WINDOW PERIOD

The time after your workout is the most important time in which you can actually make a difference to your body. This is generally referred to as the 'window period' or the 'window of opportunity' when your body is asking for nutrition and is ready to instantaneously suck up almost everything. However understanding what are the needs of your body and providing it with the right kind of nutrition is the key.

WHAT TO EAT :
After a long intense workout or any form of exercise for that matter, your body is depleted of glycogen and hence energy. The energy sapped muscles are torn and are looking to repair themselves. Thus your body needs two primary constituents Carbs and Proteins post workout. Often carbs are neglected and people stress too much on proteins as a primary meal post exercise, carbs are very important. If your post workout meal doesn't contain carbs, your body may actually instead break down muscle tissue for this same purpose. That is not exactly what you are looking for.
Proteins help in repairing and rebuilding the muscle tissues. one component that should be avoided in this window period is FAT. The reason being fat digest very slowly, and your body needs nutrition almost immediately. If you consume Fat alongwith carbs and protein, this fat will slow the digestion of carbs and protein as well, hence glycogen levels will not be replenished soon enough and muscle repair will not happen effectively.


TYPES OF FOOD:
Include food items which are rich in protein and carbs but at the same time are easy to digest. Egg whites are part of my every meal during the day except this for the very simple reason that though they are rich in protein, they don't settle down that quickly. Similarly taking complex carbs in form of brown bread, oats is not a very good idea. For carbs, one needs dextrose(a kind of sugar) to spike up your insulin level. By providing an insulin spike, carbs provide the body with an excellent transport system for the nutrients to reach the muscle cells.The simplest way I find is to have a couple of spoons of Glucose in water. You can also replace this with fresh fruit juice. Again for protein, going for something that is readily digestible is a good idea. For my immediate nutrition, I carry my whey protein mixed with glucose. Remember liquids are easily digested as compared to whole foods, so a banana and an apple blended in low fat milk is better than eating a whole banana and apple.

RIGHT TIME TO EAT:
As discussed above, the body is in need of immediate nutrition. However that doesn't mean you take your meal the moment you step off from your cardio machine or drop your dumb bells. Allow your heart rate to settle down before gulping down that replenishing muscle building nutrition.


It is said that the next 30 mins after your exercise is the time when your body is most prone to infections due to production of destructive hormones, cortisol. Hence it becomes all the more important to eat and eat good in this window.


TRAIN HARD, EAT HARDER