Recovery Channel: Tuning in to post-workout nutrition

Grow it, don't blow it.

Bodybuilders, mixed martial artists and other serious athletes know how to put their bodies through the rigors of intense physical exercise.

But do they know how to benefit from it?

Every gym has what I like to call "Lifers." They spend their life sentenced to working out without ever getting any benefit from it.

They'll diligently march into the weight room or aerobics class each morning with a dark and dour disposition while robotically going through the motions of a paint-by-numbers routine.

Then they'll leave the gym and throw it all away.

Transforming your body is about more than just how hard (and how often) you train. Maximum gains are made not during but after your training regimen.

Immediately after.

Following an intense workout, the body goes through a process known as catabolism, the breaking down of muscle tissue to supply glutamine and other amino acid compounds to other parts of the body.

As a defense mechanism, your body is designed to cannibalize itself starting with muscle tissue to get the nutrients it needs, effectively reversing everything you've worked for in your time at the gym.

As far as muscle growth is concerned, you can't rob Peter to pay Paul.

Now you can either provide your body with the nutrients it needs (like Branch Chain Amino Acids) or just sit back and let it feast on the muscle tissue you've worked so hard to grow.

Our goal as athletes in the recovery phase of our training is anabolism, the process where our muscles repair themselves, effectively adding strength and size in response to the stress of training.

The most effective way to accomplish that process (aside from rest) is by consuming post-workout recovery supplements within one hour after training.

Now that we're heading into November and the cold weather season, a majority of athletes are in the off-season, putting on extra muscle and bulking up in order to lean out for the spring and summer of next year.

That kind of preparation takes special consideration and pounding a protein shake in the gym's parking lot just isn't going to cut it.

Fortunately the team at Feel It! Nutrition has once again used the science of sports nutrition to help eliminate the guess work out of training and recovery.

The Feel It! Nutrition Bulk Stack includes:

• Dymatize: 100% Hydrolyzed Whey Protein Isolate, Chocolate (5 lb tub)
• Optimum Nutrition: 100% Casein Protein, Instantized Chocolate Supreme
• Axis Labs: Hypertrophic Testosterone Complex (120 Capsules)
• Dymatize: Creatine 10.7 oz Micronized (300 g)
• Universal Nutrition: Animal M Stak
• Twin Lab: BCAA Fuel (180 tablets)

This weekend only: The Feel It! Nutrition Bulk Stack is available to MMAmania.com readers for $20 off the listed price! Take advantage of these great savings now by clicking here.

Feel It! Nutrition's Bulk Stack is the fastest and most effective way to stimulate anabolism and prevent catabolism.

Not only will it help you pack on the muscle, it's nutrients are designed to help reduce your risk of injury and allow you to improve your conditioning at a faster rate.

Sometimes athletes are forced to compete on very short notice. UFC welterweight contender Josh Koscheck was given two weeks to prepare for Thiago Alves at UFC 90. Hopefully Kos has been using Feel It! Nutrition's Bulk Stack!

To check out the low prices and vast selection of these and other great nutritional supplements, click here.