It is a known fact that when it comes to building muscles, protein is the “real deal”, the “beast” in the fitness world.
But despite knowing, many lifters still miss out on the benefits of this superb nutrient and that’s because it’s not only about the amount of protein taken but also about the time it is taken.
When you time your protein intake, you will be able to maximise your gains, speed up your recovery and also train harder.
But to fully understand why your timing is as important as the amount you intake, we first need to know how muscles repair themselves.
Why Recovery Matters for Real Growth
Lifting weights causes tears in muscle fibers and when this happens your body uses amino acids from protein to fill up and mend the tears thereby making your muscles grow back stronger.
While your daily intake of protein sets the foundation for these repairs, spacing it effectively throughout the day keeps your muscles constantly feeding and repairing.
And by focusing on letting your body heal properly, you’re ensuring your muscle is building and not wasting away due to lack of necessary energy and nutrients.
But the best athletes know that muscle repair doesn’t start right after your workout but instead starts long before a workout session.
Pre-Workout Protein: Fueling the Fire
Think of your body as a high-performing engine, you wouldn’t wait for it to break down before oiling it, will you?
This is exactly what eating protein before a workout is. But it is not just about the energy, it is also about making sure that you have an available supply of amino acids in your system the minute your muscles start working, this ensures that your muscles do not break down during a workout session.
Be sure to take between 20 and 30 grams of a high quality protein meal or drink such as Greek yogurt or a whey shake, 1 to 2 hours before your workout.
This fuels your muscles immediately you start your training and also sets it up for better recovery and growth.
Post-Workout: Essential Fitness Nutrition Tips
After a workout, your muscles become dry-spongy-like and ready to soak up nutrients necessary for growth. This is when your workout effort and your nutrition come together.
This is why it’s also necessary for you to take 20 to 30 grams of protein within an hour or two after your workout so that muscle repair and growth can start immediately.
Just be sure to add a serving of carbs to your protein to refill your energy level and help you recover quickly, this tells your body to stop breaking down muscles (i.e. a catabolic state), but rather to start building it.
And while this is necessary, staying in a muscle-building or anabolic state will depend on what you do hours later.
How to Build Muscle Smart Through Distribution
For sustainability, muscle building should be a 24/7 process, Rather than eating a huge steak for dinner and skipping lunch, research confirms that protein intake should be distributed evenly.
Eating a rich proteinous meal or snacks throughout the day like 3-5 servings ensures that your body stays in a building and growth mode. But there is one final step you will need to deal with before the day ends.
The Night-time Hack: Eat For Gains While You Sleep
Your body heals faster when you sleep. For your muscles to keep feeding and not starve while you sleep, make sure you consume a slow-digesting protein like casein shake or cottage cheese before bed, this fuels your muscles throughout the night.
When you merge your night-time protein with your daily meals, you turn a random routine into a professional plan.
Final Takeaway:
Stop counting your daily protein, but rather, build a system that will maximize your results like consuming between 20 to 30g of protein as part of your pre-workout meal to protect your muscle tissues.
As for your post-workout meal, you should take between 20 to 40g of protein to help jumpstart your post-session recovery and you can maintain an anabolic state throughout the day by consuming anywhere from 2o to 40g of protein per meal.
You should also not forget to settle for slow-digesting sources of protein before you go to bed as this can promote overnight muscle growth.
When you treat your diet with the same discipline as you treat your training, your gains will finally skyrocket.
