I have to agree with jpfitness. Our bodies only have the ability to gain so much muscle mass naturally. When you add performance enhancing substances to the equation, it becomes a lot easier to gain muscle mass because the recovery time is shorter and you have more hormones surging through your veins to promote muscle growth. But it isn't "real".
Every time you work out, you "damage" your muscle tissue (you get microscopic tears to muscle fibers). The reaction to this damage is to build more muscle. But you only have so many amino acids to lay down the framework with. So you want to replenish what your muscles have lost, i.e., glycogen and protein as soon as possible after working out. Loss of glycogen while you're working out and post-workout promotes muscle loss because you become catabolic.
You also have free radical damage after a workout (oxidative stress). These free radicals are unstable, and will pull electrons from muscle cell membrances to stabilize themselves. This is not a good thing, mmmKay?
I eat prunes, raisins, blueberries or blackberries after a workout. They grab the nasty free radicals and help prevent muscle soreness and stiffness after a tough workout. These fruits have the highest oxygen radical absorbance capacities (ORAC) so instead of the electrons in your muscle membrances being scavanged by free radicals, the ORAC's will scoop up the free radicals for you. Theoretically speaking, anyway
Prunes give you far more bang for your buck. They have about twice the ORACs as raisins and blueberries per 100 grams (3.5 oz). Just don't eat too many ... if you know what I mean. I eat 4 prunes before my workout and 4 afterwards. So far so good (i.e., no colon blow issues).
Since your muscles can utilize glycogen 2-3 times faster in the first couple of hours after a workout, you want to replenish carbs right after your workout. But you also need protein to rebuild the muscle tissue.
So what you want to do is try to eat a 4:1 carb/protein ratio after your workout. That kicks in the insulin and anabolic reactions you want. Insulin promotes anabolic reactions in the body (basically, insulin counteracts cortisol, which is a catabolic). Your body is very insulin-sensitive after working out, so work with it
This is very simple, but it works for me like a charm. I'm rarely sore after a workout, regardless of what I've done, how many new exercises I've added to my workout, or how much weight I've added to the bar/machine. Since I like to work out 5-6 days a week, I'm very happy when I'm not hurting
I'd love to hear if anybody else does this after a workout, and whether or not it works for them.
Just my $0.02. Don't know if it's worth $0.02, though ...
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