Did you know that 28 percent of Americans use protein powder? While a protein shake is a great way to bulk up, you also need to know how to take protein powder.
A question that many fitness buffs come across is trying to figure out if they should drink a protein shake before or after a workout.
Question no more. We’ve got the answers you’re looking for right here. So keep on reading to learn more.
The Anabolic Window
A lot of people think that they need to drink a protein drink within half an hour of working out so that they can maximize their gains. This tight window of time is known as the anabolic window. During this time, it’s believed that your muscles are like a sponge for protein.
Some hold the belief that if you have your protein smoothie outside of this time window then you won’t get optimal results.
However, it may be that it likely doesn’t matter if you down your shaker cup after or before a workout. While there is an anabolic window, it’s actually much longer than thirty minutes. And it might not be limited to after an exercise.
Let’s look at an actual study to learn more.
Does Timing Matter?
Believe it or not, scientists actually did an experiment to see if drinking protein shake’s before or after a workout would lead to more muscle gain.
One group of men drank a protein shake right before a workout and another group of men took a shake right after.
Everyone who participated in the study did a full-body workout three times each week. The study lasted for ten weeks.
So what were the results?
Weirdly enough, the study couldn’t find any major differences in muscle strength between the two groups of men. So what do the results mean for us?
Basically, as long as you consume your protein not too long before or after your workout, you should be good to go. This means that you can pick a time that’s most convenient for you.
Daily Protein Intake Might Be More Important
Believe it or not, scientists haven’t even agreed on the idea that you need to consume protein around the time you work out. In fact, some think that you just need to focus on your general daily protein consumption and not worry about what time you consume your protein.
Clearly, there’s still a lot of debate going on. But what we do know is that it’s important to eat plenty of protein regardless so that you can stay fit and healthy.
The Importance of Knowing About When to Drink a Protein Shake
There are some people who really stress out when it comes to timing their daily protein shake. However, now that we have new information from studies, we can see that timing might not be as important as we once thought. Now, you can stress less about timing your shake consumption and focus more on living a healthy lifestyle.
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