SILVER CITY — Post workout recovery has become just as important as other areas of fitness. Whether your in the gym, on the field, or on a court somewhere, that hour and a half after your workout is prime time for helping your body recuperate and get into anabolic mode.

We have discussed pre-workout supplements, but most fitness gurus have forgotten what to do after their workout. that old notion of your body doesn’t grow in the gym comes to life after your hard work during your training session. Several studies have shown that a post-workout supplement not only helps drive your body into anabolic mode, but it also helps your body recover quickly and more strongly than before.

There’s no doubt that some sort of protein helps in this process, but our body is so much more scientific that protein alone doesn’t help us reach our peak potential. most nutritionists tell you that protein along with some branch chain amino acids (BCAA’s) and Glutamine is very important to take in that window after your workout to help with recovery.

In fact, BCAA’s are the most abundant amino acids that are in circulation to be taken up by your muscles. But, the downside is that they are also very easily catabolized — broken down — during exercise. So this is a great reason to load up on BCAA’s prior to working out and after because it’s said that the body can’t make it’s own BCAA’s which increases the need to take them for athletes.

Glutamine’s benefits include increasing growth hormone levels, improving the immune system, and sparing lean body mass during workouts. The first and third benefits are reason enough to take this supplement post workout and the immune system improvement is a great side effect to have. The synergy effect BCAA’s and Glutamine along with protein — when taken together — is why we consume these three items post workout.

Although these three supplements are great in helping you recover after your insane workout at the gym or on the track, field, etc…, you still need other things to take advantage of your growth. Studies continue to show that after a hard workout, muscles are torn down, glycogen is depleted, and catabolism usually takes place. To stop all of this nutrients must be fed directly into your muscles, and protein synthesis, which is the building of new muscle, can be highly elevated during this time frame. Taking in carbohydrates after working out can help elevate your growth hormone and insulin levels which are needed for muscle growth. a more positive nitrogen balance is attained and preventing protein breakdown in your muscles helps your body absorb and utilize your amino acids and glutamine.

When they say protein is the building block of muscle, they aren’t lying. But, another supplement that can help you post workout is creatine. it helps supply energy to the muscle, and our bodies naturally make this compound. it is produced in the liver, pancreas and kidneys, and is transported to the body’s muscles through our bloodstream.

Once creatine reaches our muscles, it’s converted into phosphocreatine. We can get creatine from many foods such as red meat, and fish. there are different forms of creatine out there such as creatine monohydrate and Kre-Alkalyn to name a few. But, the main thing to remember when consuming this is to drink plenty of water. The old notion of drink till you float kicks in, but don’t take excessive amounts of water at one time. Spread it out throughout the day, and especially during and after your workout.

So a few of the supplements have been noted for your post workout nutritional plan. I like to take mine in the form of a shake. I am currently on Inner Armour’s Nitro Peak. it tastes great and has lots of protein and BCAA’s along with glutamine. Muscletech’s NitroTech Hardcore is also pretty good along with Cytosport’s Monster Milk and Cytogainer.

There are several post workout supplement shakes out there that you can try, and when I run out, EAS’s Myoplex that the gym has is a great alternative. try dropping some ice and a banana and mixing it up in a blender to help make the drink into a more pleasant smoothie.

The big thing to remember is don’t waste the massive chest workout you just had in the gym by skipping on post workout meals and supplements. Your pecs are pumped, you can barely lift your arms, and remember there’s no relaxing once you get home. Not until after you’ve mixed up your drink and consumed it can you sit back in your recliner and enjoy some television.

Danny Udero may be reached at dudero@scsun-news.com; (575) 538-5893