In sports nutrition we have always heard carbs carbs carbs: the importance of refueling the muscles after exercise to allow optimal recovery and maximize the performance in the next training session.
Is muscle refueling the path to optimal recovery?
While it is true that we need our muscles fueled to perform our next training session, this simply ensures that we have fuel to complete the session. It does not mean that we are recovering and adapting optimally to the training session we have just done, which is in fact exactly what we are looking for as an athlete to improve performance.
So how do we optimize recovery and adaptation to training?
Hormone production
The human body is controlled by hormones. Our strength, mood, energy levels, growth and adaptation to training, among other things, are all controlled by hormones. So if we want to maximize our training effect we need to look at how to optimize hormone production post training.
The major hormone that we need to look at optimizing to enhance recovery is Human Growth Hormone (HGH). This hormone is well known now and in the news regularly for all the wrong reasons. It has become the drug of choice for sports cheats as it has a huge effect on recovery and subsequently how hard athletes can train. It is, however. possible to greatly improve our natural production of HGH and enhance recovery and performance cleanly.
The release of HGH
To optimize HGH release we need to look at the times this is released into the body naturally. This happens:
- In the first hours after falling asleep
- Following heavy weight training/maximum intensity exercise
- When in a fasted state
For this article I want to concentrate on the HGH release that occurs when we sleep. This HGH release is why pro athletes take a nap during the day – and is also why babies take regular naps as it is this release of hormone that enables such rapid growth! For most of us, though, taking a nap in the middle of the day is not possible. So we need to look at getting the biggest release of hormone when we go to sleep at night and this is where nutrition comes in.
Insulin and HGH — Not the best of friends
Insulin and HGH are the main two hormones that control metabolism hence the importance nutrition plays on recovery: insulin works when we are in a FEASTED state and HGH works when we are in a FASTED state.
The two hormones are up or down, regulated in relation to the amount of glucose in the blood stream. The more carbohydrate (digested and broken down to glucose) we eat, the more insulin is released to deal with the glucose and remove it from the blood system. We can only start producing HGH when all this insulin is gone which leads us to the problem athletes have following a traditionally recommended high-carbohydrate diet.
If we eat a high carbohydrate meal in the evening following a post-work training session, then we are going to be heading to bed with high insulin levels in our blood. The result is that at the optimum time for HGH release, the level of hormone release is inhibited by the presence of insulin.
So how can we change evening nutrition habits to ensure maximal HGH release at night?
Quite simply, we want to cut carbohydrates from our evening meals. In order to do this we need to ensure that we are adequately fueled going into our evening training session. We need to consume carbs during this session if it is a long one and following the session we should have a SMALL carbohydrate-rich snack and then that’s it for carbs for the rest of the evening.
The evening meal should consist of protein and fat combined with a side of salad or vegetables. It is important to ensure that you get enough calories in this meal. Remember vegetables are not high-calorie foods, so the fat and protein content needs to be HIGH!
By following these recommendations, your insulin levels should be very low or non-existent by the time you go to sleep at night. And when you fall asleep you will experience an optimal release of HGH. This will aid recovery from the days training(s) and other stresses as well as:
- Optimizing quality of sleep
- Optimizing the development of lean muscle tissue
- Burning fat
In the next article I will be looking at how certain training sessions can be designed to stimulate a release of HGH.
Alun “Woody” Woodward, Certified ironguides Coach – UK/Hungary