Intra workout Nutrition: The Good, The Bad, Is It Necessary?

By Tucker Loken

The Good

The practice of intra workout supplementing with calorie free amino acids, simple carbs and very quick digesting protein has some great logic and proven results behind it. For bodybuilders, the idea is that by taking in sugars, amino acids and possibly protein while working out you’re constantly feeding your muscles, particularly in that short time frame during training to get the maximum benefit. You’re breaking down muscle fibers and depleting glycogen by lifting weights, but then immediately replenishing glycogen stores by consuming sugars during the workout.

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For powerlifters it can be helpful because it can help with energy levels in a long workout. Bodybuilding workouts are generally faster, but more frequent each week while powerlifting sessions are usually less frequent, but much longer sessions. Intra workout sugars and protein can help when you’re prepping for a meet and your squat session has taken an hour and a half, and you still have some assistance work to do. These are the positive uses behind it, but where can people go wrong?

The Bad

One of the biggest problems I’ve seen is people taking in too many calories, not the right kind of calories, and doing it unnecessarily. Too many calories from intra workout supplements can work against you and start taking away from your pump. If you’re just trying to slam as many sugars in you as possible during your workout, your body still has to digest them, which means blood flow is being diverted to your stomach, and is being used to digest the food rather than push nutrients into your muscles as you’re lifting. You may not be able to out train a bad diet, but you also can’t out diet a bad routine.  If your diet and supplements are getting in the way of productive workouts, you’re doing more harm than good.

The right kind of intra workout calories matters as well. Taking in sugars or protein from the wrong sources can be something else that will stand in your way. If you put down a lot of calories from grape juice and whey protein during your workout don’t be surprised if you feel bloated and uncomfortable. There are a lot of intra workout carbohydrate and protein sources like Highly Branched Cyclic Dextrin (HBCD) carbs and hydrolyzed protein powders that are much easier to digest and be utilized by your body during training. These aren’t 100% necessary.  A little Gatorade and whey is fine if you just need something to help you get through the workout, but in excess they won’t do you much good.

Is It Necessary?

The necessity of the intra workout supplements is debatable. If you watch any old school bodybuilding videos, or even YouTube a lot of the pro guys now, you’ll see them just drinking water during their workouts. Why? Because the plan they are on is already meeting their nutrition needs and is helping them make gains. On the other side of the argument you’ll also see bodybuilders who swear by intra workout nutrition and have great experience with it for growth in the off season and maintaining muscle while dieting. Just like anything else, the individual body type of the person matters most when it comes down to it. Some people will benefit dramatically, and some will see little to no benefit, it’s just up to the person to assess whether they are getting out as much as they are putting into the equation.

Adjusting Calorie Intake Based on Training Days

Another one that can get in your way is eating different amounts on different days. This depends on the program you’re on, how frequently you are training, and whether you have a special protocol (such as intra workout nutrition) around your workouts.

A common protocol I see a lot of bodybuilders use as soon as they start trying to lose body fat is to rotate their carbohydrate intake depending on the muscle group they are working that day – high carb days on legs or back, low carb days on shoulders or arms, or some kind of mix depending on their training split. The rationale behind it is that since you’re expending more energy on those big muscle groups, you need more fuel that day. This can work for a lot of people and can be very helpful when the diet becomes very restrictive close to a show and body fat becomes stubborn to lose. The drawback to this approach is that it’s often something I see people do right away when they start leaning up, and often these people haven’t stayed on a diet long enough to compete or properly learn their body and what they need nutrition wise.

Whenever you’re trying to change your body, having a baseline to begin with is the most important piece. This makes trouble shooting very easy. If you get depleted or over trained, you won’t know what the problem is if things are constantly changing. Having a steady and stable diet that has the same calories and macronutrients each day is important to the learning process, and overall a much easier approach. Aside from changing any kind of post workout simple carbs to complex carbs on your off day, there isn’t any need to get fancy with things when you’re adjusting from a bulking process to a cutting process because the body fat will come off with minimal effort if you just lower the overall intake by a few hundred calories. As you get deeper into the show prep, you can begin cycling your carbs if necessary, but even then it should be small changes – adding higher carbs to your leg day and lower carbs to your arm day would be a good example. If all goes well for a week or two, continue making changes, while always keeping an eye on your body composition, strength, energy levels and overall hunger. If you’re feeling drawn out and tired with 2 months left in your diet, you’re doing something wrong.

For powerlifters, different amounts of food on training versus non-training days is usually less of a hassle and can be a wise choice. Because the goal is to constantly build muscle and fuel the body, the risk of not eating enough and being too restrictive is very low. Along with that, powerlifting training splits tend to be fewer training days per week with much longer workouts, the change in energy expenditure is drastically different. It can be as easy as eating plenty of healthy protein, carbs and fats on a non-training day, and then adding in an extra meal in the form of a post workout shake with protein and simple carbs on workout days, or it can be a change in the serving size of certain macros in several of the meals. The difference between the two is minimal and usually just depends on the athlete’s preference.

If you’ve been considering doing one of these approaches, you have to ask yourself if what you’re doing now is already working. If it is and you’re making progress the way you want to, keep with it until things slow down. Eventually everyone reaches a plateau, and that’s when it’s time to make changes. Whether it’s adding more food during the day, taking some out, or trying out intra workout nutrition, keeping it simple and making small changes over time is always the best way to do things.

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Tucker Loken is a Bodybuilder turned Powerlifter turned Powerbuilder from Eugene, Oregon. He did his first bodybuilding show when he was still in high school, and has been training male and female competitors for shows since 2011. Several years ago he decided to take a step away from his normal routine and learn how to get strong. He worked with Brian for 9 months, added 200 pounds to his raw total and qualified as an Elite lifter in the 220 pound weight class. He returned back to bodybuilding much stronger and now incorporates the 10/20/Life philosophy into his training to keep himself healthy and making continual progress in the Big 3 as well as adding size and shaping his physique. Now part of Team PRS, he brings his unique expertise of nutritional knowledge and how to balance Bodybuilding with Powerlifting to help athletes achieve their best potential.
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