Regarding Supplements

For pre/during if you want protein + carbs all you really need is a good whey and a mix of carbs. All the complicated stuff we got into a few years back is not really such a big deal. If you can afford it you might like a nice whey isolate because that will taste good but a good concentrate or mix will be fine too. And for carbs you can throw in some malto, dex, regular sugar, any other type of carb thing they have out there these days, lol…

The trick is to make a nice big dilute shake. Don't worry too much with the amount. About 15 to 20 grams of proteins and twice the grams of carbs or so..you can lessen it if it's too much. Drink half the shake before and sip the rest during. The thing with a shake is to not wait more than 10 to 15 minutes after drinking half of it to begin as if you do you can end up crashing.

Drinking half first and sipping the rest during is the best way to go because it actually enhances gastric emptying..which I've tried to explain to people again and again and they won't listen. If you drink the whole shake before, as the stomach empties it empties at a slower and slower rate as it becomes MORE empty. So, a lot of the shake sits in your stomach for a long time as you workout.

But when you drink half, it starts to empy, and then you continually sip a bit more and you are in effect keeping the rate of emptying more steady. Combined with the exercise which supposedly enhances gastric emptying.

So all in all better absorpion and less stomach aches. Also slow delivery of carbs so less chance of crashing. Really chocalate milk or anything would be fine I've learned but I still don't see how the hell someone would want to drink milk before a vigorous weight workout. Ugghh…

Quite often my pre and during shake is nothing more than whey mixed with cool-aid.

You can put more in the shake if you want as long as it's somewhat dilute and you spread it out like you said. And on the 15 minutes you don't HAVE to wait 15 minutes. You can probably begin your warmup immediately. Just don't go MORE than 15 minutes. See, a lot of guys drink a big shake at home then drive to the gym and end up starting their workout a good 30 to 40 minutes later then have a big crash (or stomach ache). They think it's the carbs fault but it's really that they don't know how to use the shake properly.

All the stuff about nutrient timing that was so big a few years ago (even having whole books written) has died down for your general strength trainee or bodybuilder. Having something immedieately pre (and during) is still considered a good idea. But it's the kind of thing that for a natural trainee was way blown out of proportion. It's kind of like you do that for 20 years and it makes the difference of 1.5 pounds on your frame, lol. Maybe.

But how the timing IS important is to keep a huge dose of quickly absorbed carbs in your system that you don't do anything with. The exercise helps regulate you blood sugar levels so you don't get the sugar crash. And there is the fact that the whey can add to the sugar crash…