By Arun Chase
What if I told you that there was a simple, yet an incredibly effective secret to huge muscle, that you could just start implementing with your workouts TODAY? Would you be interested?
Hell Yes, I would be! I know when I was struggling for muscle growth, this one secret could have changed my results IMMEDIATELY! But I didn’t so I wasted years with non-existent growth!
Today I want you to sit down, take a deep breath and read this article, slowly and take this all in, because this is potentially the most important info to your muscle growth….
The secret is simply “Pre, Post And During Workout Nutrition”!
Now that may not seem all that sexy! You may have been expecting some sort of crazy insane workout! BUT the fact of the matter is, your workout does NOT create the growth, it is the nutrition that does!
Your workout is just a stepping stone, to allow your muscles to be built back larger. That’s why around 60% of your results come from your nutrition, and only 40% from other factors including your workout!
Without the nutrition you WILL FAIL! In fact you may even lose muscle!
So what is it you have to do??
Now…I am NOT going to tell you to eat 5-6 large meals a day, because yes that is extremely important, and you should do it (and everyone, including me will tell you that), BUT the nutrition in and around your workout is actually the most defining nutrition of all. If you are going to do one thing with your diet, you need to get this right!
So no more yapping, straight down to what you can start doing from today! Here goes:
PRE-WORKOUT NUTRITION
1. Around 1.5-2 Hours Before Your Workout, Consume A Solid-Food Meal Which Is High In Slow-Digesting Carbohydrates And Slow-Digesting Protein e.g. wholemeal rice with grilled skinless chicken breast.
When you workout, you will be using plenty of stored carbohydrates and protein from your body! The less carbohydrates in the body, the more protein you will use!
But what really sucks, is that protein will come from the break down of YOUR muscle! So, you want to make sure you have enough carbohydrates and protein in your system!
By using a slow-digesting protein and carbohydrate, you will be making sure protein and carbohydrates are being topped up continuously, rather than just having ONE massive burst of carbohydrates and protein levels in your blood, that drops down by the time you workout! This is also why you must choose solid food, as it takes longer to digest!
So what types of foods are we talking about here? Well for carbohydrates you can choose things like wholemeal pasta, wholemeal rice, beans (lima, red and kidney), chickpeas etc. For proteins look at skinless chicken breast, turkey breast, tuna, eggs etc.
With that meal, being 1.5-2 hours before your workout, it will allow you enough time to digest the food.
2. Around 15 Minutes Before Your Workout Have A Whey Protein Shake Mixed With Dextrose, So That You Get Double The Grams Of Carbohydrates Compared To Protein.
As your workout approaches, you want to avoid as much muscle breakdown during your workout as possible (which will happen no matter what you do). To do this you want a sudden burst of fast digesting carbohydrates and protein.
The best fast-digesting protein is a whey protein shake, as whey is fast-digesting, and being a drink it is even better! The best fast-digesting carbohydrate is a simple carbohydrate, called dextrose. For all the scientific lingo, dextrose is just simply a form of sugar.
So get a good whey protein powder, and mix this all together in a shake, as directed by the whey protein powder bottle, but then mix in enough dextrose to make the carbs levels to double those of protein (you will have to do some basic maths using the nutrition tables on the side of both packets).
You can also get a ready mixed powder, which is set to this ratio, so there is ZERO extra work for you IF you prefer that. You can use my affiliate link below to get the product (which will help me to keep running this site
).
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Get The Pro-Grade Pre And Post Workout Drink, which is ready mixed to a ratio of 2:1 fast digesting carbs to protein from the link below
Pro-grade Pre And Post Workout Ready Mixed Shake <======= CLICK HERE
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DURING WORKOUT NUTRITION
1. Take Another Shake, Like The Pre Workout Shake, And Just Sip On That Through The Workout
So mix exactly the same shake, as I’ve described above, and take it with you to the gym!
Just make sure you keep sipping on that, to make sure your carbohydrate and protein levels stay high throughout the workout.
Your during workout nutrition is as simple as that!
POST WORKOUT NUTRITION
Now we come to arguably the most important part of your nutrition! So pay close attention, you have a 4 hour window to get this right and get maximum growth:
1. 15 Minutes After Your Workout, Drink Another One Of Those Shakes (yep them again!)
See you’ve just torn your muscle fibers during the workout. They are now primed for growth, so need protein! But at the same time, your metabolic rate has shot up from the workout, which also uses carbohydrates and protein (in the form of your muscles). Again the less carbs in your body, the more muscle is used!
So you need to drink another one of those shakes one more time, so you can get carbs and protein FAST.
<<<<<HELPFUL TIP>>>>>
Drinking 3 shakes maybe tough when you first start out, but if it is, stick to two shakes in total, and split them over the before, during and after period.
2. 1 Hour- 1.5 Hours After Your Workout Get In Some Solid Food, Which Is High In Protein And Fairly High In Slow Digesting Carbs (but more at 1:1 ratio of Carbs to Protein), But Now Include Some Unsaturated Fat’s Too e.g. A Tuna Sandwich Made With Wholemeal Bread And Some Almonds To The Side.
Around 1-1.5 hours, your metabolic rate will start to slow down, yet your muscle fibers are still primed for growth. So they need more protein and less carbohydrates (even though they still need some). You want a continuous top up again, so that your fibers keep getting protein. Hence you want a slow digesting carbohydrate again with a slow digesting protein.
Again this is similar types of food as your meal 1.5-2 hours before the workout, BUT in addition you want to make sure you add some unsaturated fats which help in the secretion of testosterone and growth hormone, which can turbo boost your growth!
So add in things like olives, avocados, almonds, peanuts etc.
3. Have A Similar Meal 3.5- 4 hours after your workout e.g. Turkey Breast With Side Of Wholemeal Pasta And A Fresh Avocado Salad.
Your muscle fibers are still primed for growth, and your metabolic rate has come back to normal. You will get maximum growth from this meal alone!
So make sure you use this opportunity to get in a similar meal, to the one you had 1-1.5 hours after your workout!
And that’s it….
That is one of the top, most important, muscle building secrets in the industry – Getting your pre, during and post workout nutrition right! Make sure you get those meals, and shakes in exactly like above! You will see MASSIVE GAINS!
Remember though, that 4 hour period after you workout, is vitally important. If you ignore that, you are losing out on all that hard work you just put in! Don’t be stubborn and say you’ll do it next week…START NOW…that means TODAY!
Anyway, I’m off for a pre-workout shake! Let me know how it goes for you! Leave me comments below on what your thoughts are and if you like this, AUTOMATICALLY share it with your friends using the “share this” buttons below!
Good luck & Best Wishes
Arun Chase
p.s. Please read this post above, word for word, it is probably one of the most important muscle building articles you will ever read, and follow it completely. This one change could truly change all your results.
p.p.s. Leave me comments below, I want to hear from you! Let me know how it goes!
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9 Comments
Really great article Arun!! Definitely going to put this into action!!
One of the things I really wasn't doing!
Hi Arun;
Seems that the meal plan above is for morning workout. What if I work out in the evening from 7pm till 8.30pm averagely? How should I adjust the meal plan then as too much of Carbs intake within the 4 hrs of window of opportunity may create insulin spike and encourage fat storage late in the evening.
Thanking in advance for your reply.
Best regards
Wilson Chong
Hey Wilson,
Hows it going? Thanks for your great comment and question…think this will benefit many of the readers in our great muscle building community
Ideally the nutrition described above is what you would have around your workout, but obviously sometimes its difficult to train in the morning or during the day. If your training in the evening my suggestion would be:
1) Still have the pre-workout shake and sip during the workout (as described above)
2) Still have the post workout shake after the workout (as described above)
3) Have the meal as described 1- 1.5 hours after the workout, but half the carbs in that meal
However, my strong suggestions is, do not worry so much about the fat gain, as you you won't put on hardly any fat, because of the huge increase in metabolic rate from the workout…
I would suggest you also read this article… http://www.bodybuilding4idiots.com/blog/396/is-ca…
Hope that helps…and if you need anymore advice let me know
Arun
great info on fat burning foods, weight loss, ab exercises, and more!
Why is it that some people who worked out crave for more foods?
Applying your guide above, how many days can I see results?
And the shake, what if I will not include it on the guide, would it ruin this workout guide?
Thanks for your question Todd…answering each question 1 by 1…
1) When you workout, you burn off the food you are eating and more (i.e. you use more calories), so that just means you get hungry faster and crave more food (i.e. you want more calories to cover for what you are burning)
2) You'll start seeing results very quickly….Give it a try and I'll be surprised if you don't notice a difference within 2 weeks
3) The shake is vital because your body needs the nutrients quickly before, during and after the workout…The only way you can do this is with this shake because:
- its a drink so provides your body with the nutrients quicker (its digested quicker)
- It contains whey protein, which is a fast digesting protein
- it contains dextrose, which is a fast digesting carbohydrate
Without it, you won't get results quickly.
I hope that helps…keep reading…got some great articles coming your way…
Hey arun!
Great post! I totally agree that without the right nutrition the whole work-out life style is nothing. Yes, you MUST eat right if you wanna be healthy and grow muscle.
One thing i find important and want to add:
Vegetables based diet will allow you not only to burn fat and lose weight, but also to gain MUSCLE!
Most of us get this image of a weak skinny vegetarian, but the truth is, that if you eat right, as a vegetarian, you can grow HUGE muscles.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying go raw or vegan, BUT, what i am saying, over the years being a gym instructor, i have learned many things, and the most important one is the lesson of Not ruining your body, as you only have one. You are what you eat, in the end of the day….
Work out responsibly, eat responsibly, and keep an open mind. Thanks Arun, you seem to put a lot of work on this post and its filled with some great stuff!
Ido
After reading many websites and blogs with this
type of information this site was a welcome from the rest.
All the information is clearly laid out and explained.
Thanks for a great read,i'll pass this onto other people i know who'll find it beneficial.
Great article, pretty much covers everything you need pre/post workout. I like to have an even protein to carbohydrate split with some creatine thrown in. If I have a cheat meal it would also be on a resistance training day to get a bit more calories for growth
Keep the posts coming
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