Protein after a SL workout

dcresider

So how much protein should I be taking after a SL workout? I hear that I have a one hour window to help rebuild muscle. Is this true? I thought you ladies might know something I don't.

xcalygrl

Not necessary. I can find you studies if you'd like, but basically you don't have just one hour before you lose your gainz. Yes, you should eat after a workout to restore glycogen and help repair your muscles, but you don't have to do it in this magic one hour window. And you should be getting carbs and protein. Carbs for glycogen, protein to help repair muscles.

dcresider

Thanks xcalygrl. That's what I thought.

canadianlbs

what i read was: there's a window of about 2 hours in which your body is most efficient at restoring glycogen, which is the energy source that muscles use. you'll still recover the stores you used up if you don't happen to eat within that time frame, but my understanding is it'll take longer, that's all.

glycogen is replenished from carbs. muscle growth/repair is where protein comes in, so that's a separate thing. i got advice from a pro trainer of baseball players a few years ago that it's good to give your body a protein hit before bed, since sleep is the natural time when it'll do repair work.

tldr: in my world, carby stuff after a workout, and if i get around to it then a protein shake before bed.

SideSteel

canadianlbs wrote: »

what i read was: there's a window of about 2 hours in which your body is most efficient at restoring glycogen, which is the energy source that muscles use. you'll still recover the stores you used up if you don't happen to eat within that time frame, but my understanding is it'll take longer, that's all.

glycogen is replenished from carbs. muscle growth/repair is where protein comes in, so that's a separate thing. i got advice from a pro trainer of baseball players a few years ago that it's good to give your body a protein hit before bed, since sleep is the natural time when it'll do repair work.

tldr: in my world, carby stuff after a workout, and if i get around to it then a protein shake before bed.

Glygocen replenishment is really only a concern under conditions where glycogen is depleted AND glycogen is needed to perform another bout of training. Since people on stronglifts are training 3 days per week on non consecutive days, glycogen will replenish through virtually any feasible meal distribution naturally before it's needed again. So in other words whenever you eat your next meal, be it an hour later, 5 hours later, whatever -- you'll replenish adequate glycogen (probably weren't depleted anyway since SL is not a high volume program) before the next training bout.

If you're running StrongLifts and also doing intense cardio the same day then it's a good idea to get some PWO carbohydrate in.





Regarding protein intake, protein synthesis remains elevated for quite a while after training (IIRC on the order of 24 hours) but there still may be some merit to getting some protein surrounding the training bout. Without complicating things I'd say that if your adherence doesn't suffer and it meets your lifestyle demands, get some protein on both sides of the training bout within about 2 hours or so and you're good. And if you can't do this, we're certainly not talking about "no progress is made" -- we're talking about potentially getting a slightly improved result from protein timing rather than an all or nothing situation.

Some great reading:
www.jissn.com/content/10/1/5

indianarose2

Coffee, Eggs & bacon & sometimes oatmeal before my workout and protein shake following. Fuels my workout and preemptively takes care of the hangries for the rest of my day as long as I stay on top of it that is, have something nutritious ready to eat/snack on (cottage cheese, yogurt, smoothie with egg whites..) before I get too hungry the rest of the day.