Pre/post workout questions

[JohnnyIrish]

I'm in a light "all body workout" phase to get my muscles use to working with weights again. Then I'll go into a 3days/week split routine to build mass.
At this point however, going through my paces at the gym I'm wondering if the things I'm doing are properly optimized/efficient.. so heres some questions:


1) Preworkout warm up: I have read that its important to warm up before you lift (about 10 min worth). Is that accurate? What do you recommend for this?

Since the elliptical moves both the upper and lower body.. doing this slowly (making sure heart rate stays below the cardio target range for my age, so I get in the proper habit of correctly warming up, with no catabolic results) is my current routine.

2) Proper stretching: How often and how long should one stretch prior to and after a workout?

Presently, after I do my 10 min warmup I stretch all the body parts I plan to use (in addition to anything that feels tight). I usually stretch for a full 30 second count twice, alternating body parts in between the first and second 30 count. I do this both prior to working out as well as after I'm done working out.

3) Protein shakes: How much should one take? Before or after workouts or both?

At the moment I'm guessing both.. so I'm taking a 40g whey protein shake prior to workout and another 40g whey protein after the workout.

What says the fitness guru's?

 

[Warboss Alex]

1. Personally I rarely if ever warm up with cardio.. I generally like to warm up on the particular movement I start the workout with. however what you are doing is fine: any machine which is low impact is fine for you, treadmill, elliptical, stepmill.

btw if 10 mins of cardio gave you catabolic results the human race would never have survived as a species.

2. Casual stretches in between and after sets.. if you are going to do extreme/weighted stretches keep them afterwards for sure. Avoid stretches before your exercises in general as your muscles may be cold still and you could hurt yourself.

3. 40g whey pre and post workout is fine if you're a 100lb girl.. my post workout shake is 100g protein (so ~120g whey). 50g protein at least

 

[JohnnyIrish]

1. Personally I rarely if ever warm up with cardio.. I generally like to warm up on the particular movement I start the workout with. however what you are doing is fine: any machine which is low impact is fine for you, treadmill, elliptical, stepmill.

btw if 10 mins of cardio gave you catabolic results the human race would never have survived as a species.

2. Casual stretches in between and after sets.. if you are going to do extreme/weighted stretches keep them afterwards for sure. Avoid stretches before your exercises in general as your muscles may be cold still and you could hurt yourself.

3. 40g whey pre and post workout is fine if you're a 100lb girl.. my post workout shake is 100g protein (so ~120g whey). 50g protein at least

Thanks for the feedback.


1) When you say its fine.. do you mean it won't hurt me but its not efficient?
Also when you say you warm up on what ever exercise your going to work at.. What exactly do you do?

2) Ok so its best to only stretch after you do a bit of working that muscle specifically to get the blood flowing (I.E. the 10 min of elliptical isn't sufficient for this)?

3) LOL This is good info. All I've read is how much protein one needs to take a day (2xbody weight) but I've never seen how much can be metabolized at a time or how much one should take prior/after a workout before. So I didn't have an exact figure on how much I should be using there.. So thanks.. I'll seriously up my post workout protein.

How much do you recommend for a preworkout shake? Same?

Also, any idea on how much the body can take at one time protein wise? That is, is there a cut off point at which its too much and becomes wasted/inefficient.. and if so where is said line?

Thanks!

 

[Warboss Alex]

1) You can do it if you want, I just personally don't. It will not kill you and will do more good than harm.
For warmups search this forum, there's a good thread about them copied from another site

2) Stretching is best used to enhance blood flow AFTER the set not before. Your warmups also serve to get the blood flowing (that's the point of them as well as prepping the CNS for the lift).

3) 25.234532432423424g protein, anything higher than that and it is WASTED, DOWN THE DRAIN, MONEY GONE UP IN SMOKE..

Okay I'm kidding. Protein will be absorbed as the body demands it and it needs it most around the workout. I do not think protein will ever be wasted if you are training hard enough. There is no upper limit and it will depend on the individual and their muscularity. Say an office worker who never trains will not be able to absorb as much as a muscular 220lb guy.

Just get your protein in and don't worry about wasteage.

As for pre workout it can be a little less or the same.

 

[JohnnyIrish]

1) You can do it if you want, I just personally don't. It will not kill you and will do more good than harm.
For warmups search this forum, there's a good thread about them copied from another site

2) Stretching is best used to enhance blood flow AFTER the set not before. Your warmups also serve to get the blood flowing (that's the point of them as well as prepping the CNS for the lift).

Thanks for the reply/info. I'm sure many of my questions have (and likely will for some time) sound annoyingly basic/stupid.. Such is similar where I work as I have to answer rudamentry computer questions over and over.. So what am I getting at? Thanks for the patience.

 

[Warboss Alex]

Thanks for the reply/info. I'm sure many of my questions have (and likely will for some time) sound annoyingly basic/stupid.. Such is similar where I work as I have to answer rudamentry computer questions over and over.. So what am I getting at? Thanks for the patience.

everyone starts somewhere. the only stupid question is the question not asked.