Proteins taken ahead of a training session and immediately after – is good nutrition for a strength athlete. And now researchers have found a way of tweaking this basic principle, in a study done by sports scientists at Baylor University in 2006. According to their research, the best post-workout shake contains a combination of fast and slow protein.
The researchers got 36 men aged between 23 and 29 to do weight training for 10 weeks. The men had all been doing weight training for at least a year, and were all given the same training schedule. They trained 4 times a week, working through all the large muscle groups in the body in 2 sessions. The men started with sets of 10 reps and ended with sets of 6 reps.
On the days that they didn’t train, the subjects drank a shake in the morning. On all the other days they drank a shake as soon as possible after finishing their training session, and not longer than 2 hours later.
The placebo group drank a shake that contained only carbohydrates. The first experimental group drank a shake containing 40 g whey protein, 3 g BCAAs and 5 g glutamine. The second experimental group drank a shake containing 40 g whey protein, 8 g casein.
After 10 weeks the group drinking whey and casein had progressed more than the other groups on all counts.
Look for a protein product like Intek Evolution or Pro Complete 40 which combines both whey and casein protein.
Dominick Walsh is a blogger for Performance Nutrition and TMRzoo.com and covers all men’s health topics and exercise issues including protein powders, diets, weight loss, weight lifting supplements, fat burners and supplement reviews. Dominick’s columns cover everything you need to know about your pre, during and post workout nutrition.
