The Renaissance Diet 2.0. Mike Israetel
Post-Training Window
Training engages a catabolic hormonal and intracellular condition that persists for some time post-training unless a more anabolic state is attained by the introduction of nutrients. Recently trained muscles are also very sensitive to carbohydrate intake and primed to replenish glycogen during the post-training window. This effect decreases slowly over the subsequent three to six hours following training. Thus, carbohydrate intake during the six hours post training will have the greatest anabolic effects. Because the uptake of carbs into the muscle for glycogen storage is so high during this time, conversion to fat is much lower, a twofold benefit. It has also been found that fat cells are less sensitive to nutrients in the post-training window, which magnifies the post-workout nutrient consumption benefit even more. Studies suggest significant muscle glycogen resynthesis at consumption rates of 30 to 60 g per hour post exercise for the average 150-lb. person. Maximal resynthesis was seen at intakes of around 84 g per hour, but this level of intake is likely unnecessary for most individuals under most training circumstances.
If you happen to be training twice or more in one day, replenishing glycogen in the post-workout window is critical to being able to maintain glycogen levels for all training sessions that day.
There is no special role for protein in the post-workout window, aside from maintaining adequate hourly protein consumption. Fats should be kept to a minimum in the first post-workout meal as they delay digestion of carbohydrates (figure 4.10). The post-training meal should be consumed as soon as the athlete feels comfortable taking in food. Consuming mainly fast-digesting proteins and carbs in the post-workout meal supplies carbohydrates for glycogen storage and anabolism the fastest and keeps the risk of gastrointestinal distress low.
Figure 4.10 Macronutrient recommendations change across the post-training window. Upper graph: In the hours after a workout, carb needs decline while fat allowances go up. Protein needs are relatively unchanged mostly due to the smooth and stable nature of FSR curves. Lower bar graph: Bars indicate best qualitative ratios of macros for post-training meals across time.
High-Activity, Non-Training Periods
Examples of high-activity, non-training periods include hiking for leisure, running around shopping with your children all day, or physically intensive jobs like construction or professional dancing. These activities require more energy than sitting at a desk or relaxing on the couch on your day off. Carbohydrate intakes should be increased to reflect energy expenditure rates compared to low-activity periods.
Low-Activity Periods
Being sedentary does not require any special nutrition other than the consistent intake of protein. Because the immediate energy demand of such times is low, the amount of carbs and fats needed to offset potential protein burning is also lower.
Bedtime
Bedtime meals have very similar constraints to meals that precede other low-activity periods, but there are some unique considerations for this meal. Ideally the pre-bedtime meal should be right before bed for maximum amino acid titration overnight. Eating too close to bed can, however, cause gastrointestinal distress or interfere with sleep quality for some. Similarly, fat slows protein absorption, so it offers us the ability to extend an anabolic and anti-catabolic environment longer into the night, but some research has indicated that eating large amounts of fat in the pre-bedtime meal may interfere with sleep as well. Thus, although eating closer to bedtime and adding fats to the bedtime meal is advantageous, some individuals may have to experiment with bedtime meal timing and fat content and make trade-offs of maximum results for quality sleep.
There have been proponents of waking during the night to eat a meal in order to minimize muscle loss risk further. The detrimental effects to sleep quality which impact recovery and muscle growth, however, likely make any benefits of this practice moot. There is also some evidence that for best intestinal health, periods without nutrient ingestion might be needed. It is possible that nutrient sensitivity is improved by the lack of nutrient intake during sleep, but it is unlikely that this means that we should fast for any duration longer than the sleeping period.
Figure 4.11 A sample diet across a training day for a 240-lb. athlete. Daily macros are split into five meals, with protein held steady meal to meal, carbs heavier around the workout, and fats kept lower near the workout.
A NOTE ON PRACTICAL APPLICATION
There is a range of recommended number of meals (around 4-8 per day) and meal intervals (around 3-6 hours between meals). There is also some flexibility for how long before training (30 minutes to 4 hours) and how soon after training (immediately to about an hour after) it is best to eat. Some degree of undereating in one meal and overeating in another can make up for each other. This is all to say that overly religious dedication to the tenants of good meal timing is not necessary. Tedious meal scheduling can deter diet adherence and make your life overly stressful. Take advantage of the flexibility and range of options in order to improve your diet with nutrient timing, but avoid overemphasizing this principle. Chapter 10 will cover more precise practical details for applying this principle in the design of your own diet.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
•Nutrient timing describes how calories and macronutrients are assigned relative to time throughout the day. Factors of nutrient timing include meal number, meal spacing, meal size, meal macro content, meal food composition, and timing around physical activity.
•Nutrient timing manipulations may not be nearly as powerful as calorie or macronutrient manipulations, but they still provide a tangible and practical benefit to enhancing body composition and performance.
•Daily protein intake should be divided into four to eight meals across the day, each containing one-eighth to one-fourth total daily protein.
•Meals should be larger and more slowly digesting the longer the following intermeal interval will be, but extremely large or small meals should be avoided.
•Daily carbohydrate intake should be biased toward activity periods, with the largest doses generally occurring in the pre-, intra-, and post-training periods.
•Daily fat intake should be biased away from activity periods and instead biased toward longer periods without regular meals, such as sleep or while at work.
•Slow-digesting protein should be the core of your bedtime meal.
•Extreme timing manipulations that sacrifice your daily calories, macros, or sleep quality are not recommended. The latter variables are more impactful to your physique and performance.
CHAPTER 5
Food Composition
Food composition refers to a food’s quality. It describes what other nutrition is obtained along with the desired macronutrient and how the food is digested and utilized by the body. Food composition is measured by things like digestibility and digestion time as well as by vitamin, mineral, phytochemical, and fiber content. Food composition is a lower priority, contributing to around 5% of body composition and performance outcomes. For health outcomes, food composition plays a much larger role, so paying attention to this principle