Fighter Nutrition, No carbs before workout?

[Bible_Belt]

I posted this on another thread, but never got a response.

There is a book called 'The Grapplers' Guide' which is geared toward nutrition for fighters and wrestlers, with the goal being to build muscle and drop body fat, but not gain weight. The author says to not eat carbs before working out, that they go to make fat. He does not count fruit and veg carbs, only grains and processed sugars. But he says after a typical intense workout, to then eat carbs, because the body will use them to rebuild the muscle torn down in the workout. He says up to six hours after working out, to eat all the bread and pasta you desire. This is the opposite of what I have been doing - I've been eating carbs during the day, thinking of them as fuel for my evening workout.

I was wondering what people here think of this take on carb consumption. Keep in mind that gaining mass is not the objective. Here is an interview with the book's author:
http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=848351

 

[Bible_Belt]

from that link:
Can you summarize what nutritional timing is all about?

John Berardi: Well, understanding nutrient timing is simply understanding that the body is most receptive to certain nutrients at different times of the day. Let me give you an example.

Our bodies are pretty well equipped to handle carbohydrates, especially if we're lean, athletic, and participate in sports. However, not everyone has the same carbohydrate tolerance – some being far worse than others. Regardless, everyone's tolerance is dramatically increased during the time that we're working out and the time immediately after we're working out.

So I'll give you a really, really basic example. In fact, it's so basic that it's probably a bit off the mark. But I just want to illustrate this point as simply as possible, so here goes.

Let's say that I eat 100 units of carbohydrate. I call these "units" so we're all clear that this is an arbitrary example. Anyway, let's just say that I eat these 100 units of carbohydrate for lunch and I haven't had any physical activity in a few days. Well, since my body is operating under normal glucose tolerance conditions, perhaps 50 units of those carbohydrate units go toward liver and muscle glycogen replenishment.

So what happens to the other 50? Well, some of them are burned off in different tissues of the body. And others of them may be used to increase stored body fat. So, basically, under non-exercise conditions, this represents a 50percent efficiency ratio for storing carbohydrate in lean tissues.

However, ingest those same 100 units of carbohydrate after exercise and, because you just worked out, carbohydrate efficiency increases. If efficiency increases up to 90% at this time, 90 of the units are then stored as muscle glycogen while only 10 are burned off in different tissues and stored as fat.

Again, these numbers are completely made up but they illustrate the point. When you haven't exercised, carb efficiency is down. When you have, it's up. So that's one aspect of nutrient timing. Feed higher carb meals after exercise and you're more likely to have a more rapid recovery as well as a better body composition.

 

[Chillisauce]

Yeah, i'm always eating a huge carb + protein meal after a training session mainly because my body is starving as soon as i get home. I cant eat a meal or even a shake 2 hours or less pre workout though, i find it bounces around a bit and i feel sick. If i dont eat a big meal 4 hours before i get about halfway through the workout and lose my energy.

 

[KontrollerX]

A couple of personal trainers whose stuff I read from time to time advocate the workout without carbs strategy and they say wait one to two hours after doing this and then eat.