I used to be a strong advocate of consuming carbs and protein within an hour post-workout to take advantage of the supposed “Anabolic Window”, when insulin sensitivity is greatest, damaged muscles are starving for protein, and muscle glycogen stores are depleted and ready to suck all that nutrition in to support faster gains. However, I recently attended a lecture by Brad Schoenfeld in which he discussed nutrient timing, and questioned whether it was as important as many thought. Because of this lecture and the reading I did following it, I have changed my opinion… I no longer believe the post-workout “anabolic window” is as narrow nor as important as I once thought. Let’s look at why.
First of all, one argument in favor of consuming carbohydrates within 30 minutes post workout is that this would cause a spike in insulin which has an anti-catabolic effect and would increase nutrient uptake as well as replenish glycogen stores. However, consuming just whey protein also raises insulin levels significantly, so carbs really become a secondary concern. In fact, eating a regular meal with about 75g of carbohydrate, 37g protein, and 17g of fat will elevate your insulin for up to 3 hours. This means that you will benefit from the anti-catabolic effects of insulin for about 3 hours after each meal.
Ultimately, timing your carbohydrate consumption for anabolic needs is NOT supported by research… it’s more about meeting your daily carbohydrate needs vs consuming carbs at specific times (ie: pre or post workout). Now there may be a couple of exceptions where consuming carbs immediately post workout has a benefit; watch my video on this topic to learn more:
Acute Effects of Protein Timing:
What about protein? Surely there is research to suggest that consuming protein post-workout will help you make gains!
Well, the studies done on Protein Timing have had mixed results. As an example, the Esmarck Study showed an increase in muscle gains for those consuming protein within an hour post workout. However, a Meta-Analysis (covering several studies on the subject) showed very small if any benefit at all. Upon further observation it turns out that these gains were more related to a higher overall protein intake, rather than just post workout. Therefore the focus should be more of peri-workout nutrition instead of post-workout meal timing… increase your daily protein intake rather than being as concerned with the post-workout “anabolic window”.
The anabolic / anti-catabolic effects of protein consumption last 3-6 hours. This means that as long as you are eating several times a day (ie: at least 4 meals spaced out over the day) this will take care of your “nutrient timing” by default, and you will have automatically covered the “anabolic window”.
Watch Matty Fusaro’s awesome video on this topic:
Also check out the Nutrient Timing Revisited article that Brad co-wrote with Alan Aragon:
http://www.jissn.com/content/pdf/1550-2783-10-5.pdf
Summary:
- Carbohydrate intake is not that important as long as glycogen stores are maintained or replenished.
- Overall daily protein intake is more important than nutrient timing or post workout protein consumption.
- Older adults and those in a caloric deficit have higher protein needs. Strength training also increases protein requirements.
- Peri-workout nutrition is more important than post-workout nutrition.
- If you eat a meal with protein every 4 hours or so (at least 4X daily) you have your nutrient timing covered and your peri-workout nutrition needs are met.
