pre & post workout drinks on off days?

[syeite]

rite been on this diet a week now and so far no problems, managing to eat everything fine etc.. went out and brought some home gym cardio equipment today (crosstrainer and treadmill) and my question is on cardio days do i still take the pre and post workout drinks?
cardio days without fail are tuesdays and thursdays but more often than not will be weekends too depending if i can get to the gym.

diet:

meal 1: 2 scoops of peptide fusion, 2 poached eggs on wholemeal toast, 10g udos oil.

meal 2: 250g of chicken, sweet potato, steamed veg.

meal 3: 250g of chicken, basmati rise or cous cous, veg.

meal 4: 2 scoops peptide fusion + 1 scoop N.O xplode.

workout at around 1-2 oclock

meal 5: 3 scoops reflex growth matrix

meal 6: 3 poached eggs, chicken or lean steak + veg

pre bed: half tub of cottage cheese + omega oil capsules

* i go to the gym 3 days a week atm and do cardio on off days and weekends.

cheers!

[Glenn]

I'd drop the NO Xplode on non-training days. Not sure what the Reflex Growth Matrix is really, if it's a protein based all in one or recovery thing I'd probably keep it in and neck it after the cardio session.

[syeite]

its a protein mix with a bit of added creatine, electrolytes and nutrients, but it says use only on training days.

[JayKay]

In my opinion you should use it after all sessions to ensure your muscle glycogen stores are replenished after the cardio!

[syeite]

In my opinion you should use it after all sessions to ensure your muscle glycogen stores are replenished after the cardio!

is that with the growth matrix? and also on the days i dont manage to get some cardio done (which will be the weekends) should i just add an extra meal in to keep up the protein etc that i would usually recieve from the growth matrix?

[JayKay]

Yeah the growth matrix after every one.... As for weekends, I would consume an extra protein meal! Not a heavy one though, perhaps some eggs or something!

[numerouno]

I am going to start using growth matrix as my post workout shake, because of the price i'll only be using on weights days. If i'm doing cardio I think the body is in less trauma so does not require such precise macro and micro nutrients.

What is the taste like of growth matrix, I'm not expecting much as I hear hydrolysed whey tastes pretty rank.

[TJLEE]

You just need to make sure that on the weekends you are still getting a good source of protein, carbs and fats and still spreading the values throughout the day.

Dont want any muscle wastage, seen as though you have busted your a*se all week to build the muscle!!!!

[syeite]

yea the amount of servings for the price is the only reason im a little reluctant to have it after cardio sessions too. taste wise personally i dont think its as bad as everyone says, you get used to it after one or two servings.
would a meal consisting of 2 r 3 egg whites with a chicken breast and steamed veg be a suitable replacement for the growth matrix on cardio days? or would it be best to just have a shake and add i meal on non training days (weekends).

[numerouno]

I wouldn't consider growth matrix a meal rather a specialist post workout shake and as such only to be used as such. As you say its expensive and really designed for post weight training nutrition, so I wouln't take it on non training days. After your cardio the meal you suggest would be fine but i'd recommend throwing some carbs in there too, maybe a baked potatoe or some rice to replace glycogen stores.

[CTP]

If your dieting I would try not to have a stagnent calorie intake. If would eat more or less depending on what training day you have - i.e weights and CV then I would use my pre and post work out drinks (high calorie day), CV only day (I would use 0.5 - 1 scoops of whey pre WO, and then maybe a post workout drink (maybe half a serving)), and then on rest days I woudl ditch both pre and post work out drinks and focus on consuming good, high quality food whilst I had time to prepare it.

manipulating yoru calorie intake to vary with your trainign intensity will keep your BMR higher altogther, and it also keeps your body second guessing itself. Very similiar to the concept of carb cycling.