Muscles aching after working out

[hmkpoker]

I find that swimming as my cardio/relaxation activity works wonders.

[SoHotRightNow]

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I read something a while back about shifting hot and cold showers... as in taking a shower and alternating water temp every few minutes if youre showering right after working out. I have never tried this. It could be bad. But heck... take a shower and switch from hot water to cold(er) water every few minutes back and forth like and see if it does anything for you.

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I'm a rugby referee, and have used this method in the past when reffing at rugby sevens tournaments when we have to ref 4 or 5 games over a 5 hour period. Reffing sevens is VERY intense excercise, so to stop us stiffening up too badly between games, we set up a giant bin with ice and water in it, and have a decently hot shower running next to it. After each game, you jump in the ice tub for a minute, then hot shower for a minute, and repeat this three or four times. Its really incredible how refreshed your legs will feel after this.

But I doubt I could be bothered going to all that trouble after every workout.

[heater]

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Themp who would waste money on some companies "fast acting carb and protein mix" when I can buy standard WPI powder and mix it with Dextrose which costs basically nothing. Any carb/protein combination package from a supp. company is usually a waste of money.

As for getting rid of the pain. After a while I find you stop noticing it completely, that is my experience.

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What you eat/drink post-workout is by far the most important meal of the day. I've read enough to understand the science behind it and I've experienced the difference that it makes when I get a proper post-workout drink.

The explanation is long and I would never get it exactly right anyway so here are a few key paragraphs from John Berardi's site:

"A couple of final factors need to be discussed. First, the research is very clear that if you wait to consume your post-workout nutrition, you lose (14). One study showed that if the post-workout beverage was consumed immediately after training, glycogen synthesis was three times higher than if the beverage was consumed just two hours later. So the sooner you drink the drink, the better the recovery rate.

Secondly, with respect to the types of carbohydrate and protein to consume, it's clear that immediately after training, liquid nutrition is best tolerated (8,15). Since liquid nutrition is more rapidly digested and absorbed, nutrients are more rapidly delivered to the muscle. In addition, according to the literature, the optimal carbohydrates to consume are glucose and glucose polymers, like maltodextrin (8).

As far as the best protein to consume, you want to choose a protein that is absorbed as rapidly as the ingested carbs so that the synergistic insulin response can be maximized. Now that's hard to find. Most intact proteins (yes, even in powdered form) take several hours to be fully absorbed. We need protein that can get absorbed within minutes, just like the carbs do. Without this simultaneous absorption of both, the insulin response will be disappointing. So what to do? Well, since one of the most quickly digested proteins is whey hydrolysate, it's the protein of choice for our purposes here (10)."

The rest of the article is here:
Solving the Post Workout Puzzle

You can chug WPI after your workouts until you're blue in the face but you will never experience the same gains as you will if you make the switch to a proper mix. This one change in my diet/supplementation has done more for me than anything I've ever done over the last 4+ years of lifting.

[kitaristi0]

Some good advice here, thanks.

re: Surge, I see a 900g tub of this being sold at £35 (I'm in the UK), and the tub includes 10 servings for £3.50 per serving which is ridiculous. What are some other good, cheaper substitutes? Would something like this be any good?

Also, if you do cardio after weights, do you take the shake after weights or cardio?

[imitation]

I haven't read much literature on this since I was really into lifting more than 2 yrs ago, but the overwhelming advice at that point on forum.bodybuilding.com was dex + WPI for postwork out. Isn't whey hydro just WPI which is filtered using that method, i'm rusty on that particular point.

Regarding maltodex v dex, i've seen different articles which say which is better. In Australia I used half/half.

WPI is not particularly expensive more than WPC if you are buying 8kg tubs like I was, also WPI has a higher protein concentration so it pays for itself basically.

I agree post workout shake is very important. But I think you are exagerating the differences between a cheaper do it yourself wpi/c + dex/malto shake (which will clearly be cheaper) and something called Surge.....

[heater]

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But I think you are exagerating the differences between a cheaper do it yourself wpi/c + dex/malto shake (which will clearly be cheaper) and something called Surge.....

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I probably am because I was thinking that what you were describing was somewhat different than Surge. I may be wrong. WPI isn't 100% hydrolyzed whey and my understanding is that 100% hydrolyzed whey is what you want post workout. It's been a couple of years so again, I may be wrong.

When I first started trying to get my pwo drink right a couple of years ago, I ended up making a homemade recipe for Surge that tasted horrible. I did it because it was cheap. I could only stand it for a couple of weeks before I broke down and paid for the Surge.

The only reason AFAIK to pay for the more expensive stuff is the taste. If you just want the drink and you want it relatively cheap, but the ingredients and mix your own. I can't for the life of me find the site that I ordered from. I do remember 50g of protein, 100g of maltodextrin (or 50/50 malto and dextrose), 5g glutamine, and 5g BCAA's.

[heater]

Okay, I found a little info here:

whey

"Hydrolyzed whey (or whey protein hydrolysate) is usually a whey protein isolate that have had some of its amino acid peptide bonds broken enzymatically into shorter chains of aminos. This leads to better absorption in the stomach. However, hydrolyzed whey isn't all the popular because of its horrible taste. The hydrolysis process makes the whey taste bitter. The level of hydrolysis determines the bitterness of the protein - more hydrolyzed whey will taste more bitter. Generally, hydrolyzed whey protein supplements will be no more than 20% hydrolyzed, as this costs the manufacturer extra money, and also makes the whey taste worse.

Unfortunately, you'll never know what percent the protein is hydrolyzed, as the makers will never put it on their label.

Advantages of Hydrolyzed Whey:

The most digestible whey protein for human consumption
Partially pre-digested for better absorption by humans
Protein molecules are split into smaller group called peptides

While hydrolyzed whey has many desirable qualities, you're unlikely to find any whey protein supplement that is mass marketed that contains a high percentage of hydrolyzed whey - only because marketing to the masses, the supplement companies worry more about taste than effectiveness. I'm sure we can say that for many end users as well. Some protein supplements like Optimum's 100% whey contains some hydrolyzed whey; however they don't tell you how much."

The stuff I was buying was 100% hydrolyzed. They sold malto, aminos, proteins, etc. all in bulk. They didn't sell anyone else's products and nothing was prepackaged. It all came in big ziploc bags. I wish I could find the place because it was very cheap.

How do you quantify the difference between hydrolyzed and "non-hydrolyzed whey"? Who knows. Maybe there's hardly any difference at all. Supplementation gets too complicated sometimes.

[Thremp]

Heater is more or less right but the serving it too big. 25/50 is more in line with what most people need. It's a 300+ cal drink from just that. And considering you should eat within 2 hours. You don't wanna down something too huge.

[heater]

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Heater is more or less right but the serving it too big. 25/50 is more in line with what most people need. It's a 300+ cal drink from just that. And considering you should eat within 2 hours. You don't wanna down something too huge.

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Yeah, I'm 6'7" ~260.

[ImAKing]

ive been working out for a while, and i take a protein shake before and after my workouts. In lifting magazines they say that you should take as many gramz of protein as your weight. This will help the soreness and recovery time alot, also take glutamine pills before you go to bed. There is some glutamine in the protein shakes, but not enough for it to really help and get into your blood stream to help your muscles recover. Also if you plan on lifting on a regular basis, take a multi-vitamine and try out some fish oil, to get some essensial fatty acids that you body needs. But if i were you i would get soem whey protein and some glutamine pills and you should be fine after the 1st week of lifting all your muscles