Fitness Nutrition
and Workout Supplements

INTRODUCTION

I am not a scientist or doctor. The fitness nutrition and workout supplements information presented here is a combination of my own thoughts/beliefs/reading/experience. It is not to be taken as medical advice.

Before commencing any nutrition or supplements regime seek advice if

• in doubt
• suffering from any complications etc
• under the care of a doctor or any medical professional

The decision whether to act on this information is ultimately your responsibility.

Nutrition is the most important variable when discussing fat or weight loss. When striving to achieve a workout objective (physical fitness, building muscle, natural bodybuilding etc), it is more of an equal partner to working out.Even people who do not look overweight would look and feel better if they gave some attention to workout nutrition.  If incorporated wisely fitness nutrition can leverage the effort given to the workout. 

There are different approaches to workout and fitness nutrition and I will present a brief summary of the most popular ones below. You can decide which ones to try and determine how you wish to proceed from there.

DEFINITION

Fitness nutrition is all the food, drinks and supplements ingested. It comprises 3 types called macronutrients - protein, fat and carbohydrate. The various approaches differ in the total amounts, proportions and timings of these macronutrients which make up the diet.

• Protein is the building block within the body and is thought to have a positive effect on its immune system.
• Fat is central to many bodily processes. 
• Carbohydrate is strictly not necessary to survive. Although the brain needs glucose, it can be derived from other fuels within the body rather than having to be sourced from carbohydrate. Factors which make this nutrient popular are cost and that foods made from it are often very tasty (e.g. comfort food)

APPROACHES TO FITNESS NUTRITION

1) Paleo (High Protein - Low Carb)

People should eat and drink only those things which would have been available to our ancestors living before the onset of agriculture, approx 10,000 years ago. The arguement is that our bodies have not had a sufficientl length of time to adapt nutrition based on agricultural crops. Groups such as grains, grasses and tubers (e.g. wheat, rice, corn, potatoes etc) have a spiking effect on our blood glucose and insulin levels.

Heavily processed foods like fries, sodas, sweets and cakes are deemed taboo absolutely.

"Good Fat" is not seen as the enemy but a very efficient source of fuel and nutrients. Examples of these good fats are

• Monounsaturated - e.g. olive oil
• Omega 3 Polyunsaturated - e.g. fish oil, cod liver oil
• Saturated - e.g. coconut oil, butter from grass fed cows

The human body is viewed as being much more adapted to fats than grains.

Acceptable foods would be rotated and fall into the categories of 

• meat, fish
• fibrous plants and vegeatables
• nuts
• some fruits - modern varieties have been bred to be much sweeter than those available to our ancestors

The theory is that the the ancestral foods (alone and when combined with the correct form of workout routine) enable our genes to express themselves as evolution dictated. This expression produces an aesthetically pleasing, lean, muscular (in males) and athletic body able to cope with life's demands. The amount of muscle can be flexed according to desires and gender by manipulating the workout parameters. The lowered ongoing blood insulin levels makes this easier and acts to slow down the onset of conditions usually accepted as part of the ageing process.

The person's body will be working as it has evolved to. The desire to eat can be taken as a correct sign that the body will do something constructive with the nutrition. This means the person can trust his/her appetite as signal to eat.

High carbohydrate foods are digested quickly, raising the blood glucose level. This stimulates a large secretion of insulin which quickly reduces those glucose (blood sugar) levels.  This effect in conjunction with other hormones acts to make the person hungry again very soon. If this occurs on an ongoing basis there is a tendency for higher "resting" insulin levels which

• encourages the glucose to be stored as fat
• discourages the secretion of beneficial hormones associated with workouts (e.g. growth hormone), influencing such things as body composition.

The approach states that the resting insulin level (with its believed associated anti aging effects) will be lower the

• closer one adheres to this approach
• longer it is followed

2) Nutrient Timing and Carb Cycling

This shares several ideas of the Paleo / HP - LC approach in the area of eating highly nutritious, natural food. It differs in regard to fitness nutrition in 2 important areas

• Carbohydrate Amount -  large amounts of fast acting (High Glycemic Index) carbohydrate (with protein) are consumed before, during and immediately after a workout routine. At other times protein and fat is favoured over protein and carbohydrate.

The approach accepts that there will be high short term spikes in glucose levels. It believes however that the body's greater sensitivity to insulin after exercise ("workout window") means the insulin levels will be lower than without exercise. The follow on from this is that there should be no ongoing high resting insulin level.

• Very high/Medium Calorie levels (usually as carbohydrate) on high and medium intensity training days respectively. The appetite is not left to naturally determine when food or drink is taken. Controlled plans are made to increase or decrease calories as the intensity of the workout goes up and down.

3) Food Pyramid - Governmental and Mainstream Medical Agencies

In general, the healthy eating and fitness nutrition plan advocated opposes the Paleo approach. Fruits and vegetables are included but far more prominence is given to carbohydrate in the form of whole grains and much less to protein. A blanket low fat guideline is promoted. The distinction between good and bad fats is only slowly being accepted. The benefits of fats like olive oil are accepted but the pro-inflammotory omega 6 vegetable oils are often also viewed as a better alternative than more natural fats like natural butter, coconut oil etc. 

4) Cheat Days

This is a tactic used in conjunction with a low carbohyrdrate approach (whether Paleo or Nutrient Timing / Carb Cycling) to assist people who are trying to

• lose fat / weight
• gain muscle and lose fat simultaneously

Provided huge amounts of calories are not being consumed,  I believe that reducing non fibrous carbohydrates (and ideally maintaining or increasing protein) is the most effective and aesthetically pleasing way to reduce fat / weight. However, some people have difficulty following this method continuously. Also, research appears to show that prolonged reduction in carbohydrate leads to a reduction in the hormone Leptin (closely related to fat loss). 

Cheat days aim to help by

• allowing people to enjoy the "forbidden" favourite tasty foods once per week
• resetting Leptin levels

If this tactic is used for fitness nutrition or a muscle building diet, my view is that it should be limited to

• "Heavy" training days - ideally not too many hours after the workout routine ends, (when insulin sensitivity is highest)
• 1 day per week - more frequent indulgence would sabotage the overall aim of fat loss and negatively effect self-discipline. 

5) Overfeeding

A sustained amount of food is consumed for a defined length of time with the objective of adding weight. Ideally the extra weight desired would be lean tissue - muscle. 

The duration of the overfeed should shorten the 

• faster the rate at which the person tries to add weight
• less lean he/she is before commencing the overfeed.

If this guideline is ignored any extra weight is more likely to be fat.

Monitor results by looking in the mirror and taking measurements rather than using weight scales. Muscle weighs more than fat so a "smaller" person can look much better than a fatter person despite weighing more. If your body composition appears to be getting worse make adjustments by reducing the carbohydrates first and then if necessary reduce the surplus calories.

6) Bulking

This is a less than scientific way of adding weight and could not strictly be termed a  method of fitness nutrition. It is essentially a prolonged overfeeding phase, often with little care taken with the quality of nutrition or its macro-nutrient makeup (protein, fat, carbohydrate).

After an initial phase, the benefits of the overfeed are replaced by weight gain which is increasingly fat. This change is more pronounced as time and weight increase. The muscles' requirements for fuelling growth will be more than allowed for and the surplus will then be stored as fat.

The basic rule is that a person cannot out train a bad diet.

7) Supplements

Supplements can play a very important role in muscle building and sports and fitness nutrition but should remain a top up / reinforcer and not become a mainstay of a person's nutritional intake.

Even though the nutritional quality of food has decreased through the years good progress can be made by focusing on whole food. This applies whichever workout nutrition approach is followed.

There are numerous types of supplements which appear to focused on specific objectives

• workout supplements
• fitness supplements
• muscle building supplements
• bodybuilding supplements

In the main they are all very similar. 

Provided sufficient amount and quality of food is consumed I believe there is a diminishing return on each additional supplement.

For serious sports people where every small benefit is important, the time, cost and effort is probably justified.

For the everyday person, good quality protein and omega 3 provide the best return for the investment of time, cost and effort.

Care must be taken to ensure that workouts, workout nutrition etc do not dominate life. Keep things in balance.

Having said that, I accept that some people would prefer to include additional muscle, sports and fitness nutrition supplements (even if not at the level of sports people). Therefore in time I will write about these also.

In the meantime here is my view on the best muscle building supplements

WHEN TO TAKE FITNESS NUTRITION

There is more than one view regarding the timing of workout supplements and fitness nutrition and these are also influenced by the type of nutrition

1) Paleo / Low Carb 

A minimalist approach to supplements is advocated. Most, if not all, nutrition should be in the form of food types available before the advent of agriculture (as seen above). It is essentially limited to fish oil and protein (if required). Within this camp there is even a difference as to the form of protein supplement.

Some people state that the popular whey protein, casein protein and milk protein powders should be avoided due to milk having

• insulin raising properties (and therefore systemic inflammotory effects) - milk is one of a small number foods and drinks that whilst being low in carbohydrates with a low GI rating, have a high insulin index score.
• historically being only drunk by infants and toddlers.

The only protein supplement which is acceptable would be muscle building one in the form of Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs). This is especially so in relation to one of them, Leucine. Research indicates that this essential amino acid is the master muscle building protein, although its potency is enhanced when the other BCAAs are included.

Pre-agricultural hunter gatherers would tend to hunt when hungry and then feast when successful. They would often choose the fatty parts. Also there would also often be times where the time between eating might be prolonged.

Paleo and low carb adherents therefore

• fast on a random but fairly frequent basis (intermittent fasting). Research is currently showing that there are health benefits to intermittent fasting.
• often train on an empty stomach ( ie whilst fasted)
•  

The usual pattern for food intake is

• variable timings
• none for approximately 1 hour, sometimes more, after exercising - to allow the body to allow gene expression to occur (i.e. the body to adapt to the chemical signals produced by training)

2) Nutrient Timing / Carb Cycling

A more structured approach is followed. Far more emphasis is given to the intake of nutrition

• pre workout
• peri (during) workout
• post workout

At least 50% of daily calories are consumed in the period covering these 3 sections. Particular attention is placed on post workout nutrition where the aims are to

• replenish muscle glycogen (the form in which glucose is stored in muscles and which is used to fuel the workout)
• aid recovery of the muscles

All 3 intakes are combinations of fast acting protein and carbohydrates. The post workout meal (usually liquid based) is often followed a few hours later by "real food" based meal.

CONCLUSION

The main dietary viewpoints above relating to fitness nutrition

1) Agree on the need for

• good, clean whole food
• avoiding junk carbohydrates (apart from occasional treats/cheats) and harmful fats (e.g. trans fat and processed vegetable oils)

2) Disagree on the

• need and value of non fibrous carbohydrates (grains/cereals - wheat,corn   grasses - rice  starches - potatoes etc)
• when nutrition, both food and supplements should be consumed.

There is a continuum between each of these 2 extreme positions. We all share the same basic genetic makeup but there will also be some individual variation.

Experiment to see which point on the continuum appears to suit you (including psychologically). You will probably experience that over time you will make adjustments to the point on the line that you feel is best for you.

The path I have followed for several years is to try to hedge against the downside of each approach to diet and fitness nutrition: 

1) My starting point is Paleo / Low Carb and obtaining what I believe are all the positive long term benefits

• favourable gene expression hormone secretion
• anti-aging and anti-inflammotory effects of lowered insulin levels via meat, fish, lots of vegetables and some fruits / nuts

2) Using BCAA and Cod Liver Oil workout supplements

3) Some movement from pure Paleo - influenced by

• intense hunger following really hard workouts
• desire for an occasional treat

When any non fibrous carbs are consumed, it is usually after a workout. This is to hopefully mitigate against effects on long term insulin levels via post exercise increased insulin sensitivity. Approximately 1-2 hours are  left before consumption to enable gene expression to occur. Even short or gentle exertion can supply some of the benefit.

4) 80/20 Rule - remembering that most of the outcome is determined by what is done the vast majority of the time.

As I stated at the outset, I am not a scientist, doctor etc but within a few months of following this method of diet and fitness nutrition my body fat decreased without even having that as an objective. Combined with the workouts I follow, I have achieved results.

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