post workout recovery routine

Even though you're working out three days a week, strength training is a 24/7/365 days a year job.

You must eat and rest and workout for the sole purpose of gaining strength.  I've already explained the workout so now for the recovery phase.

Immediately after workout, I may take a small swig off a protein shake and gauge how my  body handles  to see if my stomach gets upset or bloated.  As a word of caution don't  drink any protein shake after you workout. I know you see think you need to down a huge post workout recovery drink but I can almost guarantee you'll expel it into the toilet because you've been  loading up on protein during your workout so throw away the rest of the protein shake into the garbage and go shower up.

The shower routine. The water should be hot as possible. This will help you relax your muscles and remove tightness out of your joints.  Soak in the water for a good thirty minutes.
Now I want  you to perform a stretch.   Stand at the edge of the shower and lean and  bend backwards until you  catch yourself with your hands on the shower wall behind you. You will definitely feel  your vertebrae crack and align with your pelvis bone. Now push off the wall into a straight standing position.  Of course don't do this where your feet slip and you hurt yourself. You can also perform this stretch after you shower and are in a place with less of a slipping hazard.

After you're done showering, go grab a glass of water and a high carbohydrate food source like a muffin or an over ripe banana or a pastry and chug those down. Don't drink any carbohydrate sources such as juice or soda because we need to start taking in slow release  food sources.

What I mean by slow release is the body breaks the food down slowly and gradually releases the nutrients into your system. Protein shakes and sugary drinks are like sticking jet fuel into a  four cylinder economy car. They won't be absorbed and will be expelled out the body as fast as you drink them.

You're next step is to wait until you feel hungry again. Because you drank so much protein shake during your workout, your body is trying to expel the excess out of your system. You'll end up urinating a couple times or more. That's fine.

Now watch for that first hunger pain. You will definitely go into a catabolic phase in this time.
You're muscles will become looser and weaker and you might even become shaky and anxious. That's fine. We're trying to get your body to accept all the nutrients of your next meal.

Your first meal after workout.
There's not much to it.  Basically you're going to want to take in as much high quality low fat protein as possible. Sources such as grilled chicken, beef or turkey  mixed with egg whites are the best. The lower the fat content of the protein the better  because fat delays the absorption of protein into the muscles. You want the stomach to get as big and bloated  as possible. Eat high carbohydrate low fat food sources as well such as white rice or potatoes. Also throw in a small amount of monounsaturated fat sources such as avocados or olive oil. I know I talked bad about fat but  it helps to produce testosterone in the body. You're really not being detailed about what you eat here. You're trying to stuff as much nutrients into your gut as possible.  Click this link to see how you should time your meals. http://strengthtrainingwithoutsteroids.blogspot.com/2014/01/strength-vs-diet.html


I have to say a word about water injected protein.

What is water injected protein?  It's basically any protein that uses water and other preservatives as filler to make the piece of meat or chicken look fuller and bigger  and softer and easier to chew. Typically you find these kinds of proteins in delis or fast food restaurants. They are probably cheaper in price than proteins without water injection  and they're used so the restaurant can save a couple bucks. They might have some protein in them albeit at a negligible amount.
The bottom line is avoid them at all costs. You need high quality protein to build muscle and water injected meat and poultry are a waste of money because they do not build muscle.  At home it  should be easy to avoid them. But if you're on the road and you need a quick bite to eat what do you do?

Here are some suitable  restaurants with passable sources of protein.  Grocery stores. I know they're not a restaurant but they do sell large pieces of prepared chicken at the deli counter. Do not get any of that meat they put on the slicer. That's water injected. Only eat whole pieces of grilled chicken. If they don't sell grilled you might have to resort to fried chicken if you have no other options. But bear in mind that the fat and grease will delay the absorption of protein into the blood stream. Another restaurant is burger king. Their burgers are low fat because they're broiled and the protein quality is acceptable. Don't add cheese or mayo because they contain large amounts of fat and will delay the absorption of protein.
McDonald's sells Angus meat in some of their products. Although the word Angus encompasses a wide spectrum of varying protein quality levels, Angus meat is still passable.

Dunkin donuts sells a wide variety of egg sandwiches. The meat they put on the sandwiches won't build muscle but the eggs will. Eggs are easily the best protein quality even higher in quality than steaks. Avoid the yolk because it has a ton of cholesterol. Eat just egg whites and Dunkin donuts  does sell an egg white sandwich.