as possible? Because so often with
these headlines, you go is it important for what? I
al would say? There's always so many questions that come
(03:42):
after those headlines. You know, should you do free weight
or machines? Which is better for what? For what? So
we're gonna talk about the for what and basically the
three four what's are going to be body composition, looking good,
muscle building for the most part. So bodybuilders are huge
(04:02):
into the metabolic window. And we're gonna talk about exercise performance.
If you're someone who is competitive, especially endurance athletes. Many
of these studies are done on endurance athletes and that's
one of the criticisms, and we'll talk about that. And
then finally for health, and that's the most important thing
for me and for most of you listening. You want
to be healthy. So is the metabolic window important for
(04:26):
you on a health standpoint or from a health standpoint?
These are the questions that need to be asked and
answered when it comes to the metabolic window. We're gonna
talk all about that when we come back from this break.
We'll be right back, and we are back. I love
(04:50):
this topic. I love where the nutrition and the exercise
connect and and crossover, and this is a perfect example
of that. Once again, regardless of your goals, But your
goals are important because you may read certain articles or
listen to certain podcasts and well that doesn't apply to me.
So this needs to apply to you, and we will
(05:13):
make it apply to you. So the metabolic window, again,
it is just a period of time after your exercise
bout where the body is supposedly perfectly primed to take
in nutrients. They call it the anabolic window of opportunity.
Sometimes they say it's a limited time that exists after
(05:36):
your training to optimize your training related muscular adaptations. Okay,
I'm gonna throw out We're gonna go a little bit
into the science. We're gonna talk about glycogen and and
protein synthesis and stuff like that. But you won't confuse you.
I will make sure of that, all right. And one final, uh,
(05:59):
what thing about nutrient timing? Way back when there was
one book and I remember writing different articles based off
this book. A guy named John Ivy. He will come
up in a couple of the studies because he was
a guy is a guy who was all about it,
and he had a book called, or has a book
called Nutrient Timing the Future of Sports Nutrition. And what
he was saying and is saying is when the right
(06:20):
combination of nutrients is delivered at the right time, one
can activate his or her body muscle machinery to increase
muscle strength, improve your endurance, and increase lean muscle mass.
So that's an interesting right, improve your strength, improve your endurance,
be a better athlete, or just you know, be able
to get through activities of daily living and increase your
(06:41):
muscle mass. That we have discussed so many times how
important lean muscle is, especially as we age. So that's
where we're gonna get into the health part. So if
you think this show isn't for you, it absolutely is
that you don't have to be an athlete. You don't
have to be uh, someone who wants to maximum eyes,
you know, like a bodybuilder type. But that's where it starts,
(07:04):
and that's a great starting point here. We always talk
about the extremes, you know, I talk about my iron
Man's and ultra marathons because we learned from the extremes,
and then we distill it down for the regular person
quote unquote, And never liked that term, but it just
makes it easy to clarify. And the same ult true
with body builders. You look at the extremes, you go, Okay,
(07:25):
what what successes have they achieved? Obviously have to take
many different things into account, and I pull those parts
aside for you and I'll leave it at that. But
that's where we learn, Okay, we learned from the extremes,
we learned from the studies. We take all of that
and we figure out what works for us. So again
we're talking about three things here when it comes to
(07:47):
the metabolic window. For me, we're talking about body composition,
and you want to look better, right, you want to
lose weight and gain some muscle. A number two exercise performance.
If you're someone who works out frequently, the metal a
ballic window comes into play in just recovery so you
can do your next workout. And finally, health, we need
(08:08):
to eat, and my personal approach that I've used for
decades is about every three hours. I believe in the
medium sized meals five to six a day, and we'll
talk about how to time that for your exercise bouts. Okay,
but let's go right to why you should refuel after
(08:30):
an exercise bout. And the common question I'm getting is
all about the recovery market. The recovery market has never
been bigger. We're talking stretching, we're talking cryotherapy, infrared, sauna,
the you know, all the different massage tools that are
out there, the boots, you know, the compression boots, compression tights,
(08:51):
all of those things, and listen, I've done a bunch
of shows on them specifically, I will do many more.
But when people say to me, what is the most
important thing to do post exercise? It's this. It's to
eat and drink. It's to replace what you just burned,
what you just lost, to restock your energy stores. That's carbohydrate,
(09:15):
that's glycogen. Okay, So a primary goal of traditional post
workout nutrient timing is to to replenish your energy stores.
And those energy stores, for the most part, are glycogen carbohydrate.
Glycogen is essential two performance to to creating energy, and
(09:38):
that goes for resistance training as well. About of the
energy you make during your resistance training workouts are from
something called glac hollisis alright, glycogen carps. You just need
to know them as carbs. So you exercise, you burn calories,
you deplete your energy stores. Well, you need to replace
(09:59):
the And here's I know. I can hear you screaming
at me right now. For so many of you whose
goal it is to lose weight. You you think, and
I've I've dealt with this for decades. You go, Tom,
I just busted my butt on a piece of cardio
or out walking or out running or doing whatever you did,
you know, stationary bike, and I burn four calories why
(10:23):
am I going to take in calories right after and undo,
essentially undo what I just did. I get it, and
it's it's it's partially or or for many people, primarily
a mental thing. And you think, well, if I delay that,
you know it kind of I'm gonna enjoy my achievement.
I understand. But here's the thing. Let's just go right
(10:46):
to the weight loss health component. The longer you go
without eating, for so many people, especially when you depleted
yourself and the energy levels are low, you are more
likely to overeat after. The longer you go without eating,
the longer and I know interminium fasting, listen, the longer
(11:08):
many people go without eating, especially when you allow the
blood sugar levels to really drop, the more likely are
to grab for that quick fix for the wheels to
fall off. As I say, And if you're already in
perfect shape and you let yourself go long periods of
time with that, then you're fine. But most people don't.
And I always say, when people say, well I can't
(11:28):
do that doesn't make sense. I go, have you achieved
the goals you want? Well, if you haven't tried these things,
try something different. Definition of insanity he's doing the same
thing and expecting different results. All right, So for those
of you it's about weight loss, ideally you take in
(11:48):
the metabolic window. For you is about hunger, and then
you're gonna get all the benefits I'm gonna talk about
in a second. But if you're someone who wakes up
in the morning and exercise first thing, you're good because
now it's breakfast. Now. If you're someone who thinks, you
know you have waight to lose, you get up and
you exercise and then you deprive yourself, that's not That's
(12:12):
not what I would do. That's not the the the
optimal way to fuel your body. And that's what it
comes down to. Skip ahead a little bit. We need
to eat. We need to fuel our bodies. We need
to fill our our our muscles, and our and just
our bodies with healthy energy. We need to build muscle.
(12:33):
By not eating, you're not building muscle. You're actually eating
through muscle if you go long enough. Topic for another show.
But if if you don't get inadequate amounts of protein
and you don't resistance train, that's sarcopenia, the loss of
muscle as you age, you're slowing of your metabolism. That's
that's one of the consequences. Okay, So the metabolic window
(12:57):
for many people, I'm not even to get into the
science is for hunger. Is for hunger. And I did
a couple of shows on that. All right, So for
those of you who are exercising frequently, even more reason
to do it. And I'll go to the extremes. Back
when I was doing significant number of marathons, ultra marathons
(13:18):
and iron Man's of still doing them, just not at
the rate I used to. Many people would ask how
many can you do and and what is healthy? And
how do you do it? And a huge part of
my success back when I was doing frequent ultra you know,
endurance activity was the metabolic window, amongst other things. But
(13:40):
I knew that I needed to refuel myself after not
only races, but all workouts so that I had the
energy to go through the day and to do another workout.
And when I would do races like marathons, I would
have my recovery drink and bar and food in the bag.
(14:01):
So the moment I crossed the finish line and grabbed
for my bag, I refueled. And here's the thing. So
often and those of you who do who do these events. No,
the last thing you want is to drink something, especially
these things, or eat something and you go, then why
would you do it? Because it refueled, It filled back
(14:23):
up all those energy stores that I just burned through.
And the carbohydrate is for the energy stores and the
protein is for the rebuilding of muscle. Okay. So that
was one of the reasons and is one of the
reasons to this day that I have been successful. The
excessive moderation, yes, and all the different training protocols, of course,
(14:47):
but he can't do it. If the energy isn't there,
you can't do it. If the tank isn't full, you
can't do it. And then let's go to that third.
So you've got just healthy and weight loss and fueling
your body, perfect time to do it, and then you've
got the exercise performance. Those of you who are really
(15:09):
pushing your bodies in different ways, you need the tank
full and you need to keep refilling it with the
optimal nutrients. Talking with one of my sons yesterday coming
back from hockey practice about filling your car up with
super you know, premium gasoline or the cheap stuff. You know,
(15:30):
if you want your body to work optimally, got fill
it with the expensive stuff, with the good stuff rather
the premium okay. And then finally for those of you
who who really want to build muscle, and that's the
studies we're gonna get too shortly, many of them on
that with Dr Brad Schoenfeldt, who am I had on
the show, one of the pre eminent guys into body composition,
(15:50):
and he's actually gonna refute many of the studies, the
John Ivy studies. And that's the beauty of this show.
I don't give you one side. I don't have a bias.
My bias is for you to get results. My bias
is for you to have the correct information. There's the bias.
But body builders taken insane amounts of carbohydrates and protein,
(16:12):
especially protein, and they are all into the timing pre
work out during post workout, okay, and they take in
lots and lots of both again carbohydrates and protein. But
if you want to build muscle, you need to have protein.
Protein is the building block of muscle. Amino acids. What
(16:34):
happens during exercise, We already talked about how you burn
through calories, you burn through your energy, will you also
damage muscle tissues. Strength training is all about creating little
micro tears in your muscle, and when the muscle repairs itself,
it gets stronger and it gets bigger. But to do that,
you need protein. You need adequate amounts of protein. So
(16:57):
many of the body builders, especially will take in protein
immediately and carbohydrates during that metabolic window. And I will
give you a ratio of carbohydrates to protein. I really
will tell you what the science says on that and
what you can follow. All right, So carbohydrates replace the
(17:19):
energy you just burned and give you the energy for
the rest of your day, so you don't over eat,
and so you feel good and so your brain works. Well,
if you get up and you you exercise in a
fasted state and you burn a significant number of calories
and now you've got no energy, and then you try
to start your day and you go hours without doing anything,
eating anything. Listen, some people can get away with it.
(17:41):
But here's the other thing. Many people who get away
with it quote unquote don't realize how much better they
could feel. And that's one of the most insidious things
about nutrition and exercise. I know what a piece of
cake tastes like and I know how good that is,
but so many people don't know how good they can
feel through exercise and through strength training and through eating
(18:04):
healthy foods. How healthy foods can make you feel that
much better the true energy, and then the desserts are
even more enjoyable as a result as well. Okay, getting
off track a tiny bit, but not really so the carbs, energy, protein, muscle,
(18:27):
and I believe and I will get to those studies
in just a second. You need both right after you
work out, and if you listen to other shows of mine,
every time I sit down, my question is what is
my healthy carbohydrate? What is my healthy protein? That's my
starting point. Then other things come in fats, but those
are the two most important things to me for the
(18:49):
very reason of the show, the metabolic window, energy level
and muscle. I want to make sure I am fueling
my body and fueling my muscles so that I can
look and feel and perform my best and deprivation after
a workout bout is not for me. It's not for me.
(19:10):
And skipping ahead a little bit, but I will give
you the the studies and especially Dr Brad Schoenfeld, and
if you haven't listened, if you're into muscle building, you
want to learn more about that. Listen to that podcast.
He's amazing, one of the top researchers in the in
the world. When it comes to a muscle I need
to throw in a third thing here. So the metabolic
window doesn't frequently talk about anything other than carbs and protein.
(19:34):
I'm gonna throw in a third thing. Just like with
the five components of fitness, I threw in a sixth
balance because I believe that is super important and overlooked. Rehydration. Rehydration.
Now I get it that the metabolic window is looking at, uh,
you know, strength and endurance. What did I say? Muscle strength,
(19:56):
endurance and and muscle mass. But I believe, and my
experience has been, especially if you are really pushing the exercise,
you need to replace the fluids you lost and the
electrolytes you lost. So back to when I was really
pushing the racing and still to this day, I still
take this stuff then, but I'm not racing as much.
(20:16):
But in my bag, that's at the finish line. There's
not only that carb to protein replacement meal, whether it's
a drink or a bar or a combination of the two.
But there's my electrolyte replacement and fluid replacement. So I'm
replacing four things after a hard bout of exercise, carbohydrates
(20:40):
for energy, protein to rebuild the muscle, fluids that I
sweat out like crazy, and electrolytes that I sweat out
like crazy. All right, and I recommend you do the same.
Final break, we'll be right back. We're gonna get to
the studies. So again, this is just the perfect perfect
(21:08):
topic for Fitness Disrupted because of the conflicting information and
the conflicting studies. But what makes it so exciting for
me to do a show about is because of the
final takeaway that I'm gonna give you, and it applies
to so much of the conflicting information around nutrition and exercise,
(21:28):
and it's kind of the so what, the so what,
But let's get to the studies, all right. So there
have been so many studies on this specific topic, okay,
and you know, for decades, especially when I started in
the industry, there was very little against it. The research
(21:49):
was being done on how important the metabolic window was.
And then I remember I had a specific job for
a sports nutrition company. I was writing about this and
the I started to see the research against the metabolic
window that hey, it's not that important, okay, according to
these studies. But I'll say why it is for you again. Okay.
So first study, this was in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
(22:12):
A lot of the studies are going to be older,
by the way, the ones for it at least. And
the title is the time of ingestion of a carbohydrate
supplement on muscle glycogen synthesis after exercise effect of time
of carbohydrate ingestion, all right again Journal of Applied Physiology.
And so that's what they were looking at, So the
(22:32):
time of ingestion of a carbohydrate supplement on muscle glycogen storage.
So they're looking at, uh, you know, if you take
carbs in post exercise, how important is it? How much
does your body store the closer you take it in
during the metabolic window. And this study found that when
carbohydrate ingestion was delayed, it was a reduced rate of storage.
(22:55):
So really simple. The longer these uh subjects weighted weighted
and the twelve male cycle it's not a huge study,
who were exercising for seventy minutes on a bike stationary bike.
The longer they waited the less glycogen was stored, reduced
rate of muscle glycogen storage. And you say, who cares, Well,
if you're an endurance athlete, you absolutely care. If you're
(23:18):
not an endurance athlete, and you want to be healthy
and you want energy, and you're eating anyway, you need
to eat anyway? Really skipping ahead, why not? You don't
want to overeat, you don't want to get hungry, and
you want energy in your body. Okay, but this study
(23:38):
that supported it. Okay? Uh. And that was, by the way,
that was John Ivy. That was one of his And
here's another one of his couple of years later International
Journal of Sports Medicine, and I V was again one
of the researchers glycogen resynthesis after exercise effect of carbohydrate intake.
(23:58):
So again he's doing primarily the energy side shone Feld.
He does the protein side, the muscle side, and he's
talking about again in this study, same type of thing,
the addition of protein to a carbohydrate. He added in.
But this is basically saying again that to maximize glycogen
reach synthesis after exercise, you should take in a carbohydrate
(24:18):
supplement in excess. For him, in this study, it was
one gram per kilogram one gram of carbohydrate per kilogram
of weight immediately after. So again this is just in
support when it comes to carbohydrates and energy and restocking
your energy stores. The closer to the end of your workout,
the better. And what he's saying in this one is
(24:41):
if you actually add a little protein in, it may
increase the rate of glycogen storage. And what they say
is protein and carbohydrate act synergenistically on insulin secretion, which
is all tied into all this. Okay, And I know
it's confusing for many of you, Go who cares? You
will care? And I'm gonna make it real simple, real shortly, okay.
(25:01):
And finally here's one for protein. So we've talked about
carbs and energy and that was primarily i Vy's research.
And then here's a study in the Journal of Physiology
two thousand thirteen titled timing and distribution of protein ingestion
during prolonged recovery from resistance exercise alters myofibrular protein synthesis
(25:23):
myofibruler that's tough to say again, Journal of Physiology, two
thousand thirteen. And so they looked at different amounts of
protein taking in at different times. And what this one found,
so is it better to take a small amount of
protein in more frequently or a lot of protein less frequently,
or is it the middle ground? And what they found
(25:44):
here is basically the middle ground. What they found for
this study is twenty grams of protein after exercise provides
a maximal anabolic stimulus during the early post exercise recovery period.
And specifically what they found was twenty grams of way
protein consumed every three hours was superior to less protein
or more protein, with the less protein being more frequently
(26:06):
and even more less frequently. So right after about twenty
grams and then three hours later another twenty grams. Okay,
and now here's the against. So I could give you
so many more studies. I don't want to bore you,
but basically the studies were in support that taking in carbs,
taking in protein as soon as possible after exercise was good,
(26:28):
stored it quicker helped to build muscle as well. Okay,
now we're getting into show and Feld's work, which is
just awesome. Again, having had him on the show and
knowing him for many years. His first study the effect
of protein timing on muscle strength and hyperchrophee a meta analysis.
This was Journal of International Society of Sports Nutrition, December
two thirteen. So he's looking at all the studies, okay,
(26:52):
and what he basically found. Just gonna distill it down
really quickly. Let me read one sentence. These results refute
the commonly held belief the timing of protein intake in
and around a training session is critical to muscular adaptations
and indicate that consuming advocate protein in combination with resistance
exercise is the key factor for maximizing muscle protein accretion.
(27:15):
So but what he did say in this article or
this study rather is it was the amount of protein
you need to take in all throughout the day. So
this doesn't say you shouldn't take in right after what
he says, and most of his work says you just
need to get it in throughout the day. You need
to get it in throughout today. And one more study
(27:36):
of his pre versus post exercise protein intake has similar
effects on muscular adaptation. So that's the title of the study,
and it's just simplifies what I just said. And the
purpose of this study was to test the antabolic window theory.
So the metabolic window theory, for you by investigating muscle strength, hypertrophy,
and body composition changes in response to an equal amount
(27:58):
of protein consumed either before the workout or after. And
the results showed that pre and post workout protein consumption
had similar effects on all measure study. But here you go,
you gotta take it in before as you know, so
bodybuilders are taken in before and after. And this goes
to his research that says adequate protein throughout the day,
(28:21):
but so many people don't get inadequate protein. Okay, And
one final study and then I'm bringing it all together
nutrient timing revisited. Is there a post exercise antibolic window?
Perfect study to finish up on Journal of the International
Society of Sports Nutrition. Okay, And what they basically say is,
despite the claims that immediate post exercise nutritional intake is essential,
(28:45):
is essential to maximize basically muscle size, evidence based support
for such an antabolic window of opportunity is far from definitive.
And then they qualified by saying, on the other hand,
there are others who might train before one or after
work where the previous meal was finished four to six
hours prior to commencing exercise. This lag in nutrient consumption
(29:08):
can be considered significant enough to warrant post exercise intervention
if muscle retention or growth is the primary goal. So
basically what they're saying is, if you don't take in
the protein pre exercise, and you did go a long
time and you want to maintain your muscle mass, then
you probably should take it in right after your exercise. Okay,
enough of all the stuff, of all the studies. I
(29:28):
have to throw this all out there to you to
show that there's the science behind it. Here's my take
on all this. Here's my take on all this. If
it doesn't hurt you, and it might work, it might help.
We need to eat anyway. This is the simple stuff.
This is this is the gold of fitness disruptive. It's
(29:49):
so simple to me. If it might work, if it
might help, And and this study, by the way, and
that's why I said specifically emphasize essential. It might not
be essential, but might it help. So if I'm looking
for an advantage, and I'm looking to be as healthy
as possible, and there's enough research that says, hey, maybe
(30:12):
post exercise is super important, and I know that I'm
depleting my stories. I know definitely I need to add
the carbs back in. The question is more about the protein,
and what Schauenfeld is saying is as long as you're
getting adequate protein in throughout the day, good enough. And
I agree, like to a certain extent, I agree. But
(30:35):
if I'm going to take an adequate protein throughout the day,
and if there may be, according to much research in
the past and you know some in the in the present,
there may be some advantage to taking it in right
after exercise, why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't you? It's not
hurting and it's potentially helping, And that is so much
(30:57):
of it is disrupted. And listen, so many people do
so many other things where there's no scientific basis or
limited at best. And I always say, well, if it's
not hurting you, and it might be helping you even psychologically,
then do it. So That's where I'm bringing us all
home too. I exercise really frequently. I'm getting back into
(31:17):
racing even more frequently, and I know that I need
energy to do that. I know that I'm breaking down muscle.
I know that I need protein in carbs to do that.
So if I'm eating five to six meals a day,
I simply time it so that I have one meal
generally before workout to give me the energy, and then
the other one as close to the end of that
workout as possible. And if I'm doing multiple workouts throughout
(31:39):
the day, it works out really simply. If I'm doing
two days, I've got the breakfast that fuels that first workout,
I've got meal number two to recover from that first workout.
I have meal number three as lunch or whatever however
times out, and that gives me the energy for the
second workout in the afternoon maybe, and then I have
(32:00):
the post workout meal to to recover and refuel and replenish.
And then maybe the fifth or six is just dinner,
and then the six maybe a snack. Actually, so the
fifth is dinner in the six of the snack. So
I hope it doesn't confuse you too much, because again
this is just the perfect topic. You need to take
(32:21):
in protein, you need to take in carbs, and yes,
there is conflicting research about the metabolic window, but what
isn't really debated or not as as heavily is that
you need to take an adequate protein and if you
want to build muscle and you want to retain muscle.
Definitely get in your protein, and if you're like me,
(32:42):
take it right after your workouts as well. And guess
what this goes to. The final thing we're gonna leave
it here is when you do things like that, you
see people walking around the gym they got their water,
or when the workouts over, you see them in there
in the locker room, guys, because I'm in the guy's
locker room, and I'm sure women are doing it too,
with the amount of muscle that women are putting on today.
But you're you're you're taking in your protein. So it's
(33:03):
part of the process and it's fun and it makes
you feel like you're being healthy, healthier, and it goes
to like, especially if you're racing and competing, you go, oh,
I'm doing the little things again. Whether or not there's
huge scientific research behind those things. So much of it
is being consistent with your workouts, getting in adequate nutrients,
(33:29):
and then the mental side. And it's all connected. So
if you feel like, oh, wow, I went to the gym,
where I worked out at home, and then I made
this great protein and carb shake, it's just it's all
is connected and it's all part of the lifestyle and
lifestyle is what it's all about. Healthy lifestyle. So finally,
(33:51):
the ratio. So if you look at the ratio, you say, Okay, Tom,
I'm gonna do carbs, I'm gonna do protein post workout.
What do I do? So the ratio of car to protein,
I've seen two to one, up to seven to one
carbs to protein ratio. Power bar back in the day
just happened to my voice, was that, like Peter Brady moment,
(34:11):
power bar back in the day was about a four
or five to one ratio, and there was something called
in Dr Rocks too. I'm just throwing out the things
I used to use. I don't even know if it's
around anymore, but it was four to one or five
to one ratio. That's primarily where I sit. So for
the ratio four to one carbs to protein. So if
you're taking in ten grams of protein post exercise, you
(34:33):
know roughly forty grams of of carbohydrate, So ten grams
of protein, forty grams of carbs or fifty grams of
protein and a little bit more carbs right, four to one,
five to one, and you can do more than that.
You can do twenty grams of protein and again a
hundred grams of carbs. All right, enough, it's such a
(34:57):
great topic and it's so easy. This is one it's like,
why am I going to debate it? I'm just gonna
do it. It might help. It's helped me. And and
that's the final thing is I'm living proof that whatever
you know, whatever the nutritional strategy, it seems to be
working for me and I and equals one. But it's
also worked for many of my clients, and and I
(35:17):
put it in the books I've written. It doesn't hurt
that you need to eat anyway? Why not? Why not
time it? Then? All right, thank you so much for listening.
I am Tom holland if you have not yet rated
the show, I would greatly appreciate it. Just rate it
to take two seconds. Rate the show, subscribe so you
don't miss anything. If you want any topics covered or
(35:38):
have any feedback, Tom h Fit is my Instagram as
well as my Twitter account, and I have a website
Fitness disrupted dot com. You can reach out to me
there as well if you want. And finally, thank you,
thank you for listening. This is this is confusing stuff.
And you know, as I said at the beginning of
the show. I have one bias, and that's helping you
(35:58):
make sense of all this lunacy and makes sense so
you can have your best life, live your best life,
look your best, feel your best, live your longest and
we gotta weed through the craziness. And we got to
use common sense. And common sense is left out of
so much of this. It's either just the Ivory Tower
stuff or you know, it's it's oversimplified. Uh, there is
(36:19):
a connection between the two that need to be made.
All right, thank you for listening, and remember there are
three things that we all control, how much we move,
what we put into our mouths, and our attitudes, and
that is awesome. I'm Tom Holland. This is Fitness Disrupted.
Believe in Yourself. Fitness Disrupted is a production of I
(36:44):
Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit
the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Fitness Disrupted, a production of I Heart Radio.
I am Tom Holland and this is Fitness Disrupted. The
metabolic window. It is something I have written about for years.
I have followed the advice given in sports nutrition journals
(00:24):
and books and done much research on it myself. Back
when I was a member of power Bars Team Elite,
they had many products that I would use in addition
to other products over the years when I was racing.
So we're gonna talk about the metabolic window, and it
applies to everyone, or it will apply to everyone, regardless
of your goals, regardless of uh, you know, whether you're
(00:47):
an endurance athlete or whether you are trying to lose
weight or build muscle or just be healthy. And it
is the perfect topic for Fitness Disrupted because I'm going
to give you study that say totally a thing that
the metabolic window exists and it's super important as it
has been said to be for many years, and then
(01:10):
there's current research that says maybe not, maybe not. And
then I'm gonna bring it all home and we're gonna
tie it all together because what I do here on
Fitness Disrupted, as we take the research, we take the
common sense and then the real world, the real worlds applications.
What are your goals and what makes sense even given
(01:31):
contradictory information. So let's talk about the metabolic window and
it tell you what it is really quickly. So the
metabolic window, it has been talked about as a period
of time post exercise where the body is best able
to take in nutrients. Okay, it's widely considered the most
(01:52):
critical part of nutrient timing. So what is nutrient timing.
It's taking in carbs, it's taking in protein to achieve
certain things. Okay, it's a popular nutritional strategy that involves
the consumption of different combinations of those nutrients. And again
we're mostly talking about protein and carbs, and I'll explain
why after your exercise session. So when we talk about
(02:15):
the window, they talk about the window closing. So in
other words, and here the numbers that have been thrown
around for years. They have been saying that the body
perfect condition to take in nutrients, to absorb the nutrients
within fifteen to sixteen minutes post exercise, and then after that,
the longer you go post exercise, the window starts to close.
(02:38):
So you kind of understand the metaphor of the windows.
So ideally, and we'll talk about again what your goals
are for that metabolic window. Ideally, you consume protein and
carbohydrates post exercise as close to the end of your
exercise session as possible, and that will achieve certain things
(03:00):
according to the research or not. So again, this is
something that I have written about, talked about, lectured about,
and I think it won't surprise you, those of you
who have listened to many of my shows to hear
where I'm gonna take it all and where we're gonna
(03:20):
take all the research, even though it's conflicting, and we're
gonna go, Okay, So what does that mean? How can
I apply it to my goals to be as healthy
as possible, or to be as competitive as possible, or
to look as good as possible? Because so often with
these headlines, you go is it important for what? I
al would say? There's always so many questions that come
(03:42):
after those headlines. You know, should you do free weight
or machines? Which is better for what? For what? So
we're gonna talk about the for what and basically the
three four what's are going to be body composition, looking good,
muscle building for the most part. So bodybuilders are huge
(04:02):
into the metabolic window. And we're gonna talk about exercise performance.
If you're someone who is competitive, especially endurance athletes. Many
of these studies are done on endurance athletes and that's
one of the criticisms, and we'll talk about that. And
then finally for health, and that's the most important thing
for me and for most of you listening. You want
to be healthy. So is the metabolic window important for
(04:26):
you on a health standpoint or from a health standpoint?
These are the questions that need to be asked and
answered when it comes to the metabolic window. We're gonna
talk all about that when we come back from this break.
We'll be right back, and we are back. I love
(04:50):
this topic. I love where the nutrition and the exercise
connect and and crossover, and this is a perfect example
of that. Once again, regardless of your goals, But your
goals are important because you may read certain articles or
listen to certain podcasts and well that doesn't apply to me.
So this needs to apply to you, and we will
(05:13):
make it apply to you. So the metabolic window, again,
it is just a period of time after your exercise
bout where the body is supposedly perfectly primed to take
in nutrients. They call it the anabolic window of opportunity.
Sometimes they say it's a limited time that exists after
(05:36):
your training to optimize your training related muscular adaptations. Okay,
I'm gonna throw out We're gonna go a little bit
into the science. We're gonna talk about glycogen and and
protein synthesis and stuff like that. But you won't confuse you.
I will make sure of that, all right. And one final, uh,
(05:59):
what thing about nutrient timing? Way back when there was
one book and I remember writing different articles based off
this book. A guy named John Ivy. He will come
up in a couple of the studies because he was
a guy is a guy who was all about it,
and he had a book called, or has a book
called Nutrient Timing the Future of Sports Nutrition. And what
he was saying and is saying is when the right
(06:20):
combination of nutrients is delivered at the right time, one
can activate his or her body muscle machinery to increase
muscle strength, improve your endurance, and increase lean muscle mass.
So that's an interesting right, improve your strength, improve your endurance,
be a better athlete, or just you know, be able
to get through activities of daily living and increase your
(06:41):
muscle mass. That we have discussed so many times how
important lean muscle is, especially as we age. So that's
where we're gonna get into the health part. So if
you think this show isn't for you, it absolutely is
that you don't have to be an athlete. You don't
have to be uh, someone who wants to maximum eyes,
you know, like a bodybuilder type. But that's where it starts,
(07:04):
and that's a great starting point here. We always talk
about the extremes, you know, I talk about my iron
Man's and ultra marathons because we learned from the extremes,
and then we distill it down for the regular person
quote unquote, And never liked that term, but it just
makes it easy to clarify. And the same ult true
with body builders. You look at the extremes, you go, Okay,
(07:25):
what what successes have they achieved? Obviously have to take
many different things into account, and I pull those parts
aside for you and I'll leave it at that. But
that's where we learn, Okay, we learned from the extremes,
we learned from the studies. We take all of that
and we figure out what works for us. So again
we're talking about three things here when it comes to
(07:47):
the metabolic window. For me, we're talking about body composition,
and you want to look better, right, you want to
lose weight and gain some muscle. A number two exercise performance.
If you're someone who works out frequently, the metal a
ballic window comes into play in just recovery so you
can do your next workout. And finally, health, we need
(08:08):
to eat, and my personal approach that I've used for
decades is about every three hours. I believe in the
medium sized meals five to six a day, and we'll
talk about how to time that for your exercise bouts. Okay,
but let's go right to why you should refuel after
(08:30):
an exercise bout. And the common question I'm getting is
all about the recovery market. The recovery market has never
been bigger. We're talking stretching, we're talking cryotherapy, infrared, sauna,
the you know, all the different massage tools that are
out there, the boots, you know, the compression boots, compression tights,
(08:51):
all of those things, and listen, I've done a bunch
of shows on them specifically, I will do many more.
But when people say to me, what is the most
important thing to do post exercise? It's this. It's to
eat and drink. It's to replace what you just burned,
what you just lost, to restock your energy stores. That's carbohydrate,
(09:15):
that's glycogen. Okay, So a primary goal of traditional post
workout nutrient timing is to to replenish your energy stores.
And those energy stores, for the most part, are glycogen carbohydrate.
Glycogen is essential two performance to to creating energy, and
(09:38):
that goes for resistance training as well. About of the
energy you make during your resistance training workouts are from
something called glac hollisis alright, glycogen carps. You just need
to know them as carbs. So you exercise, you burn calories,
you deplete your energy stores. Well, you need to replace
(09:59):
the And here's I know. I can hear you screaming
at me right now. For so many of you whose
goal it is to lose weight. You you think, and
I've I've dealt with this for decades. You go, Tom,
I just busted my butt on a piece of cardio
or out walking or out running or doing whatever you did,
you know, stationary bike, and I burn four calories why
(10:23):
am I going to take in calories right after and undo,
essentially undo what I just did. I get it, and
it's it's it's partially or or for many people, primarily
a mental thing. And you think, well, if I delay that,
you know it kind of I'm gonna enjoy my achievement.
I understand. But here's the thing. Let's just go right
(10:46):
to the weight loss health component. The longer you go
without eating, for so many people, especially when you depleted
yourself and the energy levels are low, you are more
likely to overeat after. The longer you go without eating,
the longer and I know interminium fasting, listen, the longer
(11:08):
many people go without eating, especially when you allow the
blood sugar levels to really drop, the more likely are
to grab for that quick fix for the wheels to
fall off. As I say, And if you're already in
perfect shape and you let yourself go long periods of
time with that, then you're fine. But most people don't.
And I always say, when people say, well I can't
(11:28):
do that doesn't make sense. I go, have you achieved
the goals you want? Well, if you haven't tried these things,
try something different. Definition of insanity he's doing the same
thing and expecting different results. All right, So for those
of you it's about weight loss, ideally you take in
(11:48):
the metabolic window. For you is about hunger, and then
you're gonna get all the benefits I'm gonna talk about
in a second. But if you're someone who wakes up
in the morning and exercise first thing, you're good because
now it's breakfast. Now. If you're someone who thinks, you
know you have waight to lose, you get up and
you exercise and then you deprive yourself, that's not That's
(12:12):
not what I would do. That's not the the the
optimal way to fuel your body. And that's what it
comes down to. Skip ahead a little bit. We need
to eat. We need to fuel our bodies. We need
to fill our our our muscles, and our and just
our bodies with healthy energy. We need to build muscle.
(12:33):
By not eating, you're not building muscle. You're actually eating
through muscle if you go long enough. Topic for another show.
But if if you don't get inadequate amounts of protein
and you don't resistance train, that's sarcopenia, the loss of
muscle as you age, you're slowing of your metabolism. That's
that's one of the consequences. Okay, So the metabolic window
(12:57):
for many people, I'm not even to get into the
science is for hunger. Is for hunger. And I did
a couple of shows on that. All right, So for
those of you who are exercising frequently, even more reason
to do it. And I'll go to the extremes. Back
when I was doing significant number of marathons, ultra marathons
(13:18):
and iron Man's of still doing them, just not at
the rate I used to. Many people would ask how
many can you do and and what is healthy? And
how do you do it? And a huge part of
my success back when I was doing frequent ultra you know,
endurance activity was the metabolic window, amongst other things. But
(13:40):
I knew that I needed to refuel myself after not
only races, but all workouts so that I had the
energy to go through the day and to do another workout.
And when I would do races like marathons, I would
have my recovery drink and bar and food in the bag.
(14:01):
So the moment I crossed the finish line and grabbed
for my bag, I refueled. And here's the thing. So
often and those of you who do who do these events. No,
the last thing you want is to drink something, especially
these things, or eat something and you go, then why
would you do it? Because it refueled, It filled back
(14:23):
up all those energy stores that I just burned through.
And the carbohydrate is for the energy stores and the
protein is for the rebuilding of muscle. Okay. So that
was one of the reasons and is one of the
reasons to this day that I have been successful. The
excessive moderation, yes, and all the different training protocols, of course,
(14:47):
but he can't do it. If the energy isn't there,
you can't do it. If the tank isn't full, you
can't do it. And then let's go to that third.
So you've got just healthy and weight loss and fueling
your body, perfect time to do it, and then you've
got the exercise performance. Those of you who are really
(15:09):
pushing your bodies in different ways, you need the tank
full and you need to keep refilling it with the
optimal nutrients. Talking with one of my sons yesterday coming
back from hockey practice about filling your car up with
super you know, premium gasoline or the cheap stuff. You know,
(15:30):
if you want your body to work optimally, got fill
it with the expensive stuff, with the good stuff rather
the premium okay. And then finally for those of you
who who really want to build muscle, and that's the
studies we're gonna get too shortly, many of them on
that with Dr Brad Schoenfeldt, who am I had on
the show, one of the pre eminent guys into body composition,
(15:50):
and he's actually gonna refute many of the studies, the
John Ivy studies. And that's the beauty of this show.
I don't give you one side. I don't have a bias.
My bias is for you to get results. My bias
is for you to have the correct information. There's the bias.
But body builders taken insane amounts of carbohydrates and protein,
(16:12):
especially protein, and they are all into the timing pre
work out during post workout, okay, and they take in
lots and lots of both again carbohydrates and protein. But
if you want to build muscle, you need to have protein.
Protein is the building block of muscle. Amino acids. What
(16:34):
happens during exercise, We already talked about how you burn
through calories, you burn through your energy, will you also
damage muscle tissues. Strength training is all about creating little
micro tears in your muscle, and when the muscle repairs itself,
it gets stronger and it gets bigger. But to do that,
you need protein. You need adequate amounts of protein. So
(16:57):
many of the body builders, especially will take in protein
immediately and carbohydrates during that metabolic window. And I will
give you a ratio of carbohydrates to protein. I really
will tell you what the science says on that and
what you can follow. All right, So carbohydrates replace the
(17:19):
energy you just burned and give you the energy for
the rest of your day, so you don't over eat,
and so you feel good and so your brain works. Well,
if you get up and you you exercise in a
fasted state and you burn a significant number of calories
and now you've got no energy, and then you try
to start your day and you go hours without doing anything,
eating anything. Listen, some people can get away with it.
(17:41):
But here's the other thing. Many people who get away
with it quote unquote don't realize how much better they
could feel. And that's one of the most insidious things
about nutrition and exercise. I know what a piece of
cake tastes like and I know how good that is,
but so many people don't know how good they can
feel through exercise and through strength training and through eating
(18:04):
healthy foods. How healthy foods can make you feel that
much better the true energy, and then the desserts are
even more enjoyable as a result as well. Okay, getting
off track a tiny bit, but not really so the carbs, energy, protein, muscle,
(18:27):
and I believe and I will get to those studies
in just a second. You need both right after you
work out, and if you listen to other shows of mine,
every time I sit down, my question is what is
my healthy carbohydrate? What is my healthy protein? That's my
starting point. Then other things come in fats, but those
are the two most important things to me for the
(18:49):
very reason of the show, the metabolic window, energy level
and muscle. I want to make sure I am fueling
my body and fueling my muscles so that I can
look and feel and perform my best and deprivation after
a workout bout is not for me. It's not for me.
(19:10):
And skipping ahead a little bit, but I will give
you the the studies and especially Dr Brad Schoenfeld, and
if you haven't listened, if you're into muscle building, you
want to learn more about that. Listen to that podcast.
He's amazing, one of the top researchers in the in
the world. When it comes to a muscle I need
to throw in a third thing here. So the metabolic
window doesn't frequently talk about anything other than carbs and protein.
(19:34):
I'm gonna throw in a third thing. Just like with
the five components of fitness, I threw in a sixth
balance because I believe that is super important and overlooked. Rehydration. Rehydration.
Now I get it that the metabolic window is looking at, uh,
you know, strength and endurance. What did I say? Muscle strength,
(19:56):
endurance and and muscle mass. But I believe, and my
experience has been, especially if you are really pushing the exercise,
you need to replace the fluids you lost and the
electrolytes you lost. So back to when I was really
pushing the racing and still to this day, I still
take this stuff then, but I'm not racing as much.
(20:16):
But in my bag, that's at the finish line. There's
not only that carb to protein replacement meal, whether it's
a drink or a bar or a combination of the two.
But there's my electrolyte replacement and fluid replacement. So I'm
replacing four things after a hard bout of exercise, carbohydrates
(20:40):
for energy, protein to rebuild the muscle, fluids that I
sweat out like crazy, and electrolytes that I sweat out
like crazy. All right, and I recommend you do the same.
Final break, we'll be right back. We're gonna get to
the studies. So again, this is just the perfect perfect
(21:08):
topic for Fitness Disrupted because of the conflicting information and
the conflicting studies. But what makes it so exciting for
me to do a show about is because of the
final takeaway that I'm gonna give you, and it applies
to so much of the conflicting information around nutrition and exercise,
(21:28):
and it's kind of the so what, the so what,
But let's get to the studies, all right. So there
have been so many studies on this specific topic, okay,
and you know, for decades, especially when I started in
the industry, there was very little against it. The research
(21:49):
was being done on how important the metabolic window was.
And then I remember I had a specific job for
a sports nutrition company. I was writing about this and
the I started to see the research against the metabolic
window that hey, it's not that important, okay, according to
these studies. But I'll say why it is for you again. Okay.
So first study, this was in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
(22:12):
A lot of the studies are going to be older,
by the way, the ones for it at least. And
the title is the time of ingestion of a carbohydrate
supplement on muscle glycogen synthesis after exercise effect of time
of carbohydrate ingestion, all right again Journal of Applied Physiology.
And so that's what they were looking at, So the
(22:32):
time of ingestion of a carbohydrate supplement on muscle glycogen storage.
So they're looking at, uh, you know, if you take
carbs in post exercise, how important is it? How much
does your body store the closer you take it in
during the metabolic window. And this study found that when
carbohydrate ingestion was delayed, it was a reduced rate of storage.
(22:55):
So really simple. The longer these uh subjects weighted weighted
and the twelve male cycle it's not a huge study,
who were exercising for seventy minutes on a bike stationary bike.
The longer they waited the less glycogen was stored, reduced
rate of muscle glycogen storage. And you say, who cares, Well,
if you're an endurance athlete, you absolutely care. If you're
(23:18):
not an endurance athlete, and you want to be healthy
and you want energy, and you're eating anyway, you need
to eat anyway? Really skipping ahead, why not? You don't
want to overeat, you don't want to get hungry, and
you want energy in your body. Okay, but this study
(23:38):
that supported it. Okay? Uh. And that was, by the way,
that was John Ivy. That was one of his And
here's another one of his couple of years later International
Journal of Sports Medicine, and I V was again one
of the researchers glycogen resynthesis after exercise effect of carbohydrate intake.
(23:58):
So again he's doing primarily the energy side shone Feld.
He does the protein side, the muscle side, and he's
talking about again in this study, same type of thing,
the addition of protein to a carbohydrate. He added in.
But this is basically saying again that to maximize glycogen
reach synthesis after exercise, you should take in a carbohydrate
(24:18):
supplement in excess. For him, in this study, it was
one gram per kilogram one gram of carbohydrate per kilogram
of weight immediately after. So again this is just in
support when it comes to carbohydrates and energy and restocking
your energy stores. The closer to the end of your workout,
the better. And what he's saying in this one is
(24:41):
if you actually add a little protein in, it may
increase the rate of glycogen storage. And what they say
is protein and carbohydrate act synergenistically on insulin secretion, which
is all tied into all this. Okay, And I know
it's confusing for many of you, Go who cares? You
will care? And I'm gonna make it real simple, real shortly, okay.
(25:01):
And finally here's one for protein. So we've talked about
carbs and energy and that was primarily i Vy's research.
And then here's a study in the Journal of Physiology
two thousand thirteen titled timing and distribution of protein ingestion
during prolonged recovery from resistance exercise alters myofibrular protein synthesis
(25:23):
myofibruler that's tough to say again, Journal of Physiology, two
thousand thirteen. And so they looked at different amounts of
protein taking in at different times. And what this one found,
so is it better to take a small amount of
protein in more frequently or a lot of protein less frequently,
or is it the middle ground? And what they found
(25:44):
here is basically the middle ground. What they found for
this study is twenty grams of protein after exercise provides
a maximal anabolic stimulus during the early post exercise recovery period.
And specifically what they found was twenty grams of way
protein consumed every three hours was superior to less protein
or more protein, with the less protein being more frequently
(26:06):
and even more less frequently. So right after about twenty
grams and then three hours later another twenty grams. Okay,
and now here's the against. So I could give you
so many more studies. I don't want to bore you,
but basically the studies were in support that taking in carbs,
taking in protein as soon as possible after exercise was good,
(26:28):
stored it quicker helped to build muscle as well. Okay,
now we're getting into show and Feld's work, which is
just awesome. Again, having had him on the show and
knowing him for many years. His first study the effect
of protein timing on muscle strength and hyperchrophee a meta analysis.
This was Journal of International Society of Sports Nutrition, December
two thirteen. So he's looking at all the studies, okay,
(26:52):
and what he basically found. Just gonna distill it down
really quickly. Let me read one sentence. These results refute
the commonly held belief the timing of protein intake in
and around a training session is critical to muscular adaptations
and indicate that consuming advocate protein in combination with resistance
exercise is the key factor for maximizing muscle protein accretion.
(27:15):
So but what he did say in this article or
this study rather is it was the amount of protein
you need to take in all throughout the day. So
this doesn't say you shouldn't take in right after what
he says, and most of his work says you just
need to get it in throughout the day. You need
to get it in throughout today. And one more study
(27:36):
of his pre versus post exercise protein intake has similar
effects on muscular adaptation. So that's the title of the study,
and it's just simplifies what I just said. And the
purpose of this study was to test the antabolic window theory.
So the metabolic window theory, for you by investigating muscle strength, hypertrophy,
and body composition changes in response to an equal amount
(27:58):
of protein consumed either before the workout or after. And
the results showed that pre and post workout protein consumption
had similar effects on all measure study. But here you go,
you gotta take it in before as you know, so
bodybuilders are taken in before and after. And this goes
to his research that says adequate protein throughout the day,
(28:21):
but so many people don't get inadequate protein. Okay, And
one final study and then I'm bringing it all together
nutrient timing revisited. Is there a post exercise antibolic window?
Perfect study to finish up on Journal of the International
Society of Sports Nutrition. Okay, And what they basically say is,
despite the claims that immediate post exercise nutritional intake is essential,
(28:45):
is essential to maximize basically muscle size, evidence based support
for such an antabolic window of opportunity is far from definitive.
And then they qualified by saying, on the other hand,
there are others who might train before one or after
work where the previous meal was finished four to six
hours prior to commencing exercise. This lag in nutrient consumption
(29:08):
can be considered significant enough to warrant post exercise intervention
if muscle retention or growth is the primary goal. So
basically what they're saying is, if you don't take in
the protein pre exercise, and you did go a long
time and you want to maintain your muscle mass, then
you probably should take it in right after your exercise. Okay,
enough of all the stuff, of all the studies. I
(29:28):
have to throw this all out there to you to
show that there's the science behind it. Here's my take
on all this. Here's my take on all this. If
it doesn't hurt you, and it might work, it might help.
We need to eat anyway. This is the simple stuff.
This is this is the gold of fitness disruptive. It's
(29:49):
so simple to me. If it might work, if it
might help, And and this study, by the way, and
that's why I said specifically emphasize essential. It might not
be essential, but might it help. So if I'm looking
for an advantage, and I'm looking to be as healthy
as possible, and there's enough research that says, hey, maybe
(30:12):
post exercise is super important, and I know that I'm
depleting my stories. I know definitely I need to add
the carbs back in. The question is more about the protein,
and what Schauenfeld is saying is as long as you're
getting adequate protein in throughout the day, good enough. And
I agree, like to a certain extent, I agree. But
(30:35):
if I'm going to take an adequate protein throughout the day,
and if there may be, according to much research in
the past and you know some in the in the present,
there may be some advantage to taking it in right
after exercise, why wouldn't I? Why wouldn't you? It's not
hurting and it's potentially helping, And that is so much
(30:57):
of it is disrupted. And listen, so many people do
so many other things where there's no scientific basis or
limited at best. And I always say, well, if it's
not hurting you, and it might be helping you even psychologically,
then do it. So That's where I'm bringing us all
home too. I exercise really frequently. I'm getting back into
(31:17):
racing even more frequently, and I know that I need
energy to do that. I know that I'm breaking down muscle.
I know that I need protein in carbs to do that.
So if I'm eating five to six meals a day,
I simply time it so that I have one meal
generally before workout to give me the energy, and then
the other one as close to the end of that
workout as possible. And if I'm doing multiple workouts throughout
(31:39):
the day, it works out really simply. If I'm doing
two days, I've got the breakfast that fuels that first workout,
I've got meal number two to recover from that first workout.
I have meal number three as lunch or whatever however
times out, and that gives me the energy for the
second workout in the afternoon maybe, and then I have
(32:00):
the post workout meal to to recover and refuel and replenish.
And then maybe the fifth or six is just dinner,
and then the six maybe a snack. Actually, so the
fifth is dinner in the six of the snack. So
I hope it doesn't confuse you too much, because again
this is just the perfect topic. You need to take
(32:21):
in protein, you need to take in carbs, and yes,
there is conflicting research about the metabolic window, but what
isn't really debated or not as as heavily is that
you need to take an adequate protein and if you
want to build muscle and you want to retain muscle.
Definitely get in your protein, and if you're like me,
(32:42):
take it right after your workouts as well. And guess
what this goes to. The final thing we're gonna leave
it here is when you do things like that, you
see people walking around the gym they got their water,
or when the workouts over, you see them in there
in the locker room, guys, because I'm in the guy's
locker room, and I'm sure women are doing it too,
with the amount of muscle that women are putting on today.
But you're you're you're taking in your protein. So it's
(33:03):
part of the process and it's fun and it makes
you feel like you're being healthy, healthier, and it goes
to like, especially if you're racing and competing, you go, oh,
I'm doing the little things again. Whether or not there's
huge scientific research behind those things. So much of it
is being consistent with your workouts, getting in adequate nutrients,
(33:29):
and then the mental side. And it's all connected. So
if you feel like, oh, wow, I went to the gym,
where I worked out at home, and then I made
this great protein and carb shake, it's just it's all
is connected and it's all part of the lifestyle and
lifestyle is what it's all about. Healthy lifestyle. So finally,
(33:51):
the ratio. So if you look at the ratio, you say, Okay, Tom,
I'm gonna do carbs, I'm gonna do protein post workout.
What do I do? So the ratio of car to protein,
I've seen two to one, up to seven to one
carbs to protein ratio. Power bar back in the day
just happened to my voice, was that, like Peter Brady moment,
(34:11):
power bar back in the day was about a four
or five to one ratio, and there was something called
in Dr Rocks too. I'm just throwing out the things
I used to use. I don't even know if it's
around anymore, but it was four to one or five
to one ratio. That's primarily where I sit. So for
the ratio four to one carbs to protein. So if
you're taking in ten grams of protein post exercise, you
(34:33):
know roughly forty grams of of carbohydrate, So ten grams
of protein, forty grams of carbs or fifty grams of
protein and a little bit more carbs right, four to one,
five to one, and you can do more than that.
You can do twenty grams of protein and again a
hundred grams of carbs. All right, enough, it's such a
(34:57):
great topic and it's so easy. This is one it's like,
why am I going to debate it? I'm just gonna
do it. It might help. It's helped me. And and
that's the final thing is I'm living proof that whatever
you know, whatever the nutritional strategy, it seems to be
working for me and I and equals one. But it's
also worked for many of my clients, and and I
(35:17):
put it in the books I've written. It doesn't hurt
that you need to eat anyway? Why not? Why not
time it? Then? All right, thank you so much for listening.
I am Tom holland if you have not yet rated
the show, I would greatly appreciate it. Just rate it
to take two seconds. Rate the show, subscribe so you
don't miss anything. If you want any topics covered or
(35:38):
have any feedback, Tom h Fit is my Instagram as
well as my Twitter account, and I have a website
Fitness disrupted dot com. You can reach out to me
there as well if you want. And finally, thank you,
thank you for listening. This is this is confusing stuff.
And you know, as I said at the beginning of
the show. I have one bias, and that's helping you
(35:58):
make sense of all this lunacy and makes sense so
you can have your best life, live your best life,
look your best, feel your best, live your longest and
we gotta weed through the craziness. And we got to
use common sense. And common sense is left out of
so much of this. It's either just the Ivory Tower
stuff or you know, it's it's oversimplified. Uh, there is
(36:19):
a connection between the two that need to be made.
All right, thank you for listening, and remember there are
three things that we all control, how much we move,
what we put into our mouths, and our attitudes, and
that is awesome. I'm Tom Holland. This is Fitness Disrupted.
Believe in Yourself. Fitness Disrupted is a production of I
(36:44):
Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit
the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows.
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