Whereas what you actually do in the gym during the span of your
training session determines greatly how well you are
progressing towards building your body, what you do 90 minutes
before and after the work out determines how fast you achieve
that goal. It’s called “the four hour window”, one and a half
hour before and after the one hour of work out. Miss it and you
will toil in the gym for more than twice the time you would
have achieved your goal.
This window is the opportunity to enhance your body’s ability
to build muscle. This is because it is the time your body will
be in most need for muscle building foods and also most
receptive to the foods taken.
This is the most important meal of your entire day, save for
the post workout meal. Its entire purpose is to ready the body
for the rigors of weight training. During the actual workout,
your body depletes all “liquid” sources of stored energy such
as blood sugar. As the workout intensifies, the body initiates
Glycolysis a process that oxidizes fats, stored in an insoluble
form to soluble sugars that are quickly dissolved in blood for
transit to the muscles for respiration to generate energy.
Towards this end, the pre workout meal should consist of easy
to digest and absorb energy giving foods such as carbohydrates.
This provides a ready source of energy for your body during the
session rather than opting for Glycolysis which not only takes
time to occur but also requires energy. This would be counter
productive for one working out in the gym as they need all the
energy that they can spare.
If you are eating to gain mass, your average meal suffices for
a pre work out meal. However, it should be taken ninety to
sixty minutes before the weight training session begins to
provide enough time for the body to digest and avail the
nutrients to the cells of the muscular tissue for energy
Stick to simple carbohydrates preferably in juice form as
liquid food is easily digested with the least amount of energy
expended than solid food which has to first be broken down to
Post workout nutrition
The essence behind intense weight training to gain mass is the
simple fact that muscle tissue gets torn and thus during
rebuilding which is inevitable, stronger muscle tissue will be
synthesized to withstand the workout routines as the body tries
to adapt to the new environment. In the process additional
muscle tissue is synthesized to supplement the existing muscle.
This is visible outwardly as increased muscle mass and a well
Thus the post work out meal should provide nutrients that are
necessary for tissue repair and growth. This is mainly
carbohydrates to replenish energy sources such as glycogen and
proteins to provide amino acids necessary for the rebirth of
new and hopefully stronger tissue. The sooner the body get’s
these rebuilding materials the faster it will repair and build
new, stronger and bulkier muscle.
Dane Fletcher is the world’s most prolific bodybuilding and
fitness expert and is currently the executive editor for
BodybuildingToday.com. If you are looking for more
bodybuilding tips or information on weight training, or
supplementation, please visit
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