Protein After Workout

I am 5'5, 142 lb and just got done with a 60 minute cardio/strength training class where I burned 470 calories. Can anyone tell me how many grams of protein is optimal after my workout? I had a protein shake (25g protein) before my workout, but understand it's beneficial to consume protein after my workout as well. Thanks for your help, and I hope I'm posting in the correct forum!

Gah!! I hate word problems!

LMAO Too much Math for you today Sweetie. It is Monday afterall.

If the idea is to have the protein in your bloodstream to help you recover from the workouts, you would need to eat it before the workout, not after.

is timing neccesary to build the body you want? of course not, doesn't mean it can't help significantly though.

probably better off doing your own investigation. I perfer listening to people with a bunch of letters after thier names instead of a bunch of time on thier hands, you could start here if you like:

http://oakbrooksc.com/docs/stager_chocmilk_study.pdf

Thanks for that. I gave up on trying to argue "nutrient timing" here. I know what works. As a college athlete, no one would have ever said "as long as you get enough electrolytes during the day, you won't need any gatorade going into the 4th quarter during a game in 100 degree weather, water will be just fine."

Thanks for that. I gave up on trying to argue "nutrient timing" here. I know what works. As a college athlete, no one would have ever said "as long as you get enough electrolytes during the day, you won't need any gatorade going into the 4th quarter during a game in 100 degree weather, water will be just fine."

lol good one.

its hard to find people on here that know the difference between an article in a magazine and emperical research from a peer reviewed journal.

I think people just get up in arms if something they don't personally do is suggested as possibly beneficial. They should just realize that no one is saying that anything is 'necessary', just that it might help some or even most people achieve thier goals.

is timing neccesary to build the body you want? of course not, doesn't mean it can't help significantly though.

probably better off doing your own investigation. I perfer listening to people with a bunch of letters after thier names instead of a bunch of time on thier hands, you could start here if you like:

http://oakbrooksc.com/docs/stager_chocmilk_study.pdf

Thanks for that. I gave up on trying to argue "nutrient timing" here. I know what works. As a college athlete, no one would have ever said "as long as you get enough electrolytes during the day, you won't need any gatorade going into the 4th quarter during a game in 100 degree weather, water will be just fine."

It is not a valid comparison to compare protein systhesis for muscle recovery and rebuilding to electrolyte balance in an athlete exerting themselves for several hours, sweating and in 100 degree heat. It's apples and oranges. Not even close.

^^^ Both these posts sum it up. If it makes you feel good to have something after working out, great and do by all means. If training fasted, I would for sure. But if not, all the data indicates no conclusive benefit. The most extensive and recent research is below. (warning, it's a long dry read)
http://www.jissn.com/content/pdf/1550-2783-10-5.pdf

obvously i didn't read the entire article already lol

but i didn't see anything in the 'practicle applications' section that said post exercise nutrition is worthless, in fact they even suggest dossages and time frames for pre and post exercise meals

not sure if this really refutes anything but i'm willing to listen and will read it more closely later

It didn't say post nutrition was useless. It said, and I'm paraphrasing here, taking all the data in total, any indicator of a benefit was offset by other data that said it didn't matter. In total is was inconclusive. The most clear indicators were that regular intake of nutrients made those nutrients available for protein systhesis and "timing" just didn't seem to provide any additional benefit.

So, if it makes someone feel better to have the post workout shake or whatever, go to it. There is no demostrable advantage or disadvantage so far in the research. There was some discussion of the study here FWIW. It is not extensive but somewhat informative.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872189-alan-aragon-and-brad-schoenfeld-on-nutrient-timing

I do mine before. Mostly because I am coming from work and haven't eaten anything for 5 to 7 hours by the time I get to the Y. So I slam down a Cytosport whey protein shake, 1 scoop with a cup of whole milk, before I change to head out to the Y for a 2 mile to 5k swim. This gives me the energy to continue with 30 to 45 minutes of weights after the swim.
I have dinner when I get home.

Make sense. You haven't eaten on a while and it takes the nutrients 30 to 45 minutes to become available. That is one of the things that seems to get forgotten in these discussions. It takes time for nutrients to become available and, if you've eaten in a reasonable time frame, say 2 to 3 hours, prior to workout, you have nutrients available to be utilized.

It didn't say post nutrition was useless. It said, and I'm paraphrasing here, taking all the data in total, any indicator of a benefit was offset by other data that said it didn't matter. In total is was inconclusive. The most clear indicators were that regular intake of nutrients made those nutrients available for protein systhesis and "timing" just didn't seem to provide any additional benefit.

So, if it makes someone feel better to have the post workout shake or whatever, go to it. There is no demostrable advantage or disadvantage so far in the research. There was some discussion of the study here FWIW. It is not extensive but somewhat informative.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872189-alan-aragon-and-brad-schoenfeld-on-nutrient-timing

all i'm saying is that it wont hurt you (as long as it doesn't result in over eating) and it might possibly help you. which, if you read on, you might agree is what this guy is saying as well.

This study maybe saying that there is no conclusive answer... thats fine, neither did any of the others. they just present evidence of something that maybe beneficail.

Also think its worth pointing out that this is just a review of the literature, no new research has been done here.

Yes, thanks for pointing that out. I mistakenly called it a study and it is not. You are correct.

I agree that it could possible help but I also think that this kind of thing, and it's not the only one, that starts as a helpful reccommedation and somehow has the tendency to become a "rule." Then people tend to think they will be doing it wrong it they don't follow the rules, protein right after workout, drink 8 glasses of water, etc etc. The OPs post is an example of what I'm talking about. Then so many people, particularly newer people, start to feel like they can't follow all the rules and don't even know what many are and they get discouraged and give up.

I think you put it best when you said in your first post, you don't need to do this but it could be helpful. So if it's someone's preference, go to it! But it's not a "rule" for success. Just as an anecdote, I've done it both ways. I saw no demonstrable difference in results either way. Actually saw what appeared to be slightly better results not timing but not enough to attibute it to that. So much for my n=1! lol

Bottom line, might be helpful and if you want to do it, go ahead. If you don't, that's just fine. Stay with the basics. Calorie deficit, mostly nutrient dense foods in the right macronutrient composition and work out. Rinse and repeat and you'll progress.

[/quote]

Make sense. You haven't eaten on a while and it takes the nutrients 30 to 45 minutes to become available. That is one of the things that seems to get forgotten in these discussions. It takes time for nutrients to become available and, if you've eaten in a reasonable time frame, say 2 to 3 hours, prior to workout, you have nutrients available to be utilized.
[/quote]

I just can't wait 2 to 3 hours after drinking the shake to go swimming.
Sunday is probably the only day that I hit the water 2 to 3 hours after eating.
I'm finding that even though I have the shake about 45 minutes before I hit the water it has made a big difference in the energy I have during the swim and have energy left to hit the weight room after 65 to 100 minutes (2 miles to 5km) of swimming.
Last Saturday I ate a double dose breakfast (eggs, sausage, cheese) and 2 ounces of mixed nuts after my first 2 mile swim at 6am. Went back at 11:30am with my kids and made it a 7.1km for the day.