When to take PWO if...

**Knockout_Power** · 02-01-2009, 09:47 PM

"what" to take after PWO is argued a lot, but everyone seems to agree you need to replenish within 30-45mins.

Soooo, what if you finish your weight training and then do 45-60 cardio. When do you intake your PWO nutrition, right after weights or after the cardio?

Its probably a dumb question, but Im really not sure. Ive been doing my PWO within 10 mins of finishing.

**novastepp** · 02-01-2009, 10:06 PM

...search!!!!!!

**fit4ever180** · 02-02-2009, 10:19 PM

awe nova... how many times have you had to answer that one you think?
The general consensus is save your PWO until after your cardio

**MuscleScience** · 02-02-2009, 11:37 PM

You have about a two hour window to ingest your PWO meal without it negatively effecting protein synthesis after you workout.

**MuscleScience** · 02-02-2009, 11:41 PM

This is a little something that is somewhat related to you question that I wrote sometime ago.

Ask the Exercise Scientist

Actually i did until recently, I started researching low carb diets and doing pwo, protein only. I read a couple of really good studies that looked at protein synthesis PWO with carbs + protein ingestion vs carb only or protein only or control. In both studies protein synthesis pwo was not significantly different in the protein+carbs vs the protein only group. I wish I could find the studies i am not sure were I put them. I think it was in ACSM's journal MSSE in the may or june edition. I can not remember I read so many papers throughout the week Its hard to remember were i got them all. I will see if I have them in my endnote file if you really want them.

Anyway what brought me to those papers is there is an effect called after burn where the body is in a fat burning mode to make up for the O2 debt and the effect of adrenaline post exercise. It has been know for sometime that for about 2 hours after exercise the metabolism is raised and a larger percentage of fat calories are being use to generate ATP for growth and repair and other energy needs. However as soon as insulin hits fat and muscle cells it virtually cancels the effects of adrenaline and causes a virtual shut down on fat burning. The reason for this is that insulin and adrenaline have an inhibitory effect on each other in the intracellular second messenger systems. (AC, PP-1, IP3 and probable some others I cant think of right now)

There is still some debate on how much fat is actually burned PWO by this after burn mechanism. The argument is that steady state aerobic exercise burns more fat calories. However the opposing argument is if that was true then all sprinters, wrestlers and basketball players would be fat instead of ripped up. The theory on that is durning competition that the body possible burns virtually no fat as compared to the amount burned from sugars durning
anaerobic exercise.

That camp states that most of the fat burning is due to the large increase in anaerobic demands and a huge increase in adrenaline. Adrenaline release is directly related to exercise intensity. Since there is a two fold effect, both huge O2 debt to "repay" and a large amount of adrenaline circulating. Fat being the preferred energy source is burned at a high rate and may potentially extend the after burn zone to meet energy demands.