Taking protein before working out has become more popular as it has been shown to increase protein synthesis which has been assumed will lead to increases in strength and muscle gains. The research on this is mixed in that it does show some increase in protein synthesis but that has not equated to long term gains in lean muscle or strength.
I am not a big fan of protein pre-workout due to the water costs of digesting protein. It takes a considerable amount of water to digest protein and research has shown that increases in protein can lead to dehydration. Even very mild dehydration can lead to significant decreases in athletic performance. You can very easily negate any increases in protein synthesis by losses in performance due to mild dehydration.
Any easy solution is to consume a BCAA product like Intek’s BCAA Evolution prior to your workout rather than a whole protein. A BCAA product will provide the benefits you would get if you consumed a whole protein (increase in protein synthesis) but will not lead to dehydration and loss of performance.
