{"id":385102,"date":"2021-07-28T01:00:27","date_gmt":"2021-07-28T05:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/nutrition-myths-anabolic-window-2\/"},"modified":"2022-04-26T07:31:03","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T11:31:03","slug":"nutrition-myths-anabolic-window-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/nutrition-myths-anabolic-window-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Really Need to Down Your Protein Shake Straight After Working Out?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>How many times have you heard that you need to get your <a href=\"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/plant-based-nutrition\/form-performance-plant-based-vegan-protein-powder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">vegan protein powder<\/a> in after your workout? That it needs to be within 30 minutes of that very last bicep curl? You may have heard this period called the anabolic window, and perhaps you might even have suffered from post workout protein anxiety whenever you&#8217;ve been unable to get that shake in. Every little gain counts after all.<\/p>\n<p>But never fear. While the concept of post workout protein and the anabolic window has been well popularised through forums, magazines and gym folklore, research in recent years has been shifting focus toward overall levels of protein in 24 hour days, not the slim window after you train.<\/p>\n<h2>What Science Says About The Anabolic Window<\/h2>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5214805\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">study<\/a> published by associate professor of exercise science at Lehman College, Brad Schoenfeld, along with his research team, explored this concept of the anabolic window and whether it does indeed exist.<\/p>\n<p>The study took two groups of trained men, put them all on a 10 week <a href=\"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/inform\/resistance-training-research\/\">resistance training<\/a> program and gave one group 25 grams of protein immediately before the workout, and the other group 25 grams of protein immediately after. Both groups were given dietary instructions to maintain a calorie surplus of about 500 calories with total protein at 1.8 grams per kg bodyweight.<\/p>\n<p>So to summarise thus far, you have two groups of men, both doing the same <a href=\"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/inform\/reacquaint-yourself-with-the-weights-room-with-this-back-to-the-gym-workout-guide\/\">workout<\/a> and eating the same diet for 10 weeks\u2014 just one group is having a protein shake before workouts, the other after.<\/p>\n<p>To measure progress and results participants body composition (via bone-density scans), max strength and muscle thickness were measured at the beginning, middle and end of the 10 week program.<\/p>\n<p>The findings? Both groups lost fat mass (they probably ended up in a calorie deficit) but there was no difference in the relative amount lost between the pre or post protein groups. Neither group gained significant muscle mass and likewise there was no significant difference between either group. As you would expect after 10 weeks of training, both groups got significantly stronger but again, no significant difference between the pre and post protein groups.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-718173 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Form_PROTEINS_low-1200x675.jpg\" alt=\"protein anabolic window\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>What Does This All Mean?<\/h2>\n<p>Clearly in this study the concept of an anabolic window was unfounded\u200a \u2014 \u200athere was no difference in <a href=\"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/inform\/body-composition-101-the-basics-of-gaining-muscle-and-losing-fat\/\">body composition<\/a> between the group that took protein after the workout and the one that didn\u2019t. In practical terms this means you can probably relax a little about downing a protein shake immediately after your workout.<\/p>\n<p>What is undisputed however is the need to keep daily protein levels up and this is best done by consuming quality protein during the course of the day in the form of real food and supplements if required. Our recommendation, based on the current state of the science, is for 1.2\u20132.0 grams of protein per kg of body weight per day. The upper end of that range is if you\u2019re very active, while the lower applies to those more sedentary.<\/p>\n<p>A final point to note is while it might not be critical to consume a protein shake immediately after a workout during the &#8220;anabolic window&#8221;, it is an easy habit and if this helps your compliance in meeting your daily protein requirements then it is still a good thing. Just don\u2019t stress if you miss it one time, your gains are safe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While many will tell you to cram your protein in right after your workout, in a period known as the anabolic window, recent science suggests otherwise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1020,"featured_media":390370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-385102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-body","category-nutrition"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.1 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Is the Anabolic Window Just a Nutrition Myth? - Form - US<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While many will tell you to get your protein right after your workout, in a period known as the anabolic window, the science says otherwise.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/nutrition-myths-anabolic-window-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do You Really Need to Down Your Protein Shake Straight After Working Out?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While many will tell you to get your protein right after your workout, in a period known as the anabolic window, the science says otherwise.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/inform\/nutrition-myths-anabolic-window-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Form - US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-28T05:00:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-26T11:31:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/formnutrition.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/03\/tim-gouw-73926.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1369\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Damian Soong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Damian Soong\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/nutrition-myths-anabolic-window-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/nutrition-myths-anabolic-window-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Damian Soong\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8447d1a5e3fd5f016a869b0ce23f6f6c\"},\"headline\":\"Do You Really Need to Down Your Protein Shake Straight After Working Out?\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-28T05:00:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-26T11:31:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/nutrition-myths-anabolic-window-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":567,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/nutrition-myths-anabolic-window-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2022\\\/04\\\/AdobeStock_304850959-1.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Body\",\"Nutrition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/nutrition-myths-anabolic-window-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/nutrition-myths-anabolic-window-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/formnutrition.com\\\/us\\\/inform\\\/nutrition-myths-anabolic-window-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Is the Anabolic Window Just a Nutrition Myth? 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