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Post Workout Anabolic Window. Fact or Fiction?
Does the 30 minute anabolic window exist? The science and evidence shines some light on this for us.
Mark Christie
December 16, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes
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IN TODAY’S ISSUE
Post Workout Anabolic Window. Fact or Fiction?
This is the first issue in a 3 part series looking at Peri-Workout Nutrition - (a term to describe your nutrition around your training times, Pre, Intra and Post)
Throughout my teens, I would rush to get a protein shake down my throat as quickly as possible when I had finished training, in some missguided notion (yet still common belief) that consuming protein in the 30-60 minute window post workout would be the difference between adding muscle or becoming “catabolic”.
Today we will cover the science and evidence behind the anabolic window, if it really exists and practical applications around the results.
What You'll Find Out
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WHAT’S UP
The Anabolic Window Explained
The idea behind the “anabolic window” is that post workout, you have a 30-60 minute window of opportunity to maximise your muscle and strength adaptations from training, through nutrition. This stems from the belief that your body and muscles are more receptive to nutrient uptake, through increased muscle protein synthesis (MPS).
The idea also carries some merit in the sense that muscle protein breakdown (MPB) increases in response to strength and hypertrophy training, (Tipton et al., 2018). However MPS also increases during training, and is usually greater than the increase in MPB. The ratio of MPS vs MPB is referred to as your Net Muscle Protein Balance (NBAL).
In theory, consuming protein can only aid your body’s MPS and stave off MPB. On top of this, consuming carbohydrates can replenish your muscle glycogen and fight MPB.
However in a real world scenario, the food you have eaten within a few hours of your training will still be digesting, the only caveat is if you train early in the AM in a fasted state there could be a benefit to consuming protein and carbohydrates immediately after training.
SCIENCE BRO
Does The Anabolic Window Exist?
A study published this year in Frontiers in Nutrition Journal by (Lak et al., 2024) looked specifically at the timing of protein consumption on body composition and muscle performance results.
The authors split 31 resistance trained men into two groups over an 8 week resistance training program, one group consumed a protein shake immediately before and after training while the other group consumed the protein 3hrs before and after. Both groups consumed the same total protein intake of 2g per KG of bodyweight per day.
The results from the study found no difference between the groups in body composition, muscular performance or any indication of a benefit to consuming protein immediately before or after training when total daily protein intake was sufficient. See figure A below for results on body composition.
Figure A From: (Lak et al., 2024) - SSM = (Skeletal Muscle Mass)
A Meta-analysis by (Schoenfeld et al., 2013), which included 525 subjects from 23 studies, looked at the effects of protein timing with regards to hypertrophy results. They found that total daily protein intake was the most important factor when it comes to hypertrophy, and that the current data available does not support the idea that protein consumption immediately after training benefits muscle growth.
Perceived hypertrophic benefits seen in timing studies appear to be the result of an increased consumption of protein.
The results of this meta-analysis indicate that if a peri-workout anabolic window of opportunity does in fact exist, the window for protein consumption would appear to be greater than one-hour before and after a resistance training session
TL:DR
Key Takeaways & Practical Applications
The current body of evidence indicates that total daily protein intake is much more important than protein timing for increasing muscular adaptations.
If the “anabolic window” does exist, the window is much larger than 1 hour.
As long as you are consuming enough daily protein, the potential benefit from consuming a protein shake immediately after training seems to disappear, according to the scientific data.
Focus on consuming high quality protein sources in the 1.6-2g per KG of Bodyweight per day.
That’s it for today ✌️
If you have any questions you’d like answered, topics you would like discussed, or perhaps some feedback, email them over to me at: [email protected]
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