You walk into the gym, do some cardio and smash a killer workout. Now what? Obviously you must drink a protein shake within one hour of finishing your workout, If you don’t your muscles won’t grow and the workout will be wasted. Im sure we have all heard this plenty of times.
If you ever trained or done some sort of exercise then you have more than likely heard of the anabolic window? The anabolic window is supposedly, a period of time after your training session when your body is particularly primed to accept food and nutrients and convert it towards lean muscle mass. Traditionally the window lasts an estimate somewhere between thirty minutes and two hours after your workout.
However what was found from a recent study from the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition examiners may surprise you. They found that when it came to building lean muscle mass, protein timing was not a factor in the recovery process.Now,total protein macro nutrient intake on the other hand is most certainly important. It alone seemed to cause most of the differences in results. But this review indicates that if the anabolic window does exist for protein intake, it may persist as long as four to six hours after training.
There’s no conclusive evidence that ingesting carbs and protein directly after a workout does much to raise muscle protein synthesis. And this is the primary alleged benefit of traditional post-workout nutrition. Unless you’re a competitive athlete who plans on working out again in just a few hours, you don’t need to worry about replenishing your glycogen stores right away. This is because your glycogen levels are used for energy by your body, not for building new muscle tissue. The main thing you need to worry about is refilling these stores before your next workout, so you can perform at your best and lift as much weight as possible at that time.
So are you ready to ditch your post-workout protein shake? I would not be so hasty. This review has couple limitations. First, many of the studies reviewed dealt with inexperienced athletes. The needs of new athletes are far different from those of experienced athletes. It is possible that new athletes simply benefit from any increase in training and protein consumption, but experienced athletes may have to time protein consumption to maintain steady gains.
The big conclusion I take from this blog is that total protein intake is crucial to athletic performance where protein timing is not so crucial. This means you can’t only rely on a post-workout drink and the mythical anabolic window (Now busted) to deliver most of the protein you eat each day. Regular, moderate doses of protein are necessary to support lean muscle growth. The post-workout shake is not a magical key solution that allows you to eat crackers and peanut butter cups the remaining 23 hours of the day. Post-workout nutrition is just a part of the solution, not the full solution.
If you need help with meal/training plans or advice about personalized diets, nutrition plans, ab workouts, flexible dieting advice, visit the link http://ryanspiterifit.com/shop/ or email me at [email protected]