Post workout

Post-workout products are supplements that have been developed for use after training. Products from the "post-workout" category are used, among other things, to accelerate recovery after training, create an anabolic environment in the body and stimulate protein synthesis for faster muscle repair and muscle building. Post-workout products help you make the most of the anabolic window during the first 90 to 120 minutes after your workout to maximize recovery and muscle building.

How do post-workout products work after training?

There are a number of ingredients and mechanisms of action by which post-workout products can accelerate recovery and promote muscle building, and different products contain different combinations of ingredients. Some products focus more on faster recovery, while others focus more on stimulating protein synthesis and muscle building, and still others try to cover both aspects equally. Basically, however, accelerating recovery and stimulating muscle building are so closely linked that they cannot really be considered separately. Many ingredients that stimulate muscle building also promote regeneration and faster and better regeneration in turn promotes muscle building.

Which ingredients are most commonly found in post-workout products and what do they do when used after training?

Almost all post-workout products in powder form contain one or more types of rapidly digestible carbohydrates such as dextrose, maltodextrin and waxy maize starch. These serve to quickly replenish the glycogen stores emptied during training and trigger a strong release of insulin. This has a strong anti-catabolic effect and also promotes the transport of amino acids into the muscle cells, which stimulates protein synthesis and promotes muscle building.

This brings us to the second group of ingredients most commonly found in post-workout products: rapidly digestible protein and amino acids. While protein and essential amino acids (EAAs) provide your muscles with important building blocks for regeneration and muscle building after training, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) serve to replace the BCAAs used up during training in the muscle tissue and stimulate protein synthesis. The frequently added amino acid glutamine accelerates the regeneration of your muscles after training. Very often, post-workout products also contain a form of creatine to replenish your muscles' creatine stores. Ingredients such as arginine, citrulline and other active ingredients that stimulate nitric oxide production and thus improve blood flow are also widely used in post-workout products. The increased blood flow to the muscles caused by these ingredients enables a faster and more extensive supply of your muscles with nutrients urgently needed for regeneration and repair, as well as the body's own anabolic hormones.

What are the main benefits of post-workout products when used after training?

• Promotion and acceleration of regeneration
• Stimulation of protein synthesis and muscle building
• Generation of an anabolic environment
• Optimal use of the anabolic time window after training
• Replenishment of glycogen stores