What are the best pre and post workout meals or supplements?

Hi Mitch

Pre-workout, probably the best thing to have is essential amino acids (about 6 grams), as the best study on pre-workout supplementation showed that this raises protein synthesis (the muscle-building process) more dramatically than other proteins (including whey protein) and better than taking the same essential amino acids or whey protein after training. I always add a half scoop of hydrolysed whey protein to this - it's expensive stuff but it lasts a long time if you just take a small amount before training.

Take this just before you start training or you can sip it for the 15 minutes before and/or during the first 5 or 10 minutes whilst you're doing warm-up sets, etc. You should also definitely have caffeine (at least 200mg) or some pre-workout supplement that contains caffeine and "NO boosters" (that increases nitric oxide for better blood flow performance, pumps, etc) about 20 minutes before training.

Don't drink coffee within 4 hours before a workout because it blocks the benefits of the caffeine. Tea on the other hand, enhances exercise performance beyond the effects of caffeine - I often have a double-bag cup of 80% green plus 20% black tea that has steeped for over 3 minutes so it has maximum polyphenol content about 20 minutes before I train.

Don't eat anything else in the 3 hours or so before training. You may be short on energy for the first few sessions if you are used to eating closer to your workouts but you will get used to it and it's worth it so as to burn off extra fat!

After training, have whey protein (at least 20 grams) along with some simple carbs like maltodextrin, dextrose, waxy maize, etc and creatine. You can also add lipoic acid to enhance creatine uptake, glycogen (the muscle's sugar energy stores) restoration and probably further enhance fat burning.

The amount of carbs depends upon your daily carb allowance. Generally, when cutting, the only significant servings of carbs are first thing in the morning and after training but sometimes you even have to cut these sources of carbs somewhat to lose that last bit of fat or get past a plateau during which you've stopped losing fat.

Thanks Mark, good advice & helped me too. Any idea where to find bulk EAA's in Canada? I've looked in the supplement stores but they are terribly over priced.

Hi Fred,

Sorry, I live in the UK (but I am actually Canadian). All I can suggest is to google "Discount essential amino acids". I use Universal EAA Stack usually but I think these are a bit hard to find in Canada and you may have to order them from the US.

Hi Mark,

I was reading the profile for Density that another member had mentioned in an earlier post and with the PVL Isogold whey isolate I use. Is there any reason to also use EAA's if the whey is comprehensive?

EAAs work better than whey before training but at other times, go with the whey protein.