Help schedule my supplements!

[jaymajik]

I am an avid reader of the Gym (now H&F) since it opened, and it has improved my workouts no end. So i wondered if I can get a little with this question.

My aims are to add mass and maybe lose a little fat (I am 5'8, 160 pounds).

I work out Mon, Weds, Fri at about 3pm. Workout is deadlifts, squats, rows, military press, bench press, hammer curls

My meal times are 9am, 1pm, 8 pm.
Each day I also have one protein shake (30g whey protein) mid morning (about 11am) and one in the afternoon (4pm or immediately post work out). I also eat cottage cheese (for casein protein) before bed (12 pm).

Having read in this forum that my PWO shake should have carbs as well as protein, and having read about the benefits of creatine, I bought a new supplement. One serving contains 30g dextrose and 5 g creatine mono hypdrate.

My questions are:
(1) when is the optimum time to take this supplment? Pre work-out? post-workout? Both?

(2) should I be taking it only on work out days or every day?

[zer0]

dextrose is used primarily with protein in a post workout drink. it registers high on the glycemic index, which is where you want to get your PWO carbs from.


"During the post-workout phase of training our bodies are in a hypoglycemic stage. Blood sugar and insulin levels have drastically dropped. Immediately following exercise natural GH concentrations struggle to increase as insulin levels try to rebound from its current highly catabolic state.

A high GI carbohydrate supplement combined with the post-workout window of opportunity will give immediate rise to blood glucose levels and cause a state of hyperglycemia. This will force an increase in the production of insulin! In other words high GI carbohydrates will lay the smack down on cortisol production.

The newly increased quantity of insulin in the blood will drive much needed glucose and amino acids through the receptor sites in the muscle cell at an increased rate. "

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/windowofopportunity.php (good read overall for PWO nutrition)

[jaymajik]

thanks for the reply and link zer0.

So it sounds like I should just be taking the dextrose/creatine as part of a post-workout shake, and not on off days. Agree?