Take protein before or after exercise?

As scientific studies have sufficiently proven, high-quality protein and amino acid preparations can make a significant contribution to building muscle mass. However, there has hardly been any research into whether one should take the said preparations before or better after training in order to achieve the best possible results. As a result, current opinions regarding the optimal time to take can neither be supported nor refuted. Nevertheless, you should definitely deal with said opinions in order to be able to draw your own conclusion.

Why not exercise on a full stomach

There are many reasons why you shouldn't exercise shortly after eating. One reason is that digestion is an extremely laborious process for which the body has to spend a lot of energy. This energy is then lacking in order to be able to train intensively. If you would train anyway, you would deprive the digestive tract of energy, which it urgently needs in order to be able to process the food optimally. In addition, after a meal, blood moves from the muscles to the digestive tract for digestion. In order to be able to train effectively, the muscles must be optimally supplied with blood. As a result of the training, some of the blood would flow back into the muscles. However, this would mean that the digestive system would not have enough blood available to work efficiently. Thus, it can be concluded that exercising on a full stomach appears to be counterproductive in terms of both muscle growth and digestion. That being said, a full stomach restricts mobility.

But why you shouldn't train on a completely empty stomach

High intensity muscle training uses a lot of energy. If this energy is not available in the form of certain nutrients, such as quickly usable carbohydrates, your body will be inclined to generate it from itself, so to speak. If you want to lose excess pounds, that in itself wouldn't be bad either. However, if you have little body fat, there is a risk that your body will break down muscle mass in order to generate energy from it. Therefore, many athletes tend to target their bodies with fast-acting energy sources, such as shortly before training sessions Carbohydrates from waxy maize starch, dextrose, fructose and matodextrin, to supply. You can also have an easily digestible protein shake 30 to 60 minutes before training and immediately before the upcoming training units take rapidly soluble amino acidsto counteract unwanted muscle loss. In fact, you could even take free amino acids during training between exercises or sets. Consuming whole proteins during exercise would, however, make less sense, as they are broken down too slowly to be of any benefit.

Why you should definitely supply your muscles with high-quality proteins after training

Resistance training increases the so-called protein biosynthesis rate. Put simply, this roughly means that proteins are converted into lean muscle mass faster and in greater quantities than before after training. Consequently, it is recommended that you get fast-acting protein, such as whey protein, take. In addition, you should also be concerned about an optimal protein supply in the coming hours. As the latest studies show, the said synthesis rate remains increased for at least 24 hours and longer. This in turn means that your muscles will grow even at night while you sleep, provided they have enough protein for protein biosynthesis. As a result, proteins with a long-lasting effect are ideal in the evening. For example casein, which is used up much more slowly than the aforementioned whey protein.

Conclusion

Even if there is still a lack of irrefutable evidence from science, some elementary points can nonetheless be noted. The first point is that you should be full, but not exercising on a full stomach. It is also recommended that you take freely available amino acids shortly before and possibly also during your training units. Besides, you should through the targeted supply of protein shakes Raise the protein level in the body immediately after exercise and maintain it for at least 24 hours.