Since study after study has demonstrated such positive effects from these shakes, most fitness professionals highly recommend their use after each workout.  Instead of jumping on the bandwagon, let's step outside the box and evaluate if these shakes are effective for everyone to use.

In my experience, I have found that post-workout nutrition is very important for the reasons mentioned above.  If your goal is to gain weight, these shakes are a great way to consume a lot of "clean" calories at a time when your body is least likely to store these calories as fat.

You see, following an intense workout, your muscles are depleted and are thirsty for replenishment.  Therefore most of the calories ingested at this time will be soaked up by the muscles, making less calories available to be stored as fat.

But let's revisit exactly what our primary goal is: Fat loss!  Do you really think that it is a good idea to chug a sugary shake every time you train if your goal is to lose body fat?  How can a high-sugar shake really help to enhance your fat burning efforts?  The truth is that it doesn't.  In fact, I believe that this practice is counter productive for trainees with a fat loss goal.

After reading through all of the research, I've learned that these studies were not performed on subjects whose goals were fat loss specifically.  So I experimented with these shakes on myself and my clients.  The rate of fat loss slowed across the board.  These are real world results and unlike some lab study, these findings are accurate.  So to burn fat at the fastest rate possible, you must lose those high sugar post-workout shakes!

I'm sure you're saying, "Alright, but what should my post-workout meal consist of?"  The answer to this question is much less complicated than the supplement companies want you to believe.  All you need to do is eat a solid meal!  This meal can be structured exactly like any of your daily meals.  I do believe however, that this meal should be eaten within one hour after your workout.

Without fail, you will lose body fat faster with natural, solid food.  So if burning body fat rapidly is your goal, forget about using post-workout shakes.  Eat a great meal and say goodbye to your body fat.